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I live in Buenos Aires, in the inner city, and i like it here SO MUCH MORE than suburbs. I was born and raised in other city and lived in a suburb-like neighbourhood and, men, i hate those!!! So quiet....all the pretty houses....no car passing by ever.....everything closed at 7pm.....the silence and darkness at night!!!
Now i live in the inner city of Buenos Aires, next to everything, subways and buses 24/7, bars in the corner of my appartment, people walking by at any hour, neigbours walking their dogs at 12 am on a wednesday!, lights, vibrancy.....LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE. Wont change it for the world.
Maybe suburbs are for when you are old and life in the inner city is for when you are young?
oh, yeah, and the situation in BA in general is that inner city is better. And also more expensive than suburbs. Yeah, actually, the most expensive negihbourhood in the country is an inner city of BA nb. So, yeah, its seen as more desirable to live in the city, you have all the advantages.
However, there are some suburbs that are very nice/rich, and a lot of people go live there to escape the crazyness of the city. But there are also suburbs that arent that nice, and the majority of the time, inner city is seen as much more desirable than suburbs. Actually, theres a reason why BA suburbs have 13 millon hab, and BA city only 3 and a half, while ALL the 13 millons work/hang out in the city and then take buses to their suburbs....living in the city is seen as more desirable but not everyone can afford it. Suburbs are MUCH more cheaper.
In the Washington, D.C. area, it's kind of evenly divided like a patchwork.
There are some pretty affluent places in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs where you basically have to be a multi-millionaire to afford to live. The same is true of northwest D.C. Politicians, lawyers and doctors typically live in these areas.
But the eastern part of D.C. and the areas of Maryland inside the beltway are much lower income.
Our inner city is very 'European' looking in contrast to the suburbs. Maybe that's because the architecture is older and less Americanized, I don't know.
Parts of Sydney's inner city does look old and rundown. There are many people on welfare and, admittedly, some of them seem creepy. But the inner suburbs do have their own interesting 'culture' or distinct 'vibe' thanks to the classic style architecture:
I am not a city person at all! The inner city is a big negative for me. I hate the lack of a natural setting, buildings everywhere, crowds, noise, etc. Even going for a walk in a city is a hassle. Nothing but crowds of people in your way, you have to stop at every block to cross the street, etc. All of it is just an assault on my senses. I never want to have to live in any city, ever. I would find living in the city conducive to stress and depression. Especially one of the horribly dense and urban East Coast population centers. Smaller cities in the Midwest, West, and South seem somewhat more benign, but I'd still prefer to avoid cities altogether. I dream of having a place with a lot of land and horses of my own.
The largest major city near where I live is Des Moines, Iowa- the entire metro area has about 600000 people.
The inner city has way more problems, way more crime and the worst schools of the entire metro.
At first I thought it was because more African Americans, Hispanics and poor immigrants live in the inner city but even the East Side of Des Moines which is solidly White, you will have some of the same problems because most Whites who live in the East Side are poorer, blue collar and uneducated. So it is not exactly about race, it is about socio-economics.
I would say 95% of all the new stores, housing and development are happening in the suburbs like West Des Moines, Clive, Johnston which are wealthier, Whiter but also attract non-White immigrants with high levels of education and income- quite a few Indians and Asians live in these suburbs.
As result, these suburbs are like bubbles-they have much higher income per capita than any inner city neighborhood and the best schools in the metro area.
In my city, the nicest and wealthiest suburbs are all located in the suburbs, while the most deprived are the inner city wards.
I live in the suburbs and I like it here, though efforts are being made to attract people into the inner city again. The 'downtown' is already popular and pretty expensive, but the area around is is not, though the wealth of the downtown is now spreading to inner city areas directly next to it, new apartments popping up etc.
I'm going to change my answer, because it isn't clear-cut at all. In Leeds, it's more of a geographical divide than an inner-city vs suburbs divide. The east and south of the city are poorer, the north is wealthier. Some of the poorest districts are on the very edge of the city, while some of the least deprived are in the inner city.
The wealthiest areas are suburban, but that's down to historical reasons - at one time, the inner-city was wealthier, but as the city grew, wealthy people moved further out to villages to escape the pollution (and other things like cholera).
Here's an example of a very deprived suburban district, looking towards the countryside:
From an american perspective, we can say that São Paulo may be divided into "inner city", "inner suburbs" and "outer suburbs". The inner city of SP has many beggars, drug dealers and widespread graffiti. Unhappily, it's also where most of the touristic places are found, this is the reason for SP being often bashed as ugly and dangerous.
The inner suburbs are the best areas in SP, where the most affluent people lives. However, calling it "suburb" is somewhat problematic because the business and financial centres are in these areas. The financial core of SP, in the southwest of the inner city, is surrounded by streets with enourmous mansions - some of them resembling true castles, many luxury appartment buildings and many parks. The middle class live mostly in the north, east and southeast regions surrounding the inner city.
The outer suburbs are even worse than the inner city, with many slums and poor infrastructure, this is the region which we call "periphery".
Nope, there are some very nice places to live in the city, although the suburbs are much greener and nicer for me, IMO.
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