The Raised Bed Question

It’s time to get the garden ready for spring. As you do not know, as I have never told you, I have quit growing in raised beds (except for the high tunnel). I used to do nearly all my gardening in raised 4′x20′ beds framed by scrap lumber, but I switched to double-width straight rows for the following reasons-

1. Easier to cultivate: This is the main one. I may have been just too lazy to keep my raised beds weed free, but it sure is a lot easier to weed a row.
2. Easier to clean out: It makes more sense to me to be able to bushhog everything at the end and till it in or rake it up and compost it. Cleaning out crop residues of raised beds must be done by hand and can be tedious.
3. Looks: Raised beds can certainly be very pretty, but mine certainly were not
4. Plastic Mulch: Can’t really use plastic mulch in raised beds, and since working with Luther on his farm, I’ve grown to see their benefits. I’m still a little skeptical about them, but overall I think the benefits outweigh the objections. The main objection being that plastic mulch is less environmentally friendly as it uses non-renewable resources. I feel slightly guilty using it, and only use it for a very select group of crops (squash and tomatoes being the main two). This year, I plan on reusing as much as I feasibly can, as it isn’t free.

I haven’t forsworn raised beds forever; there is much I like about them. They allow double-digging, which is the single best thing I think you can do for a new garden, they are a more efficient use of space, and they require less tillage, which is bad for soil flora and fauna. I see my self in the future doing a bit of both. Which do you use and why?