Schools come into factor, as well. People keep moving out to schools in the outer suburbs because "it's a better environment for my child". Schools even in the inner suburbs (Roseville) have been perceived as "ghetto" to outlying schools, even back when I attended MNSU someone from Delano said that I live near the 'hood since I live in Little Canada. So many people always talk about how "back in the day" this city/suburb was better and treat it like it's a crime-infested slum now, shit's ridiculous. So that helps further the mindset that it's better to keep moving farther way from the city in order to live in an area with high livability and low crime rates.I'm not in argument with you. I would best most on this forum would have your mindset. I'm saying we have a cultural ethos that people simply follow. My wife and I are going to be moving back in to the city next year (the soonest we can sell our place), but I feel as though we're in a relative minority of people our age who are planning for the long haul to be within 5 miles of the urban core of our city.I'm 31 and have one child and another on the way, and we don't want a half acre home with a white picket fence. We want a place that's safe and where there is SOME green space for kids to play, but we don't need very much. Currently (and we're not happy with our current living situation), our backyard is maybe 15'X40' -- MAYBE! Neither my wife or myself want to have to maintain a small field just so our kids don't have to walk to the park to play.....we just want some grass and sidewalks so we can walk to a nearby park.
Another thing is how it seems we end up sprawling worse as the years go by. When my grandparents moved to Little Canada in the 60's it was still mostly agricultural and/or undeveloped, and was considered part of the outskirts of Saint Paul. Over the past 50 years, it's now a mostly/fully developed inner suburb of Saint Paul (though with only about 2,500 ppsm). At the same time, at least it was only 5 miles away from a downtown area in a city of around 300,000 people. The Elk Run development is about 15 miles away from the Rochester city center, with a city of nearly 110,000 people. Some news articles say exurban areas are finally losing steam, but can we just stop planning these mediocre developments for good? Both Little Canada and Elk Run are examples of poorly-planned urban sprawl, but at least one of these choices can be more easily adaptable to the future changes in how we commute and how we live.