The secret war between city dwellers and suburban dwellers

Undertoad · 08-28-2009, 05:09 PM

Man, I don't know how it is where you live. But where I live, there is a cultural war going on between city dwellers and suburban dwellers.

It's completely unreported in any media, and I suspect it may be quite different in different areas. The war is fully on here in the Boston-to-DC corridor.

This war seems to be primarily going on in the middle class.

Many city folks now have a bitter disgust, spilling over into name-calling hatred, of suburb folk. The city people feel they are a stronger race. They're more cultured, more well-rounded, and more fully self-actualized. In turn, they believe any suburbanite is potentially racist, potentially religious extremist, almost certainly an asshole frightened into gun owning and worse. The suburban sprawl has caused new reliance on cars and has destroyed local farms; all the suburbanites are directly responsible for this. A minority of city folk are actually angry when they have to go to the burbs to do business.

Meanwhile, the suburbanites seem completely unaware that there is a war on. They complain about the aspects of the city that they don't like, but they will usually associate themselves with it willingly.

I live 10 miles outside the Philadelphia city border, and so I can't honestly say I'm Philadelphian. But I enjoy the city immensely, follow its sports teams, watch its local news broadcasts, play music in its bars, enjoy it as much as possible. I'd be happy to labeled Philadelphian. I wouldn't correct it.

What's it like where you are? Is there a war on?

Cloud · 08-28-2009, 05:24 PM

Not here. We're all one city basically, surrounded by desert. We may have a war against jackrabbits, scorpions, and illegal aliens, but that's about it.

monster · 08-28-2009, 05:31 PM

it's bitter The townies here objects to what the suburbanites have done to their downtown. maybe not quite the same thing, but this blog used to amuse me no end. here are the first two posts from waybackwhen

Quote:

All I wanted was some
Sunday, May 19th, 2002
All I wanted was some aluminum foil, preferably within close walking distance. I live in “downtown” Ann Arbor, so that shouldn’t be too difficult.

Unfortunately, the closest grocery store is a few miles away from my house. That leaves me with the People’s Food Co-op, which doesn’t carry aluminum foil, the gourmet market in Kerrytown, which I assume doesn’t carry aluminum foil (platinum foil, maybe) and a little convenience store that does happen to have aluminum foil, but has virtually no other groceries that don’t have hydrogenated vegetable oil or high fructose corn syrup in the top two ingredients.

There are three New Age candle stores within close walking distance of my house.

Posted by ann arbor is overrated at 1:39 pm | 2 Comments

Welcome to Ann Arbor Sucks,
Friday, May 17th, 2002
Welcome to Ann Arbor Sucks, the Web’s main source for examining and quantifying the off-the-charts suckiness of this seemingly harmless little Midwestern college town.

After living here about nine months, I feel that I’m ideally qualified to report on the lameness of Ann Arbor (or A^2, if you’re one of those locals who insists on this cutesy, gag-inducing nickname. That’s pronounced “A squared.”) Why? I’ve been around just long enough to absorb the soulless, yuppified, no-fun atmosphere, but not long enough to forget why these things are wrong.

Posted by ann arbor is overrated at 8:44 pm | 2 Comments

http://www.annarborisoverrated.com/

Clodfobble · 08-28-2009, 06:06 PM

The urbanites definitely have disdain for the suburbanites around here. Usually it manifests in snide remarks about places close to the city having more "character." I once straight-up told my coworker that if "character" meant her 70-year-old house had an ancient sewer line burst underneath it, while my house is twice as big, cost 2/3rds as much, and has modern pipes made of actual metal instead of layered tar paper... then she was welcome to all the character the city had to offer.

smoothmoniker · 08-28-2009, 07:10 PM

In LA it's "The City" vs "The Valley".

Anything over the hill in the valley is considered straight trash.

jinx · 08-28-2009, 08:21 PM

We're too far outside the city to count, even suburbanites, but I think I know what you mean. When we're in the city, getting ourselves some culture, we say probably a hundred times "how do people live like this?". Not as a negative personal judgment, but just srsly wondering how the hell they can stand it.

I know there's animosity coming from the other direction though - I get the Chester County Barbie email frequently enough to keep it fresh in my mind...

Quote:

The Chester County Barbies come in 10 versions. The Berwin Barbie. The West Chester Barbie. The Phoenixville Barbie. The Exton Barbie. You get the drift. Each has a description of what accessories come with the doll, and characteristics that are meant to – humorously, in the mind of the e-mail author -- link Barbie to that particular community.

The Downingtown Barbie, for example, comes with a Ford Windstar and a matching gym outfit. “She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation of secondary education,” we learn. West Chester Barbie comes with a choice of a BMW or a Hummer H2 and has her own Starbucks card and country club membership.

Funny that the author spelled Berwyn wrong, and didn't even attempt Bryn Mawr...

richlevy · 08-28-2009, 08:51 PM

City dwellers are just jealous that we have free parking.

Glinda · 08-29-2009, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

In LA it's "The City" vs "The Valley".

Anything over the hill in the valley is considered straight trash.

Ok, but what if I (used to) live in North Hollywood but worked in .... BEVERLY HILLS? Would I still have been a white trash ho?

Glinda · 08-29-2009, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx

Funny that the author spelled Berwyn wrong, and didn't even attempt Bryn Mawr...

I got an email last week that had the same Barbies and descriptions, but the towns/areas were in the Portland OR area. Funny as hell!

As for the City vs. Suburbs issue - they both suck. Rural is the only way to go!

depmats · 08-29-2009, 02:37 PM

Huh, I thought we were having a cellar civil war. That could be kind of fun.

Cicero · 08-29-2009, 02:56 PM

I just wrote a ton on this and erased it. I made the long story short...

The war is a class war and I believe, stems from the social mores of the academic class.

You forgot one UT: Suburbanites are also obviously- breeders.

glatt · 08-29-2009, 03:51 PM

I'm caught in the middle and am at war with both of them. I'm well inside the Beltway and can walk easily to a grocery store and a couple restaurants. A couple of parks and bike paths too. I have ready access to public transportation. I also have a decent sized lush back yard and little traffic on my street. I have a driveway I can park in, and if I didn't, I would still be able to park in front of my house with no competition.

I sometimes have to go out into the real suburbs out by the Beltway to run an errand, and I can't stand it. It's just multi-lane drags with shopping plazas and car dealerships and tons of traffic and lots of red lights. It takes half an hour just to get from one place to another out there, and you are drained once you arrive. Every development is designed so all the traffic has to get onto a main road just to get from point A to point B, so all the main strips are horribly overcrowded.

If I have to drive downtown, it's still stressful, because I have to plan my route in advance. Have to figure out which one-way street or diagonal street to take, where I might find a place to park, where I won't get shot (not as bad these days.)

I work downtown, but it's easy to get to on public transportation.

So I dislike them both. Arlington rocks.

xoxoxoBruce · 08-29-2009, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glinda

Ok, but what if I (used to) live in North Hollywood but worked in .... BEVERLY HILLS? Would I still have been a white trash ho?

Hopefully.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cicero

You forgot one UT: Suburbanites are also obviously- breeders.

Around here the suburbanites are procreating a monster or three, but in the city they squeeze out 6, 8, 10 little thugs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

Every development is designed so all the traffic has to get onto a main road just to get from point A to point B, so all the main strips are horribly overcrowded.

That seems to be the plan/fault of the local planning boards. By limiting the number of access points from each development to the rest of the world, they create choke points, partially to limit through traffic on the residential streets. It's for the children, you know.

dar512 · 08-29-2009, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by depmats

Huh, I thought we were having a cellar civil war. That could be kind of fun.

As long as everyone remained polite.

smoothmoniker · 08-29-2009, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glinda

Ok, but what if I (used to) live in North Hollywood but worked in .... BEVERLY HILLS? Would I still have been a white trash ho?

Yes. It doesn't matter where you work, only where you plug in your iPhone at night.

08-28-2009, 05:09 PM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	The secret war between city dwellers and suburban dwellers Man, I don't know how it is where you live. But where I live, there is a cultural war going on between city dwellers and suburban dwellers. It's completely unreported in any media, and I suspect it may be quite different in different areas. The war is fully on here in the Boston-to-DC corridor. This war seems to be primarily going on in the middle class. Many city folks now have a bitter disgust, spilling over into name-calling hatred, of suburb folk. The city people feel they are a stronger race. They're more cultured, more well-rounded, and more fully self-actualized. In turn, they believe any suburbanite is potentially racist, potentially religious extremist, almost certainly an asshole frightened into gun owning and worse. The suburban sprawl has caused new reliance on cars and has destroyed local farms; all the suburbanites are directly responsible for this. A minority of city folk are actually angry when they have to go to the burbs to do business. Meanwhile, the suburbanites seem completely unaware that there is a war on. They complain about the aspects of the city that they don't like, but they will usually associate themselves with it willingly. I live 10 miles outside the Philadelphia city border, and so I can't honestly say I'm Philadelphian. But I enjoy the city immensely, follow its sports teams, watch its local news broadcasts, play music in its bars, enjoy it as much as possible. I'd be happy to labeled Philadelphian. I wouldn't correct it. What's it like where you are? Is there a war on?

08-28-2009, 05:24 PM	#2
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	Not here. We're all one city basically, surrounded by desert. We may have a war against jackrabbits, scorpions, and illegal aliens, but that's about it. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

08-28-2009, 06:06 PM	#4
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	The urbanites definitely have disdain for the suburbanites around here. Usually it manifests in snide remarks about places close to the city having more "character." I once straight-up told my coworker that if "character" meant her 70-year-old house had an ancient sewer line burst underneath it, while my house is twice as big, cost 2/3rds as much, and has modern pipes made of actual metal instead of layered tar paper... then she was welcome to all the character the city had to offer. __________________ My book My other book My spirit animal

08-28-2009, 07:10 PM	#5
smoothmoniker to live and die in LA Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,090	In LA it's "The City" vs "The Valley". Anything over the hill in the valley is considered straight trash. __________________ to live and die in LA

08-28-2009, 08:51 PM	#7
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	City dwellers are just jealous that we have free parking. __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

08-29-2009, 02:37 PM	#10
depmats Major Inhabitant Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 124	Huh, I thought we were having a cellar civil war. That could be kind of fun.

08-29-2009, 02:56 PM	#11
Cicero Looking forward to open mic night. Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: New Mexico Posts: 5,148	I just wrote a ton on this and erased it. I made the long story short... The war is a class war and I believe, stems from the social mores of the academic class. You forgot one UT: Suburbanites are also obviously- breeders. __________________ Show me a sane man, and I will cure him for you.- Carl Jung

08-29-2009, 03:51 PM	#12
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I'm caught in the middle and am at war with both of them. I'm well inside the Beltway and can walk easily to a grocery store and a couple restaurants. A couple of parks and bike paths too. I have ready access to public transportation. I also have a decent sized lush back yard and little traffic on my street. I have a driveway I can park in, and if I didn't, I would still be able to park in front of my house with no competition. I sometimes have to go out into the real suburbs out by the Beltway to run an errand, and I can't stand it. It's just multi-lane drags with shopping plazas and car dealerships and tons of traffic and lots of red lights. It takes half an hour just to get from one place to another out there, and you are drained once you arrive. Every development is designed so all the traffic has to get onto a main road just to get from point A to point B, so all the main strips are horribly overcrowded. If I have to drive downtown, it's still stressful, because I have to plan my route in advance. Have to figure out which one-way street or diagonal street to take, where I might find a place to park, where I won't get shot (not as bad these days.) I work downtown, but it's easy to get to on public transportation. So I dislike them both. Arlington rocks.

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