Why are suburbs popular in America, Australia, NZ etc?

Why do you think suburbs are so popular in America, and to a slightly lesser extent, in Australia, NZ and Canada?

If you live in a suburb, why did you make that choice, instead of moving to the city?

A big reason in America is the terrible state of schools in the cities. Once you have children, unless you have enough money to send them to private schools, you're not very likely to stay in the city.

Also, frankly, life in a suburb isn't necessarily as bad as it's made out to be on this forum. I have a strong feeling that most people in this world (and remember that W Europe and N America each make up well under 10% of the world's population) would prefer to live in a big brand-new house with a lot of land, a big garden in the back, perhaps a private swimming pool, and two new cars parked outside, than in a small two or three room flat in central London, NY, Paris or San Francisco.

Suburbs don't have as many dining, cultural or entertainment options as cities, but there are perhaps more than enough restaurants, bars, shopping malls, and even museums for an average 35-year-old individual with a full time job and young children at home. And suburbs have far more nature-related activities than the cities, since almost everyone in the suburbs has a car and can easily drive to good fishing, hiking, boating, beaches, etc. And since the overall population density is less, parks/beaches in the suburbs tend to be much larger and less crowded than ones in the city.

Finally, living in the suburbs, it's really not very difficult to drive into the city when you want to experience a wider range of museums, restuarants and nightlife. I live in Manhattan, and go to museums perhaps once every two or three months. And I have seen 7 broadway plays since moving here three year ago. It wouldn't be too hard to drive in to NY from NJ just as often.>