At
the beginning of the twenty-first century, more than 3 billion persons-about
half of the world’s populations were living in urban areas (Gottdiener, 1). This
fact blows me away. I think that like myself many people have this perception
that most of the worlds population lives in rural areas because we don’t think
that other countries are as urbanized as the U.S.
This
image shows the metropolitan areas around the world. Almost every country in
the world is lit up. Although a large
amount of the world’s population lives in the city most of the people that live
outside metropolitan regions live in suburban areas that are outside large
central cities. It seems like people have a natural attraction to living near
the city.
I
think that urbanism can explain some of the reasons that attract people to the
suburbs outside the cities. Urbanism is the study of the way of life in
cities/urban areas and meanings of symbols and patters. People are attracted to
being close to the city without actually having to live there. Some of the
cities qualities that discourage people from living there are the cost of
living there and the amount of people that live in the city. A lot of the
people that live in the city live in apartments and living in suburbs allows
people to have large homes and get more property for the money that they invest
in a place to live.
There is a certain interaction that
individuals have living in the city that is different from those that live in
the suburbs. There is a culture of the suburbs that people want to be apart of
especially when they have a family. It’s one of the pull forces that attracts
people to the suburbs. People move into the suburbs when they start a family
because they are looking for big houses and good schools for their children. My
family is one of those families that live in the suburbs, my dad has never
liked the city or living near he city. He is about to retire and spent the last
30+ years commuting to work in Chicago.
He woke up at 4:00am almost everyday to go to work rather than living
closer to the city to avoid this commute. My dad wanted to live in the suburbs
and be part of that community. He was attracted to the idea of knowing who his
neighbors were and being part of a close-knit community.
Although
these are some of the perks of living in the suburbs the city does offer plenty
of other attractions. There is lots of culture and activities that people can
take advantage of in the cities that aren’t offered in the suburbs. Cities that
have been around longer than suburbs have history there that people in the city
can take advantage of. Living in cities
also means that you are closer to jobs. Cities offer a wide variety of jobs
both service, manufacturing and private sector jobs. As Lewis Mumford mentioned
in The City in History that cities
serve as huge magnets and containers that concentrated people and economic
activities or wealth within well-defined, bounded spaces. (Gottdiener, 3)
Having learned all these things I’m
not sure where I would want to live once I graduate this May. The adventurous
person in me would love to live in the city and enjoy the culture and living
closer to possible jobs. But the poor college graduate in me that has to repay
loans tells me stay and live with your parents you don’t have to pay rent. Who knows
what my parents will think about my second plan hahah maybe I should start
looking into living in the city with other college graduates in a 2 bedroom
with 8 people. Yikes ! Maybe I'll do some research and read some books and see if I'm cut out for the city life or if living with my parental unit a few more years is the better option for me. =)
http://www.npr.org/2013/07/22/204479473/city-slickers-5-books-about-the-urban-experience
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