It's amazing all the people posting comments here who completely missed the point of the article.
The author is NOT saying that suburbs are bad. The author is saying that American suburbs are bad. There is a difference, and that difference is the entire point of the article.
Some of us LIKE American suburbs. The author is stating as an objective fact something which is entirely subjective in nature - a sadly common mistake among the overly cynical.
He's sharing his opinion. Do you really not ever say something like "X sucks" when it's just an opinion? I'm sure the author is well aware that it's not an objective fact.
I'm not assuming that. If anything, I assumed that most people defending them are American, and that Americans are wrongly interpreting "American suburbs suck" as "suburbs suck" because American suburbs are the only ones they know.
Some people like them, sure. I suspect that much of it is just cultural momentum at this point, though, where people are unaware of the possibility of a different format, or don't have the option available, and that given a choice to live in a Euro-style or American-style suburb that were otherwise in a similar situation, many Americans would choose the European-style one. Might even split 50/50.
The author is NOT saying that suburbs are bad. The author is saying that American suburbs are bad. There is a difference, and that difference is the entire point of the article.
Seriously, did you even read it?