How did you know you were a city, small town, or suburb person? (metro, suburban)

[the city]

What was the experience or experiences that made you that way. I am looking at a more sociological point.

I know many people from the 60s and 70s who grew up in the early suburbs still like the suburbs today. I think family life has a big part of which one you like.

Many kids with the "leave it to beaver" life had a positive view of suburbs and want to return to that life. Others who had it hard want to be in cities because they feel more expected.

Small towns I feel are ones who want to escape cities and suburbs. It may also be an escape from the suburbs, but instead of finding people for acceptance you go somewhere to get away period from people. Suburbs are good for some because of the safety and quietness and protection if one grew up living in a poor urban part of a city.

[JR_C]

Not sure if this is the kind of answer you're looking for. I've loved old houses since I was at least 10. So, that rules out all suburbs except the streetcar variety. Not being able to get a drivers license rules out most small towns. (unless I found a town where everything I needed was within walking/biking distance)

So, I don't like stereotypical suburbia because: I find them ugly, and/or, you need a car to live there comfortably.

[Ohiogirl81]

I can be any of the above. It depends on my circumstances and on the city, suburb or small town in question.

[urbanlife78]

I grew up in a very suburban southern region and for as long as I remember loved really urban place, the more urban the better, the bigger the better because all I knew was suburban life and hated it. Since growing up I have finally moved to the NYC metro and have realized there is such a thing as too big and too urban for me, so I have found my ideal level of urban is what one would find in the northwest in a city like Portland. It has urban qualities, small town qualities, big city qualities, and an extensive rail and biking system.

[the city]

I like visiting cities, but can't live in one of them. I'm fine living near one though. Another option for city people these days are university towns. Since large universities usually bring in amenities of a city to small towns. Coffee shops, health food markets, book stores, a bunch of ethnic restaurants, performing and fine arts venues, night life, etc...

I like a suburb or a suburban town that is hip. From what I have read and seen, the Bay Area suburbs seem really cool.

I've lived in all three. small town experience was bad. city experience was bad too. suburb experience was better, but i ended having my best experiences in the college town.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by the city

I like visiting cities, but can't live in one of them. I'm fine living near one though. Another option for city people these days are university towns. Since large universities usually bring in amenities of a city to small towns. Coffee shops, health food markets, book stores, a bunch of ethnic restaurants, performing and fine arts venues, night life, etc...

I like a suburb or a suburban town that is hip. From what I have read and seen, the Bay Area suburbs seem really cool.

I've lived in all three. small town experience was bad. city experience was bad too. suburb experience was better, but i ended having my best experiences in the college town.

Hip Bay Area suburbs are few and far between

The ones on the peninsula are decidedly not hip, but most have walkable portions. Coffee shops yes. But not excellent coffee shops.

I like living somewhere walkable with interesting stuff. I am open to city size mostly. If I lived in NYC I'd probably live in Brooklyn. I mostly like where I live now but I'd probably switch neighborhoods go be more walkable. I'd rather live close to the "Main Street". Now I am about 1/2 mike away.

[Komeht]

I grew up in the most urban neighborhood in, what was then, a not very urban city. My parents took us on vacations to Rome, Paris, NYC, SF, Mexico City, Washington DC and I always got a charge out of seeing a new big city, so I always had a love for them. My first jobs out of college were in a suburban office park. I can't tell you the existential anguish I felt in such an environment but if you've seen Office Space you'll have an idea. I guess that's when I knew for certain that I was, and always will be a city mouse.

[drive carephilly]

Me earliest memories are living on a farm in Missouri. From the age of 4 I lived in urban neighborhoods - the Bronx then Brooklyn - until I was about 9. This was in the late 70s and early 80s so it was all going downhill fast.

I spent my formative years in the railroad suburbs south of NYC and while they were much nicer than NYC they were still in decline, some more so than others. The early 90s was the beginning of substantial redevelopment for most of the towns.

I then spent 6 years living in various college towns as well as some sprawling hellholes down south. Then another railroad suburb in NJ followed by Center City Philly for a few months then South Philly for just over a decade. Now I live in medium density suburbs (lots of 5-8 unit apartment buildings mixed in with single family) in Australia.

Until I moved to one I never had any desire to live in a big city. The more time I spent away from one the more I realized I wanted to live near one - but I preferred the railroad suburb to more urban neighborhoods. Then I moved into the city to be closer to work and while I was resistant at first after a year I could never imagine moving back.

These days I'm not so sure. Brisbane has a lot of the flaws of a bigger city without many of the benefits. It's definitely a smaller, isolated metro. Australia is also short on the Ithacas, Charlottesvilles, Burlingtons, Boulders, and Ashevilles that the US has in spades.

Not having to deal with a lot of the BS from my old neighborhood has made me realize that I don't really miss it. The suburbs are definitely out and so are smaller cities/college towns unless they're close to a much bigger city.

Sometimes I think I want to live on a farm, raise goats, grow hops, something like that but I'm not sure how long I would last with that kind of isolation.

[orlando-calrissian]

A city or a suburb setting would work, but there are limits. New York city life is uncomfortable, and so are cookie cutter subdivisions. A good walkable area is a plus. Nice-sized apartments are nice too, but I wouldn't want there to be more than 3-4 stories. Good transit should be an option, but I'd like my car to be my first choice of transportation.

[susankate]

I grew up in the suburbs of Auckland and Sydney in the 60s/70s and after spending a couple ofyears working in a bank then learning to type, I decided I wanted to move to London which I was able to do by claiming grandpatriality. My plan was to live there forever but I just couldn't afford to live there - I did have some money saved but going here straight after typing school wasn't the best idea. I came back and lived in Sydney but wanted to move elsewhere so over the years I lived in Brisbane & Melbourne and then back to Sydney.

Though I liked the idea of living in a large country town rather than city, it never felt practical to me being single without a car and so when my sister suggested moving up to a regional area 100km north of Sydney, I didn't want to. However, due to my dad's illness, I ended up doing so a few years later and after 5 years there, I didn't want to go back to Sydney or another big city - in fact, I wanted to go even further out.

Now I am living in a large regional holiday beach town (population 40,000 or so) about 500km north of Sydney. I really love it up here. It is large enough to have most facilities but small enough that it doesn't feel cramped and it is easy to get out of the town.

One thing that probably has helped is that the internet is so widespread, one never need feel too far away from things even in a small town. Being a medical transcriptionist, it has also meant that I can work in any town where my company has an office. The main things I miss are things like the state library (for things like electoral rolls and other research things).

I think I'll be here for a long time but if I did decide I wanted to move to a much smaller country town, the first thing I would do is resit my driver's test. Then, the area I would chose would be the area just west of Canberra. I have family links there and one can experience the country but be close to the facilities of a city (both shopping and things like the national library) and if I wanted to go to the much bigger city, it is not that far north. The towns west of Canberra have a lot of history to them (by Australian standards anyway) and are friendly but unpretentious towns surrounded by farms and serving farmers that haven't been totally taken over by treechangers from Sydney (although the towns are becoming popular with Canberrans and are gaining a reputation for fresh produce and good food).

So when I was younger, I think I was a city person but part of me also wanted to live in somewhere less crowded - however, practicality won over. However, in these more technically advanced times, it is possible to live in a smaller place and be as secluded or non-secluded as one likes.