Do You Know Where You Are?

Do You Know Where You Are?

   There is a big difference between living in the city and living in a suburb. Some people may read that statement and think that I am stating the obvious. However, there are many characteristics of a city that you are likely to associate with some areas that are considered the suburbs. I personally have lived in the city of Chicago, as well as a surrounding suburb of the city. I grew up in a suburb called Maywood which is a suburb of Chicago. However, if a tourist was to visit Maywood they would probably consider it the city since the buildings and surroundings are similar to those of Chicago. Maywood is a suburb that is home to about 25,000 residents. In my opinion, Maywood is not too much different than the city, except for the fact that it is less people. There are poor people, there is moderate crime, gangs, and many other things that would most likely not appear in the suburbs on television. When the word suburb is spoken people usually think of a beautiful middle, or upper class, white neighborhood. However, that is not always the reality. According to the authors of the book, The New Urban Sociology, famous sociologist Louis Wirth coined the term urbanism, which can be explained as an urban way of living. Well, what exactly would be considered as “urban behavior?” Another famous sociologist named Georg Simmel explains that people are different based on where they are raised. In the book it explains a story in which Simmel describes a man named Hans who was a famer that moved to the city. He explains that he has to adjust to the city life, and that is was as easy as it sounds. Simmel says that Hans adjusted to the customs of the urban life, but he goes on to describe them as if they are making him completely different than anyone who was not raised in the city.  Hans developed an attitude that helped him in a number of ways. He was able to tune out loud noises because he was used to hearing them. Now, I understand that he was a farmer and he was from a rural area, but in the book when they talk about the city they usually discuss the city versus the suburbs. So, the argument that I am trying to make is that when people speak of urban areas they do not just mean the city.  When in the city of Chicago it is hard to actually determine when you have reached the city’s limits and reached the suburbs. If you have ever been on the Westside of Chicago then you know that it is not the prettiest, or the safest looking place in the state of Illinois. When you leave the city going west you will notice that the suburbs of Maywood, as well as Bellwood, will continue looking as bad as the Westside. Now, I admit that there is a difference in the two suburbs I named and the city, but there is also that same type of difference between the suburbs of Maywood and Naperville. The question remains, why are these two suburbs so different, and is Maywood considered urban? The authors of the text explained that the different countries around the world have different ways that they consider an area a city, town, or a suburb, or whatever they choose to call the particular area. On page fifty seven of the book it explains that Simmel says that another characteristic of urbanism was working while making only enough to get by. Well, that may be true about some individuals that live in the city, but not all. That statement is another one that could be associated with someone that lives in the suburbs. For example, my mother and father both worked as long as I could remember, we were not rich, or upper class and we lived in the suburbs. As I read the story about Hans I start to feel as if Simmel, as well as other people, may think that life in the suburbs is exactly how it is on television, but I know for a fact that is not always true. There is a difference between a rural community, an urban community, and a suburb, but what about the places like Maywood that is technically a suburb that is filled with city like characteristics? Maybe a famous Sociologist needs to come up with a term to describe a small, suburb, that is filled with urbanism.

This link is related to my blog: http://time.com/3060122/poverty-america-suburbs-brookings/