Oldenburg’s excerpt begins off with his thesis in which he states: due to the automobile suburbs, American life has become disjointed and that the American people are restless and discontented. The author then goes on to describe suburbs. In one paragraph Oldenburg states that in a suburb, “a man works in one place, sleeps in another, shops somewhere else, finds pleasure or companionship where he can, and cares about none of these places”. The author uses this quotation to prove his point that the life of a suburban man is fragmented.

The writer then details how negative the effects of living in a suburban area are. Starting off he claims that each suburb is intended for families with certain size, incom

While Ray Oldenburg deems that suburbs are destroying American communities, I take a wholly different approach. It is my belief that suburbs are keeping American social interaction and community life alive. This is achieved through the community clubs and organizations, pools, courts, and clubhouses that suburbs have developed. Even though I agree that the average American’s day is indeed fragmented, I do not think it is due to the rise of suburban areas. I consider the disjointed life a consequence of the modernization of American society attained through the new gadgets such as bigger and better televisions, computers and the Internet, and videogames. This intense modernization has made the idea of staying inside more appealing. Thus while Oldenburg condemns suburban life as boring and detrimental to one’s social health, I believe that suburbs help and that modernization is ultimately the reason behind the loss of community.

I, however, provide a different view to the problem of the endangered American “community”. Even though, I grew up in a rural town, each day the town was becoming more suburban as the cities around us grew. Many of my close friends lived in suburban areas, and even though Oldenburg presents a convincing argument, I know that not all people were affected with the negative effects he describes. Suburbs are n

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