Comparing Life in the City to Life in the Suburbs

For those only weakly committed to city living, particularly middle-class people who have serious difficulty with social diversity and who have clear housing alternatives, the "problem-free" suburbs become tempting. After an incident such as a car break-in or a bicycle theft, a "last straw" can make them leave. (249)

Urban studies aims to develop an understanding the modern city metropolis. As Savage et al. have pointed out, the urban encompasses far more than just the physical city itself; understanding the city help us to understand many aspects of modern life (2003, pp.4). Many of its features, such as mass media and public transport systems have spread throughout society over the past century. Sociological studies of urban life began with the landmark publication of 'The City' in 1925 by sociologists Robert Park, Ernest Burgess and Louis Wirth from the University of Chicago, students of Georg Simmel who shared his belief that the urban environment changed man's

Second, the development of new public transit systems, was important in shaping the design of our cities and the growth of our cities by enabling people to move further away from the inner city. Early on, large cities had very little and inadequate transportation. Their main source of transportation were horse drawn wagons and walking. As a result, most people lived or took housing near downtown, which was where most of the working establishments were located. This made the big cities very congested. However with the breakthrough of the “el”, electric streetcars, and subways, around 1867, cities began to open up more. Those who were fortunate enough to move out of the slums and into better surrounding neighborhoods, did so. The more affluent of the white-collar classes moved into the suburban areas. In contrast, many of the very wealthy continued to live in city mansions. The new transit systems in most cities allowed people to escape the chaos of urban life and provided potential for growth of our cities.

The country and the city both offer a place to live, but the pollution, entertainment, crime and education; are all reasons why the country is a better place to live and raise a family. A country girl myself, I currently live in the city with my family, but I would give anything to raise my sons in the country. Although much can be learned in the city, you cannot get that small town morale here nor the manners that come from being raised in a small southern town.

Transportation in the region has a long and successful past. However, public transportation has consistently taken a back seat to the personal automobile. There has been a strong core of persons who rely on public transportation to achieve mobility, and governmental

Recent events that have highlighted racial tension in the United States have had even a larger number of opinions that vary regarding why the nation continues to struggle with such a challenging issue. In our text Chapter 6 titled “The City/Suburban Divide” (Judd & Swanstrom, 2015, p. 136) identifies a subject that very well may contribute to the tension. A reference to the “urban crisis” describes a landscape that is littered with “high levels of segregation, inequality and poverty, along with racial and ethnic tensions.” (Judd, et al., p. 165) Many scholars argue that the crisis was a result of the demographic changes the nation experienced following World War II as advancements in technology and infrastructure aided White Mobility. The term “White Flight” has been used to describe a massive relocation early in the twentieth century when the White Middle-Class population left the cities for suburban areas following the great migration.

From here on, I am going to illustrate my lifestyle in a rural area versus a well developed city. I came from a small village in China. Walking to places has been build on me since I was a little kid; it was one of my habit. Back in the days, nothing seems handy to own. I remembered it was indeed hard to own a small motorcycle, not to speak of cars. On account of that, I treasure walking gratefully. I can walk to my school, relative's house, convenient stores, as well as markets for food. That has been my lifestyle for ten years until I came to the United States. My lifestyle has changed from walking to commuting through buses. San Francisco is a fairly developed city. We can access to every part of SF through muni, and the buses come in very often. Gradually, I start taking the bus to school, to hangouts with friends, and restaurants. I don’t remember when but I started to feel and think buses are so convenient. I rely on buses so much that I became surprisingly lazy. I would choose to take the bus even when the destination is

There are many advantages and disadvantages of choosing to live in the country or to live in the city. But the advantages of living in the country definitely outweigh the advantages of living in the city.

The readings by Alba, Massey and Sampson discussed below all focus on the relationship between demographic living patterns and urban social and economic development. Cities as our author's explain are more than a homogenous center but rather an accumulation of various parts. One of the vital elements of a city is its people. People interact with cities in several manners, as workers, citizens, tourists, developers, each influencing and being influenced by the urban environment. The arguments provided by the author's this week stress the importance of understanding how a city interacts with its citizens in order to understand the larger, more general social and economic trends present.

It has always been human nature to live in small concentrated cities because of the opportunity, the services that are provided, and the cultural diversity, however negative aspects do arise when people are closely compacted, such as poverty, pollution, overcrowding, and even violence (“Urban” np). Residential segregation can also come from diverse cities caused by Urbanization, i.e. Chinatown in New York City (Beall, et al. 7). Some cities have tried to limit the amount of cars used for transportation and fund many sorts of different modes of transportation, and the large amounts of transportation may make it difficult for people to switch to a different mode, although a taxi or bus may still get stuck in traffic thereby limiting the contributing

If you had the choice to live in the city or in the country, which would you choose? Are you the hustle-bustle type who cannot seem to find enough hours in one day? Or are you someone who is much more easy-going and would rather have all of the time in the world to finish one assignment? City dwellers and country dwellers may be only a few miles apart, but what they do in their leisure time is often be completely different.

Another key point is commuting. People who live in the urban community have better access to public transportation. Citizens can easily get around by walking, taking a bus, and riding the train at a lower cost. In contrast, owning a home in suburb can be costly for many people. Not only do people have to keep up with their mortgages, but they sometimes have to pay a yard maintenance fee and their Home Owners Association (HOA) dues for the up-keeping of the neighborhood which can be very costly. Besides the home cost, people who live in suburban neighborhoods do have the convenience of traveling in the comfort of their own vehicle, and they do not deal with the concerns of public transportation. However, they still have to deal with the cost for long commuting and the wear and tear of the vehicle.

Many families and individuals find themselves at some point questioning the advantages of city living versus country living. It is nearly impossible to find a good answer to this question. What is good for one person might not be good for another. Some people enjoy the busy, hyper active metropolitan city where they can use all amenities and have unlimited opportunities for work and leisure. At the same time, other people feel the urge to be closer to Mother Nature, relaxation, beauty, and peace. They take pleasure in living in the calm and peaceful environment of the countryside and spending their free time fishing, hiking, picking berries in the woods, or playing in the creek. In my opinion, the nature

Everyone has a different lifestyle. People sometimes have to decide where they want to live. Some people prefer to live in the city while other people choose to live in the countryside. Their choice depends upon their bachground. City lifestyle and country lifestyle are two different types of living. Although, these two types of living differ from each other by environment, job opportunities and cost of living; they also have similar features such as daily routine, values and people live and work in these areas.

Over all there are some similarities between both locations with big differences. But for each lives there is lovers who cannot switches lives to the other city, at the end, I see that Living in a village near the city is the best way to combine the benefits of this two lives.