I have been mentally writing blogs for the past week as i ride the train to work. Unfortunately, life tends to get in the way of writing, so here are the cliff's notes version of my thoughts...
"Watch your mouth before I have to wash it out... with my cock!"
That quote courtesy of Graham Rowe. He was here last week. He cracks me up. I wish he lived closer.
"I'm rockin' the suburbs, around the block just one more time. Rockin' the suburbs, 'cause I can't tell which house is mine..."
Before you read this... I make sweeping generalizations based on my observations and my experiences. I am aware that not everyone thinks this way, so please don't take any of this personally.
I've been thinking recently about the suburbs. I hate the suburbs. I hate the bubble they create for people, and the plasticity of their mcmansions or fake small town shopping centers. Children who grow up in the burbs and never leave, run the risk of never truly seeing the world around them and never understanding it. The argument levied is that in the suburbs, you have backyards, good schools, and no crime. I disagree. In the mcmansions built, there are frequently no yards as the houses are huge and on top of each other. I'll give you good schools, but that's because the districts tend to be smaller and the property taxes insane. Not to mention the insanity of soccer moms who call the schools every day demanding their children earn A's whether or not they have earned them. As for crime, it happens everywhere. Sure people don't get beaten by children in the subways, but at my old high school, girls got sexually assaulted at keggers and cars were broken into, and prostitution rings ran out of pristine lakelands houses. The city is not perfect. The city is far from perfect. The schools suck, the streets are dirty, and crime happens, but i'm never isolated from it. Maybe that makes me strange. I like living inside the world, not watching it and judging from my bubble. I think i also get mad at the suburbs because of the judgement passed on city life from those that live there. From the outside it is easy to judge, to write off urban decay, and never attempt to do anything about it. From the inside, from working and living in the city, it's harder to do. Those things make me angry and motiviated to pay attention to what happens here, to want it to change. I don't think that I would ever be this motivated to work where I work, to vote how I vote, and desire the change i desire if I had remained in the bubble of G'burg MD.
Okay bedtime for me, but on my next rant I will talk about how fucking terrible standardized testing is...
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5 comments:
You had to know I'd comment ;-)
As someone who has lived in the suburbs, a rural area in the middle of nowhere I wouldn't even consider the suburbs, a 20-something strip of bars considered part of the city, and working class Philadelphia, it's a toss up what I really think of the burbs and the city. I don't pretend either one is perfect.
Just as people get stuck in the burbs, I think people get stuck in the city. Judgement goes both ways. People get comfortable wherever they are.
There is something great about being able to hop public transportation. But there is something frustrating about not being able to get where you want, because said public transportation doesn't go there. Not to mention the buses and subways are poorly taken care of by the very people they serve. And if you have a car, good luck finding a place to put it, and I hope no one dents it.
There is something wonderful about being able to walk down the street to a coffee shop or a bar (that has to be what I miss about Manayunk the most). But there's also something really nice about being able to get all your shopping done in one trip, stuffing everything in your car, and getting it home, no problem.
As far as crime, yes it happens everywhere. Theoretically. But if you open up the crime log printed in our local paper, it's just a series of DUI's. And if I put on my Ipod, throw my laptop in a bag over my shoulder, and prance around outside right now, I will probably be perfectly fine. And I don't think that's a bad thing. Not being exposed to crime is a great thing, assuming you recognize that crime can and does happen and the world isn't roses and rainbows.
On one hand, it's easy to say that suburbanites are being ridiculous when they say they are afraid of the city. On the other hand, how many murders were there last year? Whenever we're in the city, we're told to act a certain way so we don't stand out. Why can't we just act the way we are?
If you live in the suburbs all your life and never leave, it's a bad thing. But if you live in the city your entire life and never leave, it's just as bad. For as much as people need to be exposed to the variety of people and cultures the city offers, they need to experience the open space and quiet of the suburbs as well.
And yes, to some people, these are McMansions. To me, they're family homes that people put a lot of love into. To some people, this is a "development". To us, it's a neighborhood of friends just as significant as any South Philly block. Yeah, there are "soccer moms", but maybe they're just trying to give their kids every opportunity they didn't have.
I don't like the way suburbanites drive the speed limit. I don't like that there's nothing to do after 9pm except go to the movies. I won't go to the mall on a Friday night unless I feel like being bombarded by pre-teens. And yes, I desperately want to move into the city. Desperately. But I'm a suburbanite. Liberal-minded. Well-rounded. Full capable of surviving in the city. But a suburbanite, nonetheless.
As anyone who lives in the city knows, where you live doesn't dictate who you are. It's just your circumstances - not your understanding of the world.
Phew! :-D
That's how I see it, anyway...
And none of that was personal, either. I realized I forgot to mention that. I just have to play a little devil's advocate ;-)
I never made the claim that the city is perfect. I fully admit that there are things that need to change here. However, I feel that those who choose to stay in the burbs, but write off making the city better in small ways do as much damage as those who never come here or those who live here but never do a damn thing to help it.
Nutter had to illegally sign into effect 5 gun laws that the pennsylvania state senate couldn't get passed because the psychos across the state wouldn't not buy a handgun every 30 days. I blame the state, suburbs and all for that. But that harkens back to your comment that there are murders here. Yes. There are. You're told to act a certain way when you come here, because if you clutch your pocketbook and cross the street when you see someone who looks different than you (not just color wise, but wearing dirty clothes, or even a different style of clothes) you draw attention to yourself being scared and out of place.
I can refute most of your arguments, or challenge you further, but I do have to work at some point today.
Well, I definitely think there's a difference between the suburbs. Anywhere within about 30 minutes of Philly is going to be entirely different than, say, the middle of the state. I don't really consider that area suburbs, because what are they suburbs of? And I think a lot of your original comments definitely apply to that area. Those are folks who may very well never leave the suburbs, and never give two shits about the city. But any of the suburbs around here - any of the ones you get dragged to - are made up of people who either work in the city or lived in the city at some point. The vast majority do care about what goes on in Philly. I can't speak for all of them. And most know how to conduct themselves. I will argue that there is no bubble out here or south of the city.
Hop the turnpike and head west and well, you'll probably hit a few bubbles along the way ;-)
In the mcmansions built, there are frequently no yards as the houses are huge and on top of each other.
And the sad thing is, you still have to pay upwards of $5,000 for property taxes in Montgomery County. Which is why Ed and I have shifted our house-buying prospects from the 'burbs to the city....
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