That Age Old Debate: City Vs. Suburbs


Hello everyone!!! I am so sorry I've been away for so long, but last week wore me out! I had to take a little break, rejuvenate my creative juices to bring you nothing but the best. Well, we are in our last month of summer and I can say that this has been a really top season this year with even more to come. Now, this post was very hard for me to write, but I have tried my best to be unbiased. So here we go!

City or suburbs? It's a question all folks have asked themselves at least once and its also a deeply personal question. Some of us are city folks at heart and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. For others, the third-floor walkups, downtown crowd and constant musical symphony of ambulances, police cars and firetrucks are just too much. But lets take a look at both. Now, no one can argue the fact that living in a city provides more diversity. Not just in cultures and races, but also economical, educational, class differences and age as well. It is truly one of my main  reasons for living in the city and raising my son here. There is also access and convenience that the suburbs cannot offer without a car.  Not to mention amazing old architecture. I could go on and on about why I love my century old home and how amazing it is. Would you like a tour? I will give you one in a heartbeat! Thinking of posting a video on it just so I can brag. Now, my girlfriend Kelsey loves the history of old buildings, but she has made it clear that she does not want to live in an old house. Many people don't. They love that custom, "built from the ground up"structure that only the suburbs can bring. Not to mention, lawn space. The city is lacking in this point and I just happen to be one of the few people on my block that actually has a backyard and a decent sized one to boot. Entertainment is everything in city living, but you have to deal with pockets of bad neighborhoods or whole sections of bad neighborhood to be honest. The suburbs provide a safe peace of mind. Now, I'm not saying that crime doesn't happen there too, because it does and not just brake ins. I remember a man murdering his pregnant wife with a  hammer just down the road where I grew up in beautiful, clean suburbia. That was lesson in understanding that crazy folks are all over the place and to always protect myself. My high school social studies teacher would always say "At least living in the city, you know where not to go at night. In the suburbs, you could be living right next door to Charles Bundy and not even know it."But I digress. Now, as a former teacher, education is everything to me and living in WNY, we have access to some of the best school in the entire country. Many of my friends moved to the suburb for this fact alone, the school district. Yet, they are paying out the wazoo in taxes. Don't get me wrong, the city has some excellent schools, hell there are even a few that are actually better then the suburban schools that get so much praise. But, there are also some very low preforming schools, so much so, the state is debating taking them over, which I am sad to say. But really, that's  whole other post that I don't want to get into...at least not now :)

So, no matter where you choose to live, you have to make your house or apartment or condo or beachfront property your own. It is your home and your castle. You have made the choose to live there and if you don't like it, then you have to change it. Like I said, this is very much a personal choice, but I would LOVE to know why you live where you live. Please leave a comment below and let me know where you live, city or suburb and why you chose to live there and I'll be following up on it. As always, thank you for stopping by and I look forward to your visit!

Love Malinda xoxox  



Comments

  1. Hi ATGAH,

    I'm a single 51 year old woman and I live in the city. When I was younger I always loved the clean and safe feeling of the suburbs. Now that feeling is too enclosed for me. I had to leave the suburb.

    The city provides me with a sense of energy and vitality that wasn't available in the burbs. I have a beautiful place, security and access to whatever I need. It' great!

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment. I understand that feeling of enclosure myself, as I grew up in suburbia. And you are correct, nothing can replace the energy that city life gives :)

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  2. We decided to live in the suburbs after our 3rd son was born. We needed the space the city could not offer. We picked a suburb in NJ based on school rankings, are renting and realized my oldest needed something more based on his teacher's recommendations. We moved to the suburbs for free public education but things happen and we are investing in education instead of a home. We are happy that our neighborhood is diverse (a sweet surprise) because it is so close to NYC. We also make it a point to travel back to Chicago where our whole Spanish speaking family lives and go back and forth the NYC when we get a chance.

    A good friend said, if you move to the suburbs, your kids won't know much about diverity, culture, etc...and they have been such world travelers!! I said to her that it doesn't matter where you live, it's what you DO for your children.

    Great post! Keep it up!

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    1. Thank you Betty. Yes, I also see how education plays such an important role in choosing where to live. I can understand your friend's point of view, as this was my own personal experience growing up in suburbs. The older I got, the more isolated I felt and not just from common teenage angst, but believe of the environment I was in. But, you are also correct that it ALWAYS up to parents to provide that foundation for their children. There can't be a house if there is no floor. Thank you again!

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  3. For now, we are just as committed to Buffalo as you are Malinda. We are hoping to buy early next year (waiting to be employed 2 years for FHA loan), and then we are hoping to buy a house in need of a lot of love and care to turn into our home.

    We love the city. The size is perfect for us. with all the bad things about it, I still don't want to live anywhere else right now.

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    1. Thank you for your comment Megan. Its funny, but I sometimes feel that living in the city pushes me to be a better parent. This is why I have intentionally chosen to be in an urban environment with my child. It forces me to think about issues and what I really believe, so that I can then explain things to my son. I think it's real to live in the city. It's truly a window to the world. Good luck with the house hunting (the fun part!) and call on me when you're ready for that house warming party :)

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