Suburbs full of cul-de-sacs are terrible places to grow up for children after the age of about 6. They’re invariably designed to be incredibly pedestrian-hostile, and usually also bicycle-hostile, so if you don’t drive a car, you either need to have your parents drive you everywhere, or you need to have every possible destination within a couple blocks.
Such an environment is stifling of children’s independence and community interaction.
I think the difference is, in a suburb a kid can safely ride a bicycle. That's great, if your goal is to ride. If your goal is to go to somewhere specific (movie theater? soccer game? swimming pool?), kid probably needs a ride in a car, because those places aren't within biking distance for a kid.
Such an environment is stifling of children’s independence and community interaction.