# City, suburbs, or country? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139 "2012-12-15T23:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/41 "2012-12-17T06:26:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Everyone is concerned about being “so far away” from medical care. Guess what? In the city, WITH TRAFFIC, it takes at least as long as it does (if not longer) to get to a hospital as it does out here! This makes no sense. If you’re out in the country, you have to get to the city, which takes time. Then you have to travel some more to get to medical care, which takes more time. If you’re in the city already, then you cut out the time spent traveling from country to city. It’s not like there’s hospitals out in the country, they’re all in the city. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/42 "2012-12-17T07:35:14Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > This makes no sense. If you’re out in the country, you have to get to the city, which takes time. Then you have to travel some more to get to medical care, which takes more time. If you’re in the city already, then you cut out the time spent traveling from country to city. > > It’s not like there’s hospitals out in the country, they’re all in the city. When the “city” where the nearest hospital is located contains around 2000 people, the location of the hospital IS the city. Or I could travel a few miles more to the town with nearly 12,000 people. That has a bigger hospital, but again, not difficult to locate. Should I need a regional medical center, helicopters are available. If I drive at the speed limit, it would take about 45 minutes to get to the nearest hospital. But there is next to nothing as far as traffic, and in the event of a medical emergency, I could easily go 100 MPH and not endanger anyone. With Southern California traffic, it could take at least 45 minutes to get to a hospital from where we USED to live. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/43 "2012-12-17T07:49:39Z")
2K population is not a city…that’s a wide spot in the road! ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/44 "2012-12-17T16:34:38Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > 2K population is not a city…that’s a wide spot in the road! _batting eyelashes, big cheezy grin_ Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! But they got a hospital. I’m not joking, Hubster and I are sick to DEATH of traffic, traffic, traffic! Our piece of Heaven in NE AZ is exactly what we want! Some people don’t “get it.” We’re okay with that. But there are others who come to visit, they simply look out the window into the distance and a blissful look comes over their faces. THEY “get it.” ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/45 "2012-12-17T16:57:41Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > This makes no sense. If you’re out in the country, you have to get to the city, which takes time. Then you have to travel some more to get to medical care, which takes more time. If you’re in the city already, then you cut out the time spent traveling from country to city. > > It’s not like there’s hospitals out in the country, they’re all in the city. There are two big hospitals right here in my suburb. I can drive to either in well under 10 minutes. The fire station full of EMT’s is only a few minutes away so that would be even quicker. My MIL was recently transferred from one of the hospitals here to one in the city in maybe 15 minutes. This doesn’t even take into consideration the full medical park (every doctor’s office imaginable) within walking distance. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/46 "2012-12-17T17:22:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It kind of depends on the city, the suburbs, or the country, doesn’t it? > > I mean, there’s a pretty big difference betwene living in New York City and living in Detroit. There’s a big difference between living in a suburban town that was founded in 1795 and one that was founded in 1995. There is also the question of how exactly one defines city, suburb, exurb or country? I think there are relatively few cities that offer a desirable “city” life - luxury condos or appartments, no need for a car and close proximity to restaurants, museums and nightlife. A lot of people say they live in a particular city, but in reality they live in a suburban neighborhood and commute into a central business district, often surrounded by neighborhoods of less than desirable housing. I go out to the Lehigh Valley a lot. It’s the third largest metro area in PA after Pittsburg and Philly. But it feels “suburban” or “rural” to me. Probably because it’s just miles of sprawling homes and office parks with few central urban areas. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/47 "2012-12-17T23:01:04Z")
I love living in the wilderness. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/48 "2012-12-17T23:13:28Z")
I live in (right outside of) a small town of about 12000 people. The hospital here is one of the best in several counties. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/49 "2012-12-17T23:52:05Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > There is also the question of how exactly one defines city, suburb, exurb or country? I think there are relatively few cities that offer a desirable “city” life - luxury condos or appartments, no need for a car and close proximity to restaurants, museums and nightlife. A lot of people say they live in a particular city, but in reality they live in a suburban neighborhood and commute into a central business district, often surrounded by neighborhoods of less than desirable housing. > > I go out to the Lehigh Valley a lot. It’s the third largest metro area in PA after Pittsburg and Philly. But it feels “suburban” or “rural” to me. Probably because it’s just miles of sprawling homes and office parks with few central urban areas. Pittsburgh, with an H. Yeah, there’s not really a clear definition of a suburb or city here. People often mean “subdivision” when they say “suburb.” I live in Burlington, Ontario, which is, IMHO, technially a suburb, in that it is a largely residential city in the orbit of a large urban center (Toronto.) But some would argue it is a city in its own right, inasmuch as it has 175,000 people and I live in a downtown area where I can walk to everything. I call it a suburb, though, and call Toronto a city. People in Toronto will often call \*other parts of Toronto \*“suburbs,” if they live right downtown. I’m familiar with Lehigh Valley and I agree, it feels like a suburb, though it’s huge. All of San Jose, California feels like a suburb to me, while San Francisco is what I would call the city, despite the fact that San Jose is actually just as large a city. Mississauga, which as I pointed out in another thread is technically a huge city (750,000 people) isn’t a city at all, it’s a suburb. And it’s far LESS desirable a place to live than either Burlington, a suburb, or Toronto, a city. It really depends on your definition and on the specific place. Paris and Mogadishu are both cities but I know where I’d rather live. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/50 "2012-12-18T01:00:51Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > I live in (right outside of) a small town of about 12000 people. OP: Why did you leave “small(ish) town” out of your list of possibilities? ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/51 "2012-12-18T12:48:26Z")
Voted city. My experience with US suburbs/subdivisions is pretty limited to those attached to San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix. The houses look the same and the streets are a maze, which was quite annoying in the pre-GPS days. They are culturally deficient ( no museums, dive bars, sporting venues, etc. ) and usually a long way from work. The “country” life would be slightly better but I would prefer a coastal area or somewhere in the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/52 "2012-12-18T13:44:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > OP: Why did you leave “small(ish) town” out of your list of possibilities? Okay, honestly? (1) Because I didn’t think of it. (2) Because this poll was self-serving, and I was interested to see who preferred the city versus the suburbs versus the country, but I just wasn’t as interested in breaking it down to a more granular level. (3) I’m sure if I said small town, people would want me to define small town, and then people would get into arguments over whether my definition was accurate. So I’m not sure that including small town would really add much of a meaningful data point. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/53 "2012-12-18T13:50:31Z")
Right now, I like my life in the suburbs, so I voted for that. In time, when the kids are grown and we no longer feel the need for a whole house, and maybe start thinking that caring for a house is a burden, we will move to an apartment, and I can see us moving to the city then. But that’s a while in the future. I should say that my suburb is a small town that was swallowed up by the suburbs of a larger city. We have lots of things within walking distance, and for those things that aren’t, we have a tram service to downtown. Not like a stereotypical American purpose-built suburb at all. I wouldn’t be happy in the suburb where my parents live, for example, because you have got to drive everywhere. Nothing is within walking distance and the bus service essentially doesn’t exist any more. ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/54 "2012-12-18T13:54:57Z")
I have 11 acres and a new home build and could not be happier… sure mowing blows but the stars at night, the air, the land, it can’t be beat! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/55 "2012-12-18T15:59:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Pittsburgh, with an H. > > Yeah, there’s not really a clear definition of a suburb or city here. People often mean “subdivision” when they say “suburb.” > > I live in Burlington, Ontario, which is, IMHO, technially a suburb, in that it is a largely residential city in the orbit of a large urban center (Toronto.) But some would argue it is a city in its own right, inasmuch as it has 175,000 people and I live in a downtown area where I can walk to everything. I call it a suburb, though, and call Toronto a city. People in Toronto will often call \*other parts of Toronto \*“suburbs,” if they live right downtown. Similar to where I live in Hoboken, NJ. I’m not sure if you would consider it a city in it’s own right (50,000 people crammed into 1 square mile), a suburb of New York City just over the river or a suburb of Jersey City, NJ, a sattellite city of NYC. But when people in NYC say “suburbs” they really mean living someplace like Westchester, NY or Morristown, NJ and taking the train in every day. ---
**Author:** ![Mattie\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@Mattie\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mattie_Blue)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/56 "2012-12-19T02:51:04Z")
I’m in the country right now. And I mean COUNTRY. 80 acres with timber, a creek, a pond and we share a 13 acre lake with a neighbor. I see deer most every day. Closest neighbor is a mile away. Nearest town with any sort of amenities (restaurant, gas station, small grocery) is 13 miles away. Total population of my county is around 5,000. Like everything else, there are good and bad aspects. The good. My dog and I can wander the gravel roads for hours. It’s quiet. I can hang my laundry outside on a clothesline. I have a huge garden. Sunrises and sunsets are amazing. On clear nights, the night sky is massive and the stars are incredible. I can swim and kayak on the lake in the summer and skate on the pond in the winter. No traffic. We are lucky enough to have a local telecommunications co-op that gives us great internet service, so with that, Dish Network and Netflix, we keep current. The Bad. Lack of diverse population. Lots of narrow minds. Factory farming that is trying to take over the county. Lack of jobs. Lack of emergency health facilities. I’ve lived in the suburbs of Kansas City and St. Louis and while I liked the city amenities, the areas I lived in were bland, generic and not pedestrian friendly. I would never want to go back to that type of living situation. My ideal situation would be to live in New York City for a few weeks at a time then come home here and regroup for a month or two before heading back. However, I would need to win a big lottery for that to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/57 "2012-12-19T09:32:12Z")
This is just IMHO, but one reason I prefer to live here in the city is that I prefer to raise my child here. City kids, in my experience, are tougher and more independent, and are exposed to a much larger variety of people, cultures and points of view. I’m not saying that city kids don’t grow up in a bubble - everyone does - it’s just that it’s a bigger bubble, with more people inside it. I think that growing up in the city helps a kid be more open-minded, adaptive, rational and liberal, although it’s naturally not the only factor involved in molding their world view. (Incidentally, country kids are also tough and independent, albeit in a completely different way). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/58 "2012-12-19T11:39:03Z")
Have lived in all three. I now live in the country, and will never go back to anything else. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/59 "2012-12-20T02:17:54Z")
I grew up a 15 minute drive from a city of 30,000 people - that was really nice! I had so much space for myself that I could ride my bike for hours and not have to worry about traffic or pedestrians. I don’t understand how city cyclists do it! I think I wouldn’t mind temporarily living in a city, but after a few years I’d lose my mind and want to go somewhere quieter. I wouldn’t want to live in the suburbs of a large city. I live in a city of 200,000 right now and we’re just starting to see traditional suburbs developing and I wouldn’t mind living in one of those suburbs, but when your suburb starts approaching the population of a small city it gets weird! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139/60 "2012-12-20T03:14:06Z")
I lived in the country for 11 years and suburbs with very good public transportation for the past 24½. I greatly prefer the latter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-suburbs-or-country/644139.md?page=2)