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That being said, the people I know who grew up in the city are usually happier and better adjusted. They don't have the angst and ennui of the suburbs.
Interesting. I grew up in the burbs, and still keep in contact with a number of classmates 25 year after I left. I would say that my city has produced generally happy, successful, well-adjusted people in many different walks of life. Business people, fire-fighters, teachers, entrepreneurs...some with big families, some small, some not married...some living in urban areas, some rural, some in the burbs. In the end, I think people are people and if you have a supportive environment, people mostly turn our well, whether in the burbs or the city.
That being said, the people I know who grew up in the city are usually happier and better adjusted. They don't have the angst and ennui of the suburbs.
I think children 12 and under can be happy in either environment. generally, if they have friends, a place to play, a nice family and something to explore they are happy.
^^This.
For toddlers, most life takes place very close to home. These kids aren't doing anything unsupervised, and they can't do a lot, period. Parks are great, but sometimes the equipment it too "old" for the child. A space where you can put up a litte swing, a small sandbox and a tiny plastic wading pool are great.
As they get older, the parents can take them to the parks. The only drawback to that is the parent (or some adult) has to stay there. It was nice to be able to send my kids outside to play in the yard while I fixed dinner. The activities that kids enjoy can be found almost anywhere (except perhaps the tiniest of towns), e.g. swimmng, gymnastics, soccer, basketball, scouts, etc. There are schools everywhere. It doesn't matter to the kid if s/he rides a bus or walks. Older (school age) kids like to have a friend close by to walk/bike to. That is a matter of serendipity, it either happens or not in either environment.
By 11-12 kids can go a few carefully selected places unsupervised. I don't think I would have let mine take the bus to downtown Denver even if we lived there, but they did go to the local Kohl's store, to movies with friends (someone's parents [usually me] drove, stuff like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpk-nyc
That being said, the people I know who grew up in the city are usually happier and better adjusted. They don't have the angst and ennui of the suburbs.
Surely you jest? I don't think "adjustment" has anything to do with the city/suburb issue.
Highlands Ranch may not have had light rail in 2009, but it does now. It also has express buses going into Denver and a Park and Ride.
Recently opened? Good for the new generation of youth. They'll be able to take advantage of it. Though too late for the ones who already grew up there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana
As for the comments of a "traffic reporter", most of them have the IQ of a turnip, and I don't take what they say seriously.
But only when they're not telling you what you want to hear.
Recently opened? Good for the new generation of youth. They'll be able to take advantage of it. Though too late for the ones who already grew up there.
But only when they're not telling you what you want to hear.
What, the light rail? Yes, I'd guess it was recently opened. But that area has been part of the RTD since it was built 20 some years ago. It has ALWAYS had transit.
The traffic reporter was either not telling the truth or greatly misquoted by PBS. Much as I like PBS, I'd bet on the latter. Plus, it is the traffic reporter's job to report the traffic. It is not his job to pointificate on stuff he obviously knows nothing about. As Ohiogirl pointed out, there are cars parked in a Park and Ride in the video. So the reporter was wrong when he said ". . . They tried for years and years to get people to either carpool, get them onto the trains. But you can't. You can't force people out of their cars." "
To get back on topic, HR is fairly self-contained. It has lots of trails, rec centers, and other stuff that kids would like. It even has a Whole Foods for the yuppie parents!
Rec centers:
http://www.hrcaonline.org/GeneralInfo/FacilitiesandLocations/Southridge.aspx (broken link)
Plus three others.
I'd say there is plenty for kids to do in HR. They don't need to go to Denver on the light rail. I'm not sure I'd let a child under 12 go to Denver by themselves, light rail or no.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 04-18-2012 at 05:09 PM..
That being said, the people I know who grew up in the city are usually happier and better adjusted. They don't have the angst and ennui of the suburbs.
Don't know if this is true. I do think city kids are more open minded and independent than suburban kids. I much prefer talking with young people who grew up in the city than the burbs (with some exceptions). I have noticed that city teenagers seem much less likely to get involved in hard drugs or binge drinking than their suburban counterparts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpk-nyc
In the suburbs you can tell your kids to go out and play. You can't do that in the city, at least then they're young. City kids are much more supervised.
Maybe this is true for really young kids, but after 10 or 11, most city kids can have a little more freedom walking to the store, park or movie theater, etc.
Don't know if this is true. I do think city kids are more open minded and independent than suburban kids. I much prefer talking with young people who grew up in the city than the burbs (with some exceptions). I have noticed that city teenagers seem much less likely to get involved in hard drugs or binge drinking than their suburban counterparts.
Maybe this is true for really young kids, but after 10 or 11, most city kids can have a little more freedom walking to the store, park or movie theater, etc.
You've noticed "that city teenagers seem much less likely to get involved in hard drugs or binge drinking than their suburban counterparts", eh? Well, then surely you could provide some stats. My kids grew up in the burbs and neither they nor their friends did anything other than a little experimenting, certainly not with hard drugs, which goes on everywhere.
My kids walked/biked to the parks when they got to that age. They could also walk to friends' houses. The movie theater was too far to walk to, but that's often the case in city neighborhoods as well. It's not like there's one in every residential area.
You've noticed "that city teenagers seem much less likely to get involved in hard drugs or binge drinking than their suburban counterparts", eh? Well, then surely you could provide some stats. My kids grew up in the burbs and neither they nor their friends did anything other than a little experimenting, certainly not with hard drugs, which goes on everywhere.
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On the whole "better adjusted" issue...
I know many who have lived their whole lives in certain racially homogenous suburbs They are a lot more likley to describe the city in which I live as a hellhole, a slum, use racial profanity, get inappropriately drunk, talk specifically about ending transit to their suburbs because "they" will come and steal, and just generally not understand the challenges of a place like this. They see their area as "the right way" and everything else as "the wrong way" and have little but contempt for anyone who doesn't see things this way. Lots of empty talk about ending welfare, that sort of thing.
When these people come "downtown" (they refer to the whole city as downtown, as if they lived on some fringe of it) it's for sports games, to one of the handful of white-folks-get-ridiculously-drunk-safe areas, with an overwhelming police presence, or to buy drugs in whatever outer urban neighborhood is closest to them, thereby fueling the cycle of poverty and violence they abhor.
However, those who come from a more "progressive" suburban area, it is quite the opposite. Many I encounter there at least passively acknowledge the challenges of this city and are way more likely to champion causes, volunteer at community efforts, donate, etc. Both suburbs have their routes in "escaping" the city, but the populace of one took a position of throwing us under the bus while the other at least looks at us as a charity case. Given the options, I'll take the latter.
I sell a lot of stuff on Craigslist from my home. Since nobody listens to my instructions and just trusts their GPS to guide them here, I get a lot of people who come from suburb "A" and say "wow I had to come through some REALLY BAD neighborhoods to get here!" What do you want me to say - sorry? Suburb "B" people might be just as uncomfortable but at least put on a good game face and complement my garden and my leafy street and talk about their memories of my neighborhood from when they used to go to Orioles games at the old stadium.
Summing up - I don't think it makes any difference whether someone grows up in a suburb or a city as far as "adjustment" is concerned. It's simply not that easy to make a judgment on something like that, even my distinction between suburb A and B is too speculative. There are so many factors.
But having dealt Suburb A people for all these years, I could definitely see how someone could see it that way.
You've noticed "that city teenagers seem much less likely to get involved in hard drugs or binge drinking than their suburban counterparts", eh? Well, then surely you could provide some stats. My kids grew up in the burbs and neither they nor their friends did anything other than a little experimenting, certainly not with hard drugs, which goes on everywhere.
This is an older (1999) study from Columbia University that found significantly higher substance abuse among suburban teens as opposed to inner city.
"Adjusted" may have been the wrong word. I meant engaged. I teach theater all over the country and have found a huge difference between suburban and city kids (and by city I mean a real, urban city like New York or Boston). I can't stand pouty, angsty, I'm-so-bored teenagers and the suburbs are full of them.
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