City vs Suburbs
Posted
April 3, 2008 at
1:24 pm by
Tracy
Once upon a time I worked at a boy scout camp, and once upon a time I harbored a crush on a certain co-worker. One night we were at Friendly’s and he patted his seat urging me to come sit next to him….as we gazed into each others eyes over a sampler platter he told me I looked like I belonged on a farm (what with my sun streaked hair, freckles and all). He said I was the perfect “farm girl…” I thought that was hot.
Country bumpkins my friends, are hot. They’re all sunburnt noses and flimsy sundresses. They take baths in claw foot tubs after a long day making jam, and they leave the door open. They make love on giant four poster beds all creaking and clawing and there’s no air conditioning so everybody is a sweaty mess. Uh huh, that’s what I think when I think of “perfect farm girl…”
But I mean, I don’t live on a farm. I live on shitty Staten Island in a tiny apartment with too much stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t suck too much, I do live within walking distance to a craft store and a TJ Maxx but as far as traffic, the general population, crime, shitty schools etc go I hate it. The private school has a huge sign hanging over it that says “DON’T KILL THE UNBORN BABIES…” it’s very welcome. So our lease is up in two months and we are getting the (pardon) fuck out. Debating city vs more rural suburb was easy. I don’t want to pay 3 grand for a tiny apartment when we both work from home. I want to drive fifteen minutes to get to Trader Joes. I’ve never drove! I want trees, flowers, and backyard for our dog to run around in. I want to let my cat roam the neighborhood.
So I’m happy and psyched to say Saturday we are going to peep our dream home. It’s a rent-to-buy (sup shitty market) but we are hoping to buy in a year or two. It’s got a detached garage so Phil can have a mancuary and I don’t even need to see him! Sitting in our living room! Working! Trying to prevent my daughter from playing with his USB cords! And it’s got 2 acres, and it’s only 15 minutes from my own fantastic mommy, and it has a room I can have all to myself for writing. I wanted to share my happiness! Lets pray we get it.
So what’s your take, city, or country bumpkin?
Tags: city-vs-suburb, country-bumpkin, Family, Humor, moving-with-an-infant, News-&-Politics, Parenting |
14 Responses to “City vs Suburbs”
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1. Rita said:
April 3, 2008 @ 1:51 pm
I like the suburbs because it’s got the best of both worlds. All of the members of one side of my extended family live in pockets of very rural (verrrry rural) Indiana. So, I grew up knowing what it’s like to be in a town with one stop light and a theater that only ran one movie that was already old by the time it got there. Country roads, tipping cows and really, really good pot.
But, I could never live like that. I’d crawl out of my skin if that was my life day in, day out.
I love living in the city, but it seems selfish to do so when you’ve got kids. The kids just do NOT benefit from the smaller living spaces, the higher crime rate and the air pollution. People are drawn to the suburbs because of the room to play, the better schools and the slower pace, but they don’t have to give up frequent trips into the city to get their RDA of culture.
The only thing is, suburban moms suck. It’s hard to find bright funny peers when you’re living in the ‘burbs.
And please don’t let your cat roam the neighborhood. It’s not good for the cat, or the neighbors.
2. Tracy said:
April 3, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
But, I could never live like that. I’d crawl out of my skin if that was my life day in, day out.
I love living in the city, but it seems selfish to do so when you’ve got kids. The kids just do NOT benefit from the smaller living spaces, the higher crime rate and the air pollution. People are drawn to the suburbs because of the room to play, the better schools and the slower pace, but they don’t have to give up frequent trips into the city to get their RDA of culture.
The only thing is, suburban moms suck. It’s hard to find bright funny peers when you’re living in the ‘burbs.
And please don’t let your cat roam the neighborhood. It’s not good for the cat, or the neighbors.[/quote]
I didn’t mean literally. I will let him outside though, he’s a good loyal cat and he doesn’t really leave our little pathetic porch now, so I think he’ll enjoy running around with the dog. Yep, they are best friends, weird I know.
3. Philly said:
April 3, 2008 @ 3:03 pm
I’m a suburban Mom and I do not suck !!
4. Allison said:
April 3, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
I’ve had both worlds. We used to live in NY. We had to drive slightly into NJ to visit our Aunt and Uncle in Staten Island, and the drive SUCKED! Passing “Garbage Mountain” was pure torture.
Even today, that’s our family’s little inside joke that no one else gets,
“Damn. Sumthin’ smells like Jersey in here!”
Then we moved to rural Idaho. People asked me if it was a bad ‘culture shock’ and I said No. I loved it. I miss my parents and Dh’s brother. Movies, pharmacies, grocery stores were a 35 min drive. Even my High School was 14 miles away.
Now we live in Washington. 25 minutes east of Seattle, and I looove it here. Our town is small. No stoplight. No McD’s. The pharmacy is in the next town 8 miles away. But when we need a little adventure or culture, Seattle is ridiculously close, yet we’re still far enough that some people have never even heard of our town.
Piss on the city!
5. Rita said:
April 3, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
Well, so am I, but I gather by your screen name that you’re from somewhere around the Philly area? See, that’s about right, one mom per suburb that does in fact, not suck.
6. Prescott said:
April 3, 2008 @ 3:37 pm
Allison, my wife’s from Seattle so I know of what you speak. On several occasions I’ve toyed with the notion of moving to what I call “Twin Peaks Country”. I couldn’t believe how quickly you get into landscape like that once you leave Seattle — it really is the best of both worlds.
That said, once the kids are out of the house we’re moving our asses back within Chicago city limits!
7. Allison said:
April 3, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
Prescott, several of those pictures are only 5 minutes from my house. The Snoqualmie Falls is my kids’ favorite place to visit!
8. Allison J said:
April 3, 2008 @ 4:53 pm
I still can’t make up my mind. I love city life in Manhattan & Boston — fast-pace, unpredictable, the culture…
Then again, I love heading down to family property in Western NY’s Southerntier — fresh air, the fields and dense forests. The dog can run, I can run…
What I don’t love is the burbs — strange, huh? The cookie-cutter homes (in my area), huge chain stores and restaurants, traffic jammed with mini-vans. Everything just looks so sterile, so manicured, so false.
What I do LOVE is small town living right outside of the city — old homes, funky dining options, quite living in developed neighborhoods. For those of you familiar with the Gilmore Girls — I’d like to live in Stars Hollow : )
9. Tracy said:
April 3, 2008 @ 5:46 pm
OH HELL YES! I love a quaint town with coffee shops, and little independent stores with treasures. Hubba, gimme
10. Prescott said:
April 3, 2008 @ 7:41 pm
Well, the term “suburb” is a very generic term — there are different flavors of suburbs just as there are cities (for instance, I love living in the “city”, but not if that city was downtown Detroit).
We currently live in an outer ring suburb of Chicago where you would expect to find rows and rows of cookie cutter homes. Instead, it’s a river town where our 80 year old house is considered a “newbie” (our neighbors was built in like 1880). There’s a little downtown a block away with a hardware store, live music theater, a few bars, several restaurants (none of which are Chili’s), a music store, etc… so they’re out there if you know where to look.
And don’t forget, many city neighborhoods were considered “suburbs” back in the day.
11. Erika said:
April 4, 2008 @ 10:02 am
[quote comment="152742"]And don’t forget, many city neighborhoods were considered “suburbs” back in the day. :)[/quote]
That’s a really good point. Our city neighborhood was a ’suburb’ less a hundred years ago. I love our neighborhood– very friendly and walkable with good non-chain restaurants and shops, within walking distance of the zoo and several museums, and our (tiny) house has a backyard with trees. We are in one of the most dangerous cities in America (not Detroit), but frankly, in my view, exposure to such racial, ethnic and economic diversity has more plusses than minuses for my kids.
There are very few suburbs here that I would personally consider living in, and most of those are far out of our price range. I’m just not a suburb kind of girl, anyway. Strip malls and new construction blacken my soul. And I grew up in a small town in the Midwest and I know for certain that is not the childhood I want for my own kids.
That being said, we are moving to a small university town in England later this year. I think the presence of a university tends to cancel out many of the negatives that small towns (homogeneity, close-mindedness, lack of ‘culture’) can have, and if not, well, London is only two hours away by train.
12. Jessica said:
April 4, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
I think you can raise children in teh city very nicely.
Everyone I know, who was raised in the city of Chicago, even the younger people I know, are all boy-next-door/girl-next-door and well educated and culturally sophisticated. I think it all boils down to money-tay.
13. Rita said:
April 4, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
Well, yeah, if you have enough money then you can afford a bigger spot and not live in a cramped little space, and you can send your kids to summer camps away in the country and so on. If you’ve got the money, then everything and anything is at your fingertips.
14. Prescott said:
April 4, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
I hear you, Erika. We did the new construction thing and barely lasted 2 years (and that’s only because it took 6 months to sell). We feel where we’re at now is a good compromise.
I’m also probably spoiled because given the vastness and history of the Chicago area the ‘burbs are a bit different here than elsewhere — there are a *lot* of suburbs that were founded 75 - 100 years ago, so as you can imagine the housing stock is not your typical “box farm”…