Raising Kids in the City

[Syterion]

Everybody seems to think that when they have kids, they have to move to the suburb for the kids benefit. The only reason I can see this is space constraints-kids need space. But I still don't think it is that critical.

Why are kids raised in the suburbs?

 

[Warman17]

cause everone knows cities are full of drugs, gangs and hate while suburbs aren't (note sarcasm)

 

[WillJ]

Crime, probably. In the suburbs all you have to worry about is kidnappers and serial killers.

Oh, and of course schools in the suburbs tend to be better than city schools.

 

[blindside]

In the city of you want an equal education for your kids you might need to send them to private school. Plus suburbs are usually more safe, you can let your kids run around the side streets, its quiet.

 

[stormbind]

Space. They will be healthier if they have freedom to play soccer, tennis, or whatever. Living in a city apartment with Nintendo for exercise doesn't strike me as demonstrating healthy living.

Fumes from traffic and factories may also factor into the equation.

 

[ybbor]

funding for cities= lots of money, but spread out across crime, fire-fighters, road matinence, constrcution, city officails, security, school etc.

funding for suburbs= small-medium amounts of money, spread out over school, and uhhhh, fixing about 1 pothole a year, and uhhhhh, that's more or less it, and the occasional new library book, and 5-man police force

 

[cgannon64]

So the kids have to drive to their favorite drinking spots, rather than take the subway.

 

[Moss]

Pretty much what everyone else says.

Although living in the country beats suburb life any day.

 

[Sanaz]

Money. The average family can't afford to live a "good life" in the city. If you can afford a 2200 sq.ft. flat in the city, you can afford a 4000 sq. ft. house on a few acres in the suburbs. And you usually know who is walking by your house, where in the city you really don't. And, you usually want other kids around, and suburbs are full of kids. The schools are, on average, better. You can have a basement and a garage. If you live in the city without much money, you live next to a crack house, not near the park. You worry your kid will be abducted, or hit by a car. The list is very long. It's why people live in the city until they have kids, then move out. And when the kids are gone, they move back, unless they have grandchildren on the way.

Believe me, if I could consider living in the city, I would - parents don't live in the burbs because they're so darn fun. The trade-offs parents make are endless, and usually with the best interests of the kids in mind.

 

[stormbind]

Although living in the country beats suburb life any day.

Indeed. The city of London stinks, so I'm planning a great escape. In considering possible relocation in the US, I searched high and low for rural location near to NYC and found absolutely nothing. What I did find, only made me want to live in Canada instead, but that's 8 hours away!

The people I know there (not many) said "you want the suburbs" so i checked that out... and those suburbs are what I would classify as a city!

This is my idea of rural conditions: thin winding roads, lots of trees, sea air. Somehow, I think the whole region has been urbanised like a Borg cube

 

[stratego]

The same reason salmons swim upstream to fresh water to spawn. It's not the real world, but its a place where nobody is really tough, so your kids get a better chance of surviving.

 

[luiz]

This thread is US-centered...

In Brazil the suburbs are violent and miserable hell-holes, and everybody, not only parents, would love to move to inner-city neighbourhoods.

I was reised inside a 6.5 millions inhabbitants city, and I´m fine. Sure we don´t have the same ammount of space as people from the countryside, but there are many advantages as well.

 

[Turner]

cause everone knows cities are full of drugs, gangs and hate while suburbs aren't (note sarcasm)

Not entirely unaccurate. Depends on the city, to be honest. When I was living in the bay area, SF wasn't a bad place to live, just expensive. Of course, it had it's better neighborhoods. Now, Oakland, across the bay, was very crime ridden. This was 12 years ago when I lived out there, tho.

Now, in Kansas City, it's definately better in the 'burbs. Less crime, less drugs. Not to say that there aren't, just not as much as in the city.

 

[Clito]

Suburbs are crap!

It's either all-out-city or all-out-country!

 

[boogaboo]

Raising Kids in the City

Don't do kids, city or no city.
We're going down.

 

[joycem10]

In the city of you want an equal education for your kids you might need to send them to private school.

Very true, here the city schools dont even compare with the suburban schools. We lived in Pittsburgh (on Mt Washington) until the kid was born and that was it. Living in the city was cheaper, more convenient, and a helluva lot more fun. The downside, crime was a problem and our apartment was surrounded by HUD housing.