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”…

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.

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.

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.

OH HELL YES! I love a quaint town with coffee shops, and little independent stores with treasures. Hubba, gimme

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 : )

That said, once the kids are out of the house we’re moving our asses back within Chicago city limits!

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!

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.

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.