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Old 02-22-2012, 04:20 PM
 
6,347 posts, read 9,833,945 times
Reputation: 1794

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Quote:
Originally Posted by 415_s2k View Post
I'm a total urbanite who wouldn't seriously consider moving to the 'burbs, but I really do not understand the over-the-top hatred and spite that some people have about suburban America.

As soon as someone starts talking about gangs in the inner city, we all rush to point out that the vast bulk of the urban landscape is not rife with blight and crime, and that this nastiness is isolated to specific pockets that are easily avoided and have little to do with the rest of the fabric of urban life.

But it seems that to some people, in the same breath that they'll defend urban America against paranoid tea-party myths of the inaccuracies of city life, they'll immediately dump on the suburbs in kind, and make sweeping statements about them being boring, depressing, shallow, lily-white, soul-sucking tracts of all that is shameful in America.

I lived in suburban and rural areas till I was 13 and we moved to Boston, and I'll be the first to say that I have chosen to continue to live in cities - LA, SF, NYC, Seattle. I live in cities because of the culture, the cultural offerings, the exposure to different cultures and people, the food, the music... not because of a yard, a two-car garage, sensible housing prices, good schools, and certainly not for quiet. These things are absolutely not my concern, due in part to the fact that I'm single and don't have kids (and who is it that generally moves out to the suburbs?).

Bottom line: I really don't mind the suburbs at all, even if I choose not to live in them. I understand why they exist, and the purpose they serve to people as well as to American society. We urbanites can bemoan the Toby Keith image of what a real American is as something that doesn't represent our lives, the same that someone in the suburbs can bemoan concerns over urban life not being representative of theirs.
People are missing the point.

Nobody is bashing the suburbs but there is a well documented trend of city recovery and suburban decline going on. The cities are desirable among the new young middle class who is not moving out to the suburbs so much even after kids.

Likewise, poorer city residents are moving to the suburbs taking previous problems associated with the city with them.

We are seeing an opposite effect of what happened with white flight.

Some suburban residents get defensive when you point this out.

 
Old 02-22-2012, 06:16 PM
 
6,347 posts, read 9,833,945 times
Reputation: 1794
As promised information on how suburbs now have more poverty than Suburbs. Poverty pervades the suburbs
 
Old 02-22-2012, 07:32 PM
 
Location: Metro Phoenix
11,054 posts, read 16,757,111 times
Reputation: 12942
Quote:
Originally Posted by cry_havoc View Post
As promised information on how suburbs now have more poverty than Suburbs. Poverty pervades the suburbs
Didn't work. I take it you meant this?

Poverty pervades the suburbs - Sep. 23, 2011

But you know what suburbs aren't on there?

Irvine, CA


Concord, MA


The Hamptons, NY


I'd take any of the above over Hunters Point in my favorite city, San Francisco...

 
Old 02-22-2012, 11:17 PM
 
6,347 posts, read 9,833,945 times
Reputation: 1794
Quote:
Originally Posted by 415_s2k View Post
Didn't work. I take it you meant this?

Poverty pervades the suburbs - Sep. 23, 2011

But you know what suburbs aren't on there?

Irvine, CA


Concord, MA


The Hamptons, NY


I'd take any of the above over Hunters Point in my favorite city, San Francisco...
Of course the richest suburbs are better than bad ghettos, but generally this is not the case as shown by all the evidence I have provided.

I never said all suburbs are full of poverty. If you want to get the best city neighborhoods and compare them to the worst suburbs than suburbs would look even worse.

However, we are going on a general basis.
 
Old 02-22-2012, 11:23 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,202,031 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by cry_havoc View Post
Of course the richest suburbs are better than bad ghettos, but generally this is not the case as shown by all the evidence I have provided.

I never said all suburbs are full of poverty. If you want to get the best city neighborhoods and compare them to the worst suburbs than suburbs would look even worse.

However, we are going on a general basis.
You haven't provided any evidence at all! Personal opinions are not evidence!
 
Old 02-22-2012, 11:49 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,202,031 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by seain dublin View Post
That's very nice that they did it and maybe you have lived there for many years, but that is not the norm today.

I thought it was just my part of the country(a sunbelt state that is transient in nature)but a good friend of mine who lives in New England was in a house for about 4 years.

She said no one came over to introduce themselves when they moved in, and even when they moved out a few years later no one came over and said goodbye.

And this was in one of the quaint little NE towns.

People wave and say hello and make chit chat if they happen to be out at the mailbox at the same time, but no real interaction.

I think if you talk to most people you will find that there is little interaction these days.

Our society is becoming more and more insular.
Did you note I said I had my surgery December 1? I meant December 1, 2011, not 1951.

Do you have any evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that city people are friendlier?
***********************************
Now here are some stats about obestiy:

Obesity's Home: City or Suburbs?

City Child Obesity Rate Almost Twice as Large as Suburban - News Room - University of Rochester Medical Center

Obesity, physical activity, and the urban environment: public health research needs - Minority Health and Health Equity Archive
 
Old 02-23-2012, 08:43 AM
 
6,347 posts, read 9,833,945 times
Reputation: 1794
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
You haven't provided any evidence at all! Personal opinions are not evidence!
I have provided 5 or 6 links. Take a look at them.
 
Old 02-23-2012, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,202,031 times
Reputation: 35920
Poverty pervades the suburbs - Sep. 23, 2011
The above is a prime example of "how to lie with statistics". It does not give suburban or urban poverty rates, just raw numbers. More people live in suburbs, so it stands to reason there are more poor people in the suburbs, but w/o a comparison of rates, the numbers don't mean anything. Typical CNN.

University of Virginia News Story
Combines traffic accidents with other "crime" to make the claim that the burbs are more dangerous. Disingenuous.

More poor now live in suburbs than city, data reveals | SmartPlanet
Another article using the same info as the CNN article, again lying with statistics.

Make a pie with these cherries you've picked.
 
Old 02-23-2012, 11:35 AM
 
6,347 posts, read 9,833,945 times
Reputation: 1794
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
Poverty pervades the suburbs - Sep. 23, 2011
The above is a prime example of "how to lie with statistics". It does not give suburban or urban poverty rates, just raw numbers. More people live in suburbs, so it stands to reason there are more poor people in the suburbs, but w/o a comparison of rates, the numbers don't mean anything. Typical CNN.

University of Virginia News Story
Combines traffic accidents with other "crime" to make the claim that the burbs are more dangerous. Disingenuous.

More poor now live in suburbs than city, data reveals | SmartPlanet
Another article using the same info as the CNN article, again lying with statistics.

Make a pie with these cherries you've picked.
Feel free to deny the science involved. It just proves my point.
 
Old 02-23-2012, 12:08 PM
 
Location: Viña del Mar, Chile
16,401 posts, read 30,815,771 times
Reputation: 16642
Why are suburbs looked down upon so much on this forum? I grew up in a happy family, I had a yard to play in, a neighborhood with tons of kids and always had activities I could do outside. I feel like the people who think suburbs are bad are the ones who feel that the only way worth living is if you live with 3 families in a studio apartment in Manhattan because you can brag about how many different ethnic restaurants you ate at.

Apparently the way to living is having to walk to the store in the middle of winter and take your groceries on a subway, and then walk all the way home. I guess that is the new cool thing to do. Sorry, I'll take a backyard, some space and a good place for my children to play.

Don't worry you guys, at least you can brag that you're enlightened and pretend you know more about the world. I'll live 20 minutes outside of the city, enjoy my space and be able to drive in whenever I want to
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