You’ve probably heard plenty of criticisms of American suburbia over the years. This has been going on for quite a while. During the “Mad Men” era a half-century ago, new suburbs were routinely skewered by opinion leaders as insufferably dull, populated by conformist dads in gray flannel suits and stay-at-home moms filling listless days with coffee klatches.

With nothing to do out there in the boonies, suburban kids were bored out of their wits.

Such stereotyping seems pretty amusing today you know what I mean if you live in the suburbs.

But it had a lasting effect in coloring (mis)perception. Even now it seems as if suburbia somehow has to justify itself.

As suburbia expanded coast to coast over the past decades, criticisms only increased. Suburban subdivisions are not “walkable,” so people have to drive everywhere.

Suburban traffic is terrible as a result. Large lots are environmentally wasteful, shopping malls are lightweight chain-store knockoffs of downtown retail, there is no culture in suburbs, and, worst of all, the suburbs are placeless.

Eventually an all-purpose epithet sprawl was attached to American suburbs, as if our vast and endlessly varied suburbia is monolithic. Critics appreciated this label as the ultimate disapproval. No need to bother with details!

Funny thing, though suburbia continues to grow, and by now is home to well more than half of all Americans. How can the majority of us be so wrong?

Critics have answers: We suburbanites just don’t understand how bad suburban living is.

Or: Unenlightened zoning codes are forcing us to live in ways that are not good for us. As an antidote, suburban neighborhoods should be made as city-like as possible, with very small lots resulting in much higher densities, emphasizing increased walking, bicycling and reliance on public transit. Ideally, we should do away with our own autos altogether and rent a car by the hour if and when one is really needed. The upshot? Suburbanites will finally come to understand that even a quasi-urban lifestyle is superior to conventional suburban existence.

In the real world that is highly unlikely to happen, of course. Suburban life is attractive to many Americans for its particular subjective experiences.

These differ from other living experiences, including those offered by urban lifestyles. So suburban living is not about housing densities, which, by the way, have been sharply increasing as a market response in growing American suburbs. Nor is it a matter of walking more: People walk, jog, and bicycle in suburbs.

They just don’t walk or bike to work very much.

Suburban living is a matter of choice. Among many choices, really, since there are numerous distinct urban and suburban residential environments in every American metropolitan area.

Naturally there are tradeoffs no matter where we decide to live. A young family might buy on the exurban fringe because of lower housing prices. The resulting extra costs of driving can be spread out in less-painful ways than coming up with a larger down payment for a home in a more costly, closer-in location.

From some suburban perspectives, big-city life seems expensive, complicated, and perhaps even a little scary. Yet urbanites gladly overlook such downsides in return for urban attractions that they value.

Over the years my neighbors on our pleasant but visually nondescript suburban block have included university professors, a surgeon, business and finance executives, lawyers, a software developer, two principals in the Minnesota Orchestra, and a writer for “Laverne and Shirley.”

All of them are quite capable of deciding the best place for them to live without guidance from critics of any stripe. I have no doubt that is true for the residents of neighborhoods urban, suburban, and exurban in every metropolitan area.

So let’s set aside any notion that a single type of residential setting, whether urban or suburban, is best for all Americans. Locales from Back Bay in Boston to the far suburbs of San Diego each offer particular attractions and face their own mix of problems.

Every neighborhood, like every person, is ultimately unique. That is why community is always a custom creation. Our national goal should be that all communities achieve their highest potentials for the benefit of their residents.

How that successfully comes about differs for each and every situation. For instance, functional transportation is essential to all communities. Suburban traffic is indeed terrible in many metropolitan areas, including along the Interstate 95 corridor linking Washington to its fast-growing surrounding suburban counties.

But traffic congestion is endemic in walkable New York City as well, where the current major transportation initiative is the staggeringly expensive but much-needed Second Avenue subway.

A specific mix of programs for a city in suburban Washington may not be useful in, say, Macon, Ga.. No two community situations are completely alike, so the solutions to their problems differ.

In comparing urban districts to developing suburbs we also need to appreciate that it takes time for communities to mature. Our major U.S. cities looked awfully bleak for decades when they were young and growing. So you don’t need to invest a lot of concern about suburban placelessness.

This is an inevitable early stage in community and regional development.

As another example of the role of time in building our communities, substantial amounts of new housing may be constructed before conveniences and amenities catch up with the increased population. Perhaps the current local retail choices are not yet as varied as they are in more built-up areas. But this situation will evolve to reflect changes in the local market. When I worked in then-sleepy Georgetown neighborhood in Washington in the 1960s, a barbershop was the social center of M Street. The entertainment hub on Wisconsin Avenue was a bar-and-grill selling Michelob for a nickel a bottle.

We all know what the Georgetown scene has since become.

Wherever you decide to live should be exactly right for you. That is the test, period. Pick the heart of a big city. Or any of many kinds of suburbs. Or a small town or out in the country. America is a land of spectacular variety, a banquet of choices.

• Tom Martinson, MCT Campus