You know how I love to peruse Treehugger, right? Well, in one of my recent strolls through the website, I found an article about number people moving out to suburbia versus staying in large cities. For a long time, treehugger has touted the trend of young people moving back into the cities, in favor of walking everywhere and experiencing the community. They had an analyst crunch the numbers, though, and it turns out, the big move isn’t really that accurate. Sales for houses in suburbia are on the rise, likely due to more space at a lower cost.
I personally would much rather live in suburbia than smack dab in the city. Yes, it requires a car, but at least where I live, I think there are several walkable amenities {if you’re willing to strap on some sneakers}. Plus, having your own green space, for me, is a flat out deal breaker. I couldn’t do small patio living–at least, not while I am still able bodied enough to push a wheelbarrow full of dirt.
Of course, there are drawbacks to suburbia–like Homeowners Associations and the occasional feeling of Stepford Wives, but when you pull back the curtains, you realize that city living or suburbia, people are living their lives in all sorts of ways–and it’s not any more sterile or uniform in suburbia than it is in the city.
I guess for me, I’ll take a little bit of elbow room from my neighbors, a chance to dig in the dirt, and an attached garage any day of the week. How about you? City or suburbia?
~Mavis
Jenny says
I will keep my 10 acres of solitude, thanks!! Moved out of the city for a reason!!
Linda says
I would never move back to the city. I dont have 10 acres but have enough. Have lined dried for most of my life, growing up in the country and here in beautiful suburbia.
auntie says
Suburbs over city, but dreaming of peaceful farm country over the burbs, fer sure.
Aunt G says
25 acres in the middle of nowhere is heaven to me. City? Suburbia? No thanks. Never again.
erin says
I’ll keep my country living even though it comes with higher homeowners insurance (doubled). The only thing I miss is a clean car (gravel) and friends for my kids to play with after school. They make up for it with four wheelers, hikes and bonfires. Where we live, the county made an ordinance that in order to build a house you must own 40+ acres so I don’t think suburbia will spread my way.
Abby says
I’ve been stuck in the burbs for the past 13 years. I absolutely hate it here. I medically cannot drive, so I have to rely on others to get me to the store to get groceries etc. If I were back in the city, I could just walk or take public transportation. There is more to do for families in the city than suburbs, different types of people. Where I live, I if you didn’t all go to school together, marry your high school sweetheart, buy houses right next to one another and have babies at the sameness time, you don’t belong.
Jenn says
Country living is the best! I wouldn’t trade my 5 acres, big house, 7 dogs (yes 7!), pigs and goats for the world.
Amy says
Country living… the solitude, elbow room, and animals. We’ve done our share of apartment and small house in town living when we were just getting started. We now spend our free time doing yard work, gardening, caring for animals, barn cleaning, etc. and I wouldn’t change any of it!
Sue says
Those aren’t the only two choices — I live very rurally and love it. For a while I lived out of town on many acres, nearest neighbor 6 miles away. Now I live “in town” and have under 2 acres. But “town” is less than 500 people! Boonies for me, every time!
Delores says
We lived in a very large city for the first 5 years of our marriage, and then after a couple of moves ended up in a rural, small town. And I never, ever want to live in a large city again.
Martha says
I also grew up in “Boonieville, USA”, and was used to living with no neighbors, huge gardens (the kind where my dad would have to use a tractor to cultivate and till and harvest … not a little “pleasure” garden), lots of room for kids to run and explore, etc, but alas, I have married a man who did not enjoy his Boonieville experience growing up. So we live in Suburbia with a “decent” yard that can be mowed in an hour and a driveway that can still be shoveled by hand if need be. While I still drive on country roads with my face plastered to the window, soaking in the beauty of farmhouses and rolling hills, I don’t say anything any more because he told me once that my comments made him feel like I wasn’t thankful for the place we have. I AM thankful, because if I pushed and forced our family to move to the country, either I would be doing all the work to maintain our property, or else it would go downhill fast because I know he has no interest in that whatsoever. Sooo….I am thankful and content in my suburbian home because we are together in a home that is perfect for our family.
Connie Murray says
While living in the country sounds wonderful, I worry about the proximity to fracking (which pollutes the ground water and kills all living creatures) and all the other things done out of sight/out of mind. And the city is filled with way too many people living way too close together. So I’ll take the suburbs any day. A little bit of paradise and my own backyard to muck around and grow organic veggies. And I have chickens too!
Lisa says
I’ll stick up for the city. I don’t live in a big city, but I do live in the city and are within walking/biking/busing to the downtown area. I know most of my neighbors. There’s a social networking type of app for neighborhoods called NextDoor and people put out FYI’s and get recommendations for contractors and such. Tomorrow we’re having a neighborhood potluck meeting. One of our neighbors just moved to the suburbs, but he’s a suburban kind of guy. I grew up in the ‘burbs and have no intention of going back. It also keeps our kid from being too sheltered (which I felt I was). I want him to be prepared for the world. He’s exposed to a diverse group of people that he may not be exposed to in the suburbs. We’ve also taken him to bigger cities-Chicago and Washington D.C. He’s ridden on metros like a pro. He’s 10 years old and competent and confident. He’s even able to walk (or bike) to school. I feel very good about raising my kid in the city. And I also have two dogs, a yard and a garden. The local food bank also runs numerous community gardens throughout the city. I’ve had plots in the past, but gave it up in an effort to simplify my life.
Carrie says
I live two miles outside of the downtown area of my city and one mile from a university. My neighborhood (I guess considered suburbs?) is fantastic and is so diverse! We have a handful of excellent restaurants, one locally owned grocery store with an awesome craft beer selection, a coffeehouse, antique shop, laundromat and there is a farmers market every Saturday in the parking lot of one of the restaurants. The elementary school and parks and rec center and pool are also here. I am close to walking trails either on the greenway or at the arboretum. It is an older neighborhood with homes close to 100 years old and it use to be considered the country! Although I have a tiny yard (my lot is .18 acres) I have 4 chickens, two beehives, fruit trees and a front yard garden. No HOA here! But there is an active neighborhood group that puts on a 5K, Easter Egg Hunt, block parties, community yard sales and cleanups and only requests $10 a year to cover the quarterly newsletter and access to the email list-serve. When looking to buy a house last year we knew we wanted to be in this neighborhood or be in the country. I don’t mind paying the city taxes and having less elbow room when I have such great neighbors and amenities close by.
Constance says
If I had to choose between the two, city or suburbia, it would definitely be suburbia … although, I live on 23 acres here in the country. No HOA’s … yes, we have a car, a farm truck, and a 4 runner, but I would have a car anyway in suburbia also. I have neighbors close by that I can count on if I need them but they aren’t in my “space” .. we love it out here but I’ve also been a farm kid all my life. All my family has been. I do have a sister who prefers to live in town but she also wants a big yard to garden in, so I guess she’s suburbia also.
Dan says
City or Suburbia?
How about neither? I prefer small towns and rural locations, and consider the city to be too dense and suburbia to be full of cookie cutter neighborhoods connected by big box stores. I know it might be a bit different depending on what part of the country one resides in, however.
Erin says
Can’t stand suburbia. Sidewalks that no one ever uses (or in some areas no sidewalks at all!), never see your neighbors except when they’re mowing their lawns and then they scurry back into their houses before you can say hello, surpentine roads that make it difficult to find your way around or direct visitors to your house, have to use a car to get anywhere, etc. We currently live just two miles from my kids’ school, but can’t walk because a major road and no sidewalks keep it from being safe enough. When we did live near the school, we could walk to the park, pool, library, restaurants, shopping, downtown, just about anywhere we wanted to go. I was in better physical shape and knew so many more of our neighbors. All my kids’ friends still live close to the school, which is such a bummer for them as they can’t just run over to so-and-so’s house after school anymore. Why did we move? Hubby always wanted a garage and a big yard where he could cultivate a lawn he could be proud of. I love the man, but that is not my idea of heaven. He promises me the next house will be my choice. Counting the days, as you are too, Mavis!
Cindy M. says
After growing up and then living in a very small, rural Montana town (150-175 at its best, about 100 when we left) for 24 years, I have SOOOOO enjoyed living in Spokane for the past 10 years. We are only about 20 minutes from an amazing agricultural area called Greenbluff, that has tons of orchards, veggie farms and special events. We also have a big enough yard to have some small growing areas. I love the convenience of having multiple grocery and other retail stores, as well as top notch medical services close by, which beats where we used to be-16 miles from the next “biggest” town of 10,000 and 100 miles from a city of 60,000. While the rural setting was a great place to raise our two sons, “for everything there is a season”, and I’m loving the season we are in now!