How far is your commute to your job? Is it longer than 40 minutes each way? If it is, don’t be surprised if the value of your home has fallen.

But the suburbs mustn’t be all bad. Planners from foreign countries are coming to the United States to study just how we set up our suburbs. It’s true.

These future slums are all new-construction, suburban hamlets surrounded by grassy fields and filled with large, fairly expensive starter homes.

Is the history of the suburbs one to be celebrated? Or should we be ashamed about the real reasons that led to the mass migration of city dwellers into what were at the time considered far outposts?