how urban of a guy are you?

[bankside]

With only one exception, every metropolitan area on my "short list" is larger than one million people. Ann Arbor (Michigan) is that exception - also the closest place I am likely to end up from the places on this short list - it's exceptional because the cultural and diversity opportunities do truly imitate what is usually only found in much larger cities.

Agan how to nail down a definition…

Looking at the map, I'd guess most people from my area would call Ann Arbor a "bedroom community" of Detroit, but they would not call it a "metropolitan area" in its own right - it's part of Detroit metro even though it is separated by a short stretch of farm fields. Just dropping down in a random area like Canton, we'd call that a suburb of Detroit. It has houses, not apartments, and it's part of the unbroken built-up area of development extending from downtown.

 

[darden]

I think it is also a question of "what is urban?"

We're in so many different places around the world and each has types of neighbourhood that don't exist in other places so comparing "urban" vs. "suburban" is tricky.

personally...

urban: in a medium/large city. most typically live in condos/apartments, and things like driveways or yardspace are rare luxuries.

suburbs: on the outskirts of the city. most people live in single-family houses but have neighbors in close proximity. driveways and yards are common.

exurbs: on the outskirts of the suburbs. single family homes, large distance from neighbors, but typically wealthier and more developed than rural communities.

 

[Ontariobear]

Hubby and I each grew up on a farm and we were hoping to get a place in the country but that's $$$$$.
So we're living in the 'burbs and have a pond behind us instead of neighbours so that's kind of a compromise. We're less than 5 minutes out of the city (375,000 people) to the north or to the west and hubby's drive to work is currently the same length.
About 20 minutes to get downtown for concerts, dining or festivals etc.
Nice quiet neighbours so we're happy here.

 

[Elwood]

Ack you could not pay me to live in the suburbs!! I do not own a car and I do not want one (Funny thing is I work as a driver ha!), I do not want to jump in a car every time I need something. I live in a very urban section of Montreal near two subway stops and plenty of bus routes, I can be downtown or in the gay village within twenty minutes by public transport. I have plenty of grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants all within walking distance.

My other choice would be living in the country, if I were to win the loto I would probably buy a Condo in the city and have a huge country house. My brother lives in the suburbs and asked me to house sit for him once when he went on vacation, it was the longest week of my life. Also people living in the suburbs here In Montreal spend an enormous amount of time every day getting to and from work on public transit or stuck in traffic in their cars. Where I am, I do neither of these when I work as a driver and have a car most of my pick-ups are downtown which takes me about 10 minutes to get to, and in the winter when I work my other job and use public transit it takes me roughly 30 minutes to get to work.

 

[refujiunderground]

Urban. All day.

I an urban obsessed. My fixation began as a kid watching as Philadelphia started building its first skyscrapers since the city had made some silly (ridiculous) "gentleman's agreement" that no building be taller than City Hall. I loved watching as Liberty One and Two got taller and taller.

As a child, I loved reciting the street names near the house I grew up in order. It was fascinating to know them.

Somewhere around middle school, I got pieces of poster paper together and drafted up my own map of a make believe city I created. Had its own city hall, its own set of parks, its bus and train routes. I was very happy doing this.

These days, it doesn't stop. I live and love New York City (Brooklyn specifically, but I take advantage of every borough). I will never live anywhere else. New York is the love of my life. I have access to so many parades, festivals, fairs, museums, and public activity. There rarely is a day that I can't go out and see something I haven't before. I have access to so much diversity, so much culture. Everyday is an adventure. I don't need a car. Just me and my city.

I am defined by the love I have for my home. That is one thing about me that I know will never change. There's always something to do and something to see. It makes me very happy even after ten years of living here.

Urban Urban Urban all the way. I am a city boy through and through. Even when I travel to places other than NY, it's the heartbeat of the city I'm in that makes me tick. I can't possibly overstate that.

don't understand why you hate the city of philly so much. i'm sure you'd take philly anyday over wack ass jersey. i know i shitted on philly back in the day BUT after going there last friday, philly >>>> new jersey as an entire state. you went from one good city to another good city. if you want to be miserable, move over to newark, jersey city, hoboken, or any spot in jersey. here fucking sucks.

 

[mikey3000]

I grew up in the core of the city but moved out to the fringe to raise my family. It's the best of both worlds in that I'm just 20 minutes to the core, but have lots of great green space.

 

[darden]

don't understand why you hate the city of philly so much. i'm sure you'd take philly anyday over wack ass jersey. i know i shitted on philly back in the day BUT after going there last friday, philly >>>> new jersey as an entire state. you went from one good city to another good city. if you want to be miserable, move over to newark, jersey city, hoboken, or any spot in jersey. here fucking sucks.

I'll never understand your Jersey hate... I just don't see it.

I'd probably leave JC for Philly, though, if it wasn't for work. I went to school in Pennsylvania, and most of my college friends relocated down to the Philly area after graduation while I went back home to Jersey.

 

[zoltanspawn]

I have fantasies about living in the country, but I know they're fantasies.

To me, the suburbs are those places with strip malls and chain restaurants. Absolutely not possible.

I'm happy being squarely in the residential zone of the city.

I could live even closer in, but not at the point represented by freshly developed condominiums and "upscale" boutiques; that sort of vacuum is just another version of the suburbs to me.

 

[Kyanimal]

Growing up, my family moved every 3-5yr, from a country cross road, to ever increasing larger villages, towns, and cities. Though I do love the country/farm life, I'm definitely a City Boy. The suburbs, those "in between" spots, are just too tame!

I live nearly "dead center" in Milwaukee, which has Everything that Chicago does, but on a smaller, more relaxed, scale. We're in a Historic District, on a 6 block long Boulevard, wide tree-lined street, with larger than average city lots. Though a main street is only a half block from our back yard, we're still in a quiet "pocket" neighborhood. We can be in any part of the City in under 30min, and that includes the shore of Lake Michigan.

We have many different types of birds, squirrels, rabbits, racoons, local dogs and cats, that visit our back yard. Once we even had two deer that bedded down back there for a few days. Though we've had some mice, chip monks, and gophers, we've never seen any rats.

The neighbors have been Awesome! Friendly but not too "prying". And, more than willing to "Party" at the drop of a hat (or beer).

I think we've managed to enjoy the best of both rural, and urban, worlds here.

 

[frankfrank]

Agan how to nail down a definition…

Looking at the map, I'd guess most people from my area would call Ann Arbor a "bedroom community" of Detroit, but they would not call it a "metropolitan area" in its own right - it's part of Detroit metro even though it is separated by a short stretch of farm fields. Just dropping down in a random area like Canton, we'd call that a suburb of Detroit. It has houses, not apartments, and it's part of the unbroken built-up area of development extending from downtown.

That would be true, but Ann Arbor "acts like" it's a separate metropolitan area. In fact, considering that it is so close to the Detroit area is an additional part that I consider, because it's so reasonably close to all of that other stuff. There are still rural areas between, yes. It sounds like you've been in the area, am I correct?


If I think of Washtenaw as a "metropolitan area" separate from Detroit, that makes it the smallest one that I'm seriously considering. In other words, I'm more than satisfied with offerings in that one specific county. Having all of what Detroit and area has to offer, so NEAR, is a big plus as well.

I'll never understand your Jersey hate... I just don't see it.

I don't quite understand it, either. New Jersey IS on my list - northern NJ, that is - as long as I'm an easy commute into The City, and I would have to be at least somewhat choosy about neighborhoods, etc. Probably not Newark or East Orange, for example...I can imagine being someplace like Dover or Morristown, IF there's easy transit into Manhattan, which I've never really checked out. At least places like Dover, it's still feasible to own a car.

I live nearly "dead center" in Milwaukee, which has Everything that Chicago does, but on a smaller, more relaxed, scale. We're in a Historic District, on a 6 block long Boulevard, wide tree-lined street,

Yes you do have that nice mix there. Some places are a little too wintry for me, ruling out some places I'd love to be, such as Minneapolis-St. Paul, Madison...and Milwaukee.

 

[borg69unimatrix]

Speak of the Devil(s)...

I saw a pair of Racoons in my back yard a couple times a few months ago...

Today when I got home from work, I noticed a Mom and 4 babies have moved in under the Lawnmower shed. She pulled them one by one off the fence and down the tree like kittens and dragged them under the shed.

They're F*n CUTE!!! ... But I want them GONE!!! (Relocated... not killed).

 

[eastofeden]

I have the solution! Give them a bath and then give them all names

Here's Rocky...

 

[zoltanspawn]

Speak of the Devil(s)...

I saw a pair of Racoons in my back yard a couple times a few months ago...

Today when I got home from work, I noticed a Mom and 4 babies have moved in under the Lawnmower shed. She pulled them one by one off the fence and down the tree like kittens and dragged them under the shed.

They're F*n CUTE!!! ... But I want them GONE!!! (Relocated... not killed).

I'm not sure which part of Oregon you live in, but I remember a time when I never saw raccoons here in the city. Opossums, sure. Must have been about twenty years back when they moved in. I've never been bothered by them, so I just think they're cute. But I would hate for one of my dogs to tangle with them, or to find one in the kitchen.

Can you relocate them somehow??

Anyway, can't remember if I saw this video here or on Reddit, but your problems could be worse.

 

[borg69unimatrix]

I live on a quiet culdesac way south of you. They are cute, but I want them relocated. I heard their feces carries parasites harmful to cats and dogs.

 

[windsors]

I have to show this because you asked how urban are you...

Newlyweds urban or rual

 

[dereperez]

I prefer to live in a city, just usually not the downtown area. I don't mind living in a smaller city/town, as long as the big city is within half an hour away, for easy access to places that may not be available in the town.