Ha! My husband says the same thing about the city neighborhood he grew up in. The families that have been here for generations are all related by now, and huge. So when I moved in and wasn’t from here, he said he knew it was okay to date. Yay for no in bred babies!

That said, I would absolutely give up living space, back yard, all that, if it saved me three hours a day in a commute. I couldn’t handle it. If I live in the city, then I’m going to work in the city. If I live in the suburbs, then I’ll work in the suburbs. Commuting 1-2 hours each day is not an option for me. Right now my highway commute is 20-40 minutes (depending on traffic),and even that I’m not thrilled with. At my last job I could walk to work every day! (Granted, that also took 40 minutes, but for some reason I preferred that to 40 minutes in stop-and-go traffic in a car.)

Now, back home in Manitoba, I live in a suburb in Winnipeg – I have everything I want, but only a 30 minute commute (each way); we can walk, run, bike… the kids can play outside. 🙂 We even have deer graze in the field behind our house almost every day. So as much as I love the city, give me the burbs. 🙂

If I absolutely had to choose though, I would choose city.

The moral code of people in the suburbs seems to be: their own neighborhood, their school, their own backyard, their kids. People in the city, probably because they have to engage with other people more often, tend to organize at more of a social scale: not just their school, but city public schools or all public schools, not just their neighborhood, but larger issues like climate change or poverty, not just their own backyard, but public green spaces that everyone can enjoy.

I prefer city living on a personal level (love hanging out at coffee shops and walking to the grocery store) and a moral one as well.

I LOATHE suburbia. Actually, I’m morally opposed to it. I find urban sprawl a grotesque waste of space, and I think the amount of time people spend commuting is insane (and not to mention contributes significantly to pollution).

Edmonton (where I live) is TERRIBLE for urban sprawl and suburbia. I find it mind-boggling that anyone would want to live out of walking distance from a grocery store. It’s stupid. Communities with no coffee shops but man-made lakes disgust me. I am vehemently opposed to the structure and style of nearly every new development over the past 20 years. They’re horrid.

Some people think I’m crazy, but if I never move out of my neighbourhood, I’d be fine with it. I live close to an elementary school, the university, public transit, the river valley, the library, a grocery store, and tons of local businesses including cafes, restaurants, boutiques. I can’t even get to the nearest Walmart — and I want it to always be that way. I never go anywhere I can’t immediately walk to or take public transit. My money goes to local businesses and my carbon footprint is minimal.

Sorry if this seems totally opposite of you or hostile but talk of suburbia gives me a stress aneurysm. There’s not even enough angry words to describe how much I hate it. Like I said, I find the very concept immoral.

GAH now I’ve worked myself up. I need some wine. lol

I hated living with my parents even though they were only a short 20 minute commute by bus — it was way to far away from everything.

(Just as an aside — maybe you would feel safer in your neighbourhood if you actually got out of the car and walked to all these wonderful places that are only “a three second drive to…”. Getting out of the car and actually into the neighbourhood will make you feel more at ease because you get used the regular comings and goings of the place. And it would save more money (and the environment))