Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Somehow I survived and thrived. Plenty to do just different from NYC. Does not mean that it is a bad place.
I used to go hiking, swimming at the area lakes, skiing, sledding in the winter. Ice skating on my friend's pond and horseback riding at the local stable. I was rarely bored.
If you are a kid stuck in the house with no parents to take you around places then I do feel sorry for you. When I grew up, not too long ago mind you, many kids would ride a bike places. We had apple orchards, farms, libraries to go to. The local diner might not be starbucks but it did not matter. And]-sports kept many of us quite busy too.
Good posts- you're not alone. The urban sprawl gets tiresome. Visited my gf in Massapequa last year- Kohls/Friday's Starbucks etc. same stuff here.
NYC and museums are great-unfortunately not readily available from LI all the time. When I grew up on LI it was nice- then around the early 90's started getting crazy/busy. Kids must have it hard now.
The Dead Cities of America, and the Ever-Growing Suburbs
Oh, Dedalus! Wise words. There's never enough preaching against the dullness and lack of personality of Suburbia. Long Island is bad, but geez- I swear America is 80% suburban and growing! Sad, but true. People are still afraid of the cities in this country, and if you read these forums you all will notice most of the relocating are to suburbs or small towns with few amenities. They want the cities far and away, and prefer the same old strip malls with the same old Starbucks, Target, Wal-Mart, Olive Garden and so.
Why, oh why, my fellow Americans??
It is too late to reverse the suburban trend in America, but it's always worth to cry and lament it.
And why don't you move, Dedalus?? Come to Manhattan!!
I thought maybe you were stuck up in Greene county or something..
I grew up in Orange county when it was quiet. Much more rural than LI. We went to LI for the beach and the kid's camp out on the tip of LI. LI was so much more exciting.
When you have a car of your own or parents willing to do a little taxi driver work these rural areas are not so bad. My father grew up in the Bronx near 187th st back in the 60's and quite honestly back then the area was not so bad. But now we go back to the same area and I say no way in heck I would ever raise a kid there. Things have changed and not for the better..when you are a parent decisions are not so easy. I have 2 little kids now (I'm 28) and they have changed a lot of my thinking. Back when I was 19 I would live wherever I wanted without a second thought. Packed a backpack, hopped a bus by myself and moved to Wichita Falls TX when I was 18 - no furniture, job and never having seen the place. Now a lot of those areas (or moving arrangements) I thought were cool and acceptable are completely out of the question!
Just trying to give you another view I know at 28 I sound like an old lady to you but I promise you that just yesterday I was 16.
I grew up in Upstate NY, the Mohawk Valley. Very rural and slow, but it was the best childhood I could have ever imagined. Never worried about anything. We were kids. Built forts, ice skated on frozen ponds, went sledding till we dropped all winter long, climbed trees, knew every neighbor in town, swam in the creeks and rivers in the summers, could survive a night in the woods, and rode our bikes everywhere. We didn't need cars, or cafes, or museums, or fire hydrants to cool off in the summer!! We always had something to do and were never bored. It was a blast and wouldn't trade it for anything. I survived, got my degree, got a good job, moved to California and am doing well. Hmmmmmmmm, maybe it's not so bad in these cow towns after all. In fact I want to leave California and move to a small town again.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The Dead Cities of America, and the Ever-Growing Suburbs
but I promise you that just yesterday I was 16.
