The Death of a Suburb

As of recently I've been enjoying the beginning of what I hope to be a beautiful, warm, North Carolina spring. My drives have become longer, and I've been taking the scenic route to work most days. Today was no exception, and as I drove down the familiar stretch between here and there, I witnessed an unsettling sight: a large sign announcing the future site of "Summerset Court- New, affordable homes!". It wasn't the formerly beautiful 20-something acres of pristine fields and oak woods that this new "Summerset Court" had destroyed that made my stomach turn, nor was it the used car salesman approach at trying to push me into one of these painfully subpar "country" homes (I use the term "home" very loosely here); It was the massive scale that these things are popping up that made me queasy. This is nothing new, and the future subdivision was not actually named "Summerset Court", though it probably was something similar, thought up by some investor in a 20th floor office who'd never seen the land in his or her life. Acres and acres of unrepairable damage done is never justifiable, but the damage these pop-up suburbs are doing to the intellectual integrity of the masses is arguably just as bad.
People choose to live in a replica of 10,000 other houses because they've become accustomed to it, and there wouldn't be a supply if there were no demand. The developers drive a tempting bargain, however, with their bright red display of some price that seems too good to be true (this is usually followed with a microscopic asterisk and a lengthy paragraph at the bottom). So as the masses question if they really want to raise their 2.5 children in a home identical to Mr. Jones next door and Mr. Jenkins down the street, the idea of a house catered to their personal tastes becomes fainter and fainter as they hear price quotes from any architect, contractor, or engineer. 


From this 2 questions arise:
1) Is it worth paying half the price for a space that is only yours on paper?
2) How are these suburban booms taking anything from families?


To answer in short:
Taking into account price of materials, labor, and negotiating skills, it is quite possible to have a home constructed, or renovated, to meet your personal tastes. 
As for the latter question: a house is where most will spend the majority of their lives, and should be treated as such. No individual puts any sort of dent in the housing market, but collectively, it could be turned upside-down. Purchasing a new suburban house perpetuates the cycle of destruction and development, and, with the willingness to look around and not settle, isn't necessary. 


This isn't damning the majority of home-owners, this is an analysis from an architecture student who has a firm sight on a better future.