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I'm sure you're fine, but Chicago is supposedly the most racially segregated city in the country, even now! I lived in Illiniois for years and my experience was that there were a lot of racists in Chicago. My guess is you lived in a very homgenous neighborhood, even if it was a three story flat.
"Due to the diverse population and immigrant population attraction, the population of the neighborhood has increased by 16.5% in the last decade.[1] It is part of the 60625 zip code, which is known as one of the most diverse areas in the entire country"
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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If more famlies started moving into the inner city then those neighbourhoods would gradually become safer, imo. Children are at risk wherever they live, it's the parents responsibility to ensure their safety not rely on the perceived safety of an area. There are certainly advantages to raising kids in the city; more exposure to people, don't always have to use a car, but the downside is yes they might run into a few more 'weirdos' (that also happens in the suburbs, but the kids can be more insulated from that threat), and there aren't as many open spaces to play and run around and they have to be more traffic smart. Being a kid from the suburbs it's all I ever knew and I had a pretty good childhood, but I know others who grew up in the city who had great childhoods too. Before anyone says anything most cities were more dangerous in the 90s than they are now.
If more famlies started moving into the inner city then those neighbourhoods would gradually become safer, imo. Children are at risk wherever they live, it's the parents responsibility to ensure their safety not rely on the perceived safety of an area. There are certainly advantages to raising kids in the city; more exposure to people, don't always have to use a car, but the downside is yes they might run into a few more 'weirdos' (that also happens in the suburbs, but the kids can be more insulated from that threat), and there aren't as many open spaces to play and run around and they have to be more traffic smart. Being a kid from the suburbs it's all I ever knew and I had a pretty good childhood, but I know others who grew up in the city who had great childhoods too. Before anyone says anything most cities were more dangerous in the 90s than they are now.
Key word here is "gradually".
I have to admit I just read the article. The author seems to be under 30 years old, and has NO children. So frankly, her opinion of raising kids anywhere doesn't count. She hasn't done it. I don't care how much you've watched it, how much you've worked professionally with kids, until you have your own, you don't know squat about parenting. I did like this from her article:
"In the suburbs of my childhood, packs of fourth graders walked home from elementary school without adult supervision, playing tag in the park along the way. Adolescence involved training runs with my field hockey team down Main Street, where I often saw someone I knew; largely innocent keg parties in the woods; and, above all, the joy of driving a car down an empty, half-paved road with the windows open on a late June day. You can’t do any of these things in New York City."
It sounds like we agree on this, so why are you hassling me about it?
Then you're contradicting yourself. Make up your mind.
Quote:
If that's the case, and the poor and working class are the current inhabitants of downtowns, why do so many people criticize city culture for only appealing to "wealthy yuppies"?
Cities are much more than their downtowns. As such an expert on all things urban, you should know that.
I grew up partly in NYC (Queens) and partly in the suburbs. The city does offer more in the way of museums & events, but teenagers find that stuff boring. It's nice not having to relay on a car in the city, but most once they reach driving age they still wanted the license and wanted a car. A car meant more freedom and having your own schedule.
Moving to the suburbs was a culture shock to me at first. The first few months of living here I was like this place is boring, but it really wasn't. It seemed boring because it was different and the good stuff to do is not in your face like the city. Even today while still living in the suburbs I'm always finding something new or a new "hot spot" I haven't been too.
When I went to school in the city they NEVER had field trips, but the schools in the suburb did. I went to the Bronx Zoo, Hall of Science, American Museum of Natural History etc. The field trips were nice, but most kids just liked them because they weren't in the classroom and got to miss a day of "school".
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeHudson
I grew up partly in NYC (Queens) and partly in the suburbs. The city does offer more in the way of museums & events, but teenagers find that stuff boring. It's nice not having to relay on a car in the city, but most once they reach driving age they still wanted the license and wanted a car. A car meant more freedom and having your own schedule.
Moving to the suburbs was a culture shock to me at first. The first few months of living here I was like this place is boring, but it really wasn't. It seemed boring because it was different and the good stuff to do is not in your face like the city. Even today while still living in the suburbs I'm always finding something new or a new "hot spot" I haven't been too.
When I went to school in the city they NEVER had field trips, but the schools in the suburb did. I went to the Bronx Zoo, Hall of Science, American Museum of Natural History etc. The field trips were nice, but most kids just liked them because they weren't in the classroom and got to miss a day of "school".
Well the typical teenage finds that stuff boring. I was one of those weirdos who actually enjoyed learning for the sake of it . Much of my learning was done in the library, however, at lunch time. Making learning a chore took some of the fun out of it.
I imagine kids who lived in New York City might already be familiar with those places, so I can understand why they weren't taken to field trips there. As a kid one of my favourite cartoons was 'Hey Arnold', and I always imagined that's sort of what growing up in the city would be like. It seemed pretty cool, there were always places to hang out close at end. Living in the suburbs can be really isolating for anyone who can't drive. But then again a kid has different interests, and I found plenty to do in the suburbs, such as playing sports, riding my bike, having adventures. Alot of the stuff in the city was a bit 'adult' for a typical kid, and it made trips into the city more special.
But even when you get older and you can drive, you get sick of having to drive to all the interesting places. I'd like to be able to just walk down to a wide variety of shops, movie cinemas, pubs, clubs, cafes, museums etc which is why I plan to get out of my suburban 'utopia' as soon as possible and live somewhere in the city, another city.
Well the typical teenage finds that stuff boring. I was one of those weirdos who actually enjoyed learning for the sake of it . Much of my learning was done in the library, however, at lunch time. Making learning a chore took some of the fun out of it.
I imagine kids who lived in New York City might already be familiar with those places, so I can understand why they weren't taken to field trips there. As a kid one of my favourite cartoons was 'Hey Arnold', and I always imagined that's sort of what growing up in the city would be like. It seemed pretty cool, there were always places to hang out close at end. Living in the suburbs can be really isolating for anyone who can't drive. But then again a kid has different interests, and I found plenty to do in the suburbs, such as playing sports, riding my bike, having adventures. Alot of the stuff in the city was a bit 'adult' for a typical kid, and it made trips into the city more special.
But even when you get older and you can drive, you get sick of having to drive to all the interesting places. I'd like to be able to just walk down to a wide variety of shops, movie cinemas, pubs, clubs, cafes, museums etc which is why I plan to get out of my suburban 'utopia' as soon as possible and live somewhere in the city, another city.
What an excuse! They probably didn't take them there b/c they didn't have the money and/or parent volunteers to do so. There are probably plenty of kids living in the city who have never gone to the museums, etc.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana
What an excuse! They probably didn't take them there b/c they didn't have the money and/or parent volunteers to do so. There are probably plenty of kids living in the city who have never gone to the museums, etc.
I'm not sure if say the Met was free back then. Now it's technically free but the 'suggested' donation of $20 is basically like a fee. Even then, $10 or something back then wasn't an excessive amount to pay for a trip to the museum. Sure alot of families/kids probably had little interesting in going to museums, which is a shame. It would have been good to have field trips anyway. Reminds me of 'To Sir With Love' when kids from a school in a poorer part of London go for a field trip to a British museum. We call them 'excursions' here and they were always little adventures. We'd hire out a bus and off we went...
to me, it is more about the mindset than the actual setting. meaning, i don't think the presence of a 1/4 acre of uninterrupted privately-owned grass makes or breaks a childhood. what i like about living in a city neighborhood is that there are people of different incomes, races, etc, all living together, using the same parks, library, schools (to some degree), etc. i think this is exactly what some people do not like about living in the city, and that's okay too.
i also like that i am not going to have to play chauffeur to my child in every free moment.
not to paint all suburbs with one brush. suburbs are becoming increasingly diverse and there are some excellent choices among them. although if one looks merely at the best school ratings, one tends to find the bottom-of-the-barrel in terms of diversity, inclusion, and other such touchy-feely things important to some parents.
Well the typical teenage finds that stuff boring. I was one of those weirdos who actually enjoyed learning for the sake of it . Much of my learning was done in the library, however, at lunch time. Making learning a chore took some of the fun out of it.
I imagine kids who lived in New York City might already be familiar with those places, so I can understand why they weren't taken to field trips there. As a kid one of my favourite cartoons was 'Hey Arnold', and I always imagined that's sort of what growing up in the city would be like. It seemed pretty cool, there were always places to hang out close at end. Living in the suburbs can be really isolating for anyone who can't drive. But then again a kid has different interests, and I found plenty to do in the suburbs, such as playing sports, riding my bike, having adventures. Alot of the stuff in the city was a bit 'adult' for a typical kid, and it made trips into the city more special.
But even when you get older and you can drive, you get sick of having to drive to all the interesting places. I'd like to be able to just walk down to a wide variety of shops, movie cinemas, pubs, clubs, cafes, museums etc which is why I plan to get out of my suburban 'utopia' as soon as possible and live somewhere in the city, another city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana
What an excuse! They probably didn't take them there b/c they didn't have the money and/or parent volunteers to do so. There are probably plenty of kids living in the city who have never gone to the museums, etc.
They didn't have any field trips because there was no money for them. The school districts in the New York City suburbs offer students much more in the way of extra activities, field trips, sport programs etc than the city public schools. New York City does have specialized schools - those are the good schools in the city, but if you're not in one of them the schools in the suburbs are much better give or take.
Trimac20. Totally agree. People in different stages of life want different things. The whole city vs suburb and which is better is utter nonsense. Both have + and -. It all depends on what you want and what you need.
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. Much of my learning was done in the library, however, at lunch time. Making learning a chore took some of the fun out of it.
