Today in class we discussed somewhat what it means to be "urban". Urban, defined by dictionary.com, is simply described as "of, pertaining to, or designating a city or town." This does not cover much at all... what we must do is dig deeper into the factors that make up a city and decide what to us is urban and what isn't. Generally, a town with many main roads, buildings, companies, factories, and homes side by side, without or with very small yards is considered urban because everything is very close together, and very concrete. Suburban usually involves houses with larger yards, more flora and small stores that are generally somewhat further away from the residential district.
It's not just the make up of the town or city that makes it urban or suburban, however. One must consider the racial aspect. Many people believe urban cities have a larger population of minorities... an oxymoron of sorts. Urban cities also play host to a larger degree of lower income homes. Suburban homes tend to belong to the upper-middle, and upper class. I don't believe that this makes the urban city a worse place to live. Although the richer suburban areas seem choice, the urban areas provide a lot: a greater social environment, easier access to stores since it seems in suburban towns, many times you must take a car to get to where you need to go, when in an urban city everything is much more condensed. It also provides places for children and teenagers to go and hang out... movies, parks, malls, pools, pool halls, etc. Children are not stuck at home if there is no one to give them a ride somewhere. This increases a childs experience with their peers and helps to develop their people skills-- very necessary in adult life.
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so what would you consider a place like first ave? now that we have been there a few times and gotten a little more used to it, it does not seem so Newarkish. i remember someone said in class that if you go down a few blocks then you feel like you are inner city but what about the few blocks surrounding the school. i think its interesting that the children have two apparently different climates that they go through every day.
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