I think it would be good to remember that our iconic mental picture of what a suburb is no longer accurately represents the reality of what suburbs are (at least it doesn't fit any of the suburbs I've seen recently). We tend to picture a suburb as acres of near-identical single-family tract houses with no jobs, stores, or other services available locally. I grew up in one just like that, and despised it.

After many years of living in cities, I once again live in a suburb, and it is nothing like the one in which I grew up. I moved here for one reason -- my job is here (and so are hundreds of other jobs). I now have a 3-mile commute on streets that are great for bicycling. Many of the dwellings are multi-family buildings. Within a mile of my house are various grocery stores and specialty stores, restaurants, gyms, banks, a library, train stations, bike shops, etc. You really don't need a car; occasionally it would be a nice convenience, but basically, a car is a luxury here.