Is the are you live in considered: Urban, Suburban or Rural?

[maveric]

I live in Ocean Beach, San Diego which is considered Urban. High density population. Everything is within "walking distance".

What about your area?

[tinfoil tiaras]

1. Where I'm from is considered "urban" for the state I live in

but it's not really urban in the true sense of the word. But it isn't suburban either, because there are suburbs of my city. It's an urburb...haha.

[Droopy]

2. 30 years ago it was rural

15 years ago it was suburban. Now we have a mall.

[Deja Q]

3. Suburban. And one day, I'll have to tell you about the

suburban legends we've developed...

[Hibernias Daughter]

4. Rural

My town has no store, post office, gas station, church, library or even town office. Just the school and a small cluster of houses near it. We have 1 huge beautiful lake and about 7 smaller ones. One of Maine's largest rivers (the Kennebec) runs through it, and it lies in the foothills of what is known as the Western Mtns (by Maine standards ;-)) It's part of the Appalachian Mtn range.

Despite the many inconveniences of small town living, one cool thing is being able to get my car registered on a Sunday if I wish. I just call the town clerk to make sure she's home. Her husband at the same time (if he's home) will inspect and sticker it. Oh and also, we're small enough that the old paper ballots, hand counted, work well.

So there are some benefits. Don't get me started on the bummers though, neither of us would like that! LOL :hi:

[femmocrat]

7. It sounds beautiful! Welcome to DU!

[Hibernias Daughter]

9. Thanks

it is beautiful and I love it most of the time... until I have to go grocery shopping or something.

Thanks for the welcome! :hi:

[QMPMom]

14. LIve smack downtown in a capital city.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Urban village type neighborhood in Minneapolis

It actually looks kind of like a small Midwestern town within the city.

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. A very urbanized suburb...

My building is only 40-odd years old, but there is a lot of century-old housing out here, plus new infill. And a rather cool main business street, well preserved, and just 10 miles west of downtown Chicago.

Odd fact about my town is that there are about 14,000 live citizens here, and 550,000 dead in a big area of cemeteries way across town from me.

[femmocrat]

8. Rural.

However, some of the farms have been sub-divided, so we aren't as rural as we once were. We have to drive to everything. The nearest shopping area is about 7-8 miles away. I have lived in large and small cities and suburbs, and I really like living here the best.

[Silver Swan]

10. It depends

I might be suburban because the commuter train from the city does come out here, and I did take the train to work in the city before I retired.

But there are some farms with cows between here and the city, so that might make me sort of rural.

I just say I live in the far distant boonies.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

11. NYC -- definitely urban.

[rurallib]

12. Rurallib lives in rural area in rural state.

Not easy to say.

[mainegreen]

13. I *are* urban

:P

[TheMightyFavog]

15. The middle of Stevens Point, WI

I consider it urban, for a small city.

I come from a quite rural area, tough.

[Az]

16. Detroit is about as urban as you get

[last_texas_dem]

17. I'm going to be difficult and say "small town"

Some people might call where I live "rural" but I consider a population of 20,000 too much of an actual city to be considered rural. However, it would definitely be a stretch to call it "urban" and it's not really a suburb of an other city, either.

[Nikia]

36. I believe that it is referred to a micropolitain area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_micropolitan_area
I grew up in a micropolitain area. I was puzzled when the teacher told us in second grade social studies that we lived in a rural area. It didn't seem like the textbook description of rural at all to me, although it is true that the county outside of the city was mostly rural.

[Broken_Hero]

18. Rural....

about four miles from a major highway, about 4.2 miles from a gas station...and 11 miles from civilization, meaning a bigger town, of 12,000 or so...

[Treclo]

19. Ahhh... home sweet home.

I live outside of Coeur d'Alene, ID. It's so very rural, we go over the river and through the woods to get home. Okay, we go over a creek, but we have mountains in our back yard; literally. I love it. So I can't run out to the store 10 minutes away- it's more like an hour round trip- but those are the trade-offs.

[KitchenWitch]

20. I am not sure what the area I live in is classified as

I live in Orange County, CA.

[maveric]

31. "Suburban", as in Suburban Sprawl.

Most of San Diego County is like that too, although there are Urban and rural areas too.
When I think OC, I think Suburban.

[shanti]

49. that's definitely the suburbs

coming from one who was raised in the OC. :hi:

[pokerfan]

21. Semi rural

15 minutes into the city to work
Got about an acre to myself which borders on 40 acres of horse pasture.
Ten minute walk to the river.

[billyskank]

22. I don't know. What would you call this?

It's purely residential, which is kind of like the suburbia, but I'm pretty sure suburbs hadn't been invented when this street was built. These houses are all Victorian. Also the street is in town, an easy walk from the centre, not far away like suburbs tend to be.

[Zookeeper]

40. I would call it...

charming. And I'd call you a lucky guy.

[YankeyMCC]

23. Suburb

but I think we'd also be considered part of the Boston Metro area or at least the Cambridge Metro area since we're right next door.

[GenDem]

24. Rural & sometimes referred to as a "bedroom community", now

I think that means that we still retain the small town look and feel...no sprawl here, but our residents usually have to commute to Rochester or Buffalo for work.

Even up until 20 years ago our town of 7,000 had quite an industrial base, providing very good paying manufacturing jobs with good benefits and retirement plans. We are known for the invention of Jell-O and Jell-O alone pretty much employed half the town in it's hay-day and before being bought by General Foods. We also made ceramic insulators, tool boxes, patent medicines, & had a UAW parts plant in our little town. All long gone, now.

This is the story of thousands of small towns across America, which is sad. There haven't been any jobs to replace the high paying blue collar jobs in our town...so everyone commutes. And kids can't stay here after college because there's nothing to stay for.

Other than all that it is a really lovely little town with a village that has a creek running through the center. The tree lined streets have sidewalks and you can walk to the library or uptown (where all of the retail businesses are gone and replaced with service businesses) I live three miles outside the village.

[av8rdave]

25. Suburban, I suppose, but in the middle of a huge complex of cities

The upside is that anything you need is close by.

[annonymous]

26. I live in Baltimore, MD

The part of town I live in is definately urban, but mainly residential.

[BarenakedLady]

27. Rural

Though I'm only about 10 minutes from the biggest mall in the area. Here is my backyard from yesterday. Add about another inch 1/2 of snow on the ground and that's what it looks like today.

[SoyCat]

28. What do you call an area that isn't a suburb of anything but isn't

truly rural in the strictest sense? We're building in Walton Co. which is really rural in the north part of the Co. but south of the bay, it's beach. We're building in the southern part.

[huskerlaw]

29. Urban.

San Fernando Valley (go ahead and call it Los Angeles), CA

[NewWaveChick1981]

30. Suburban.

Although it's not a HUGE metropolitan area, it's definitely the city and not the country. It's definitely not a city as defined by NYC, LA, or Chicago, but it's a city nonetheless. It's somewhere between urban and suburban.

[terrya]

32. I live in Chicago. Urban. n/t

[mopinko]

33. yup,

chicago is definitely urban. i live there, too.
:hi: :hi: terrya we need a chicago meetup soon!

[greatauntoftriplets]

47. I used to live (and work) in Chicago....

I did but I don't anymore...

I used to live in Chicago...
I worked in a department store...

I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO

Oh, I used to work in Chicago
In a Department Store
I used to work in Chicago -
I did but I don't anymore.
A lady came in and asked for a hat
I asked her what kind she'd adore
Felt she said, so felter I did
I did but I don't anymore.

[Xithras]

34. Rural, but Suburban is just 3/4's of a mile up the road.

Yes, the developers have been knocking...

[warrens]

35. Downtown Chicago

Yep, Urban.

[Nikia]

37. I live in a village/city in a rural county

There are bars, restaurants, grocery stores, a variety of stores, a hospital, a library, and parks here. It is small though and there aren't any towns that are much bigger for about 30 miles.

[Zookeeper]

38. Inner-ring suburb...

10 minutes from both downtowns (Mpls. and St. Paul), yet surrounded by lakes and wooded areas. I love it, although we really need more walking/biking paths for safety.

[LostinVA]

39. Other -- Exurban

[leftofthedial]

41. I live in a suburb, but

in a neighborhood that is decidedly urban.

[fizzgig]

42. i really have no idea how to classify where i live

it's a city of about 150,000 people, not suburbs but definately not urban...shitty public transportation and not much within walking distance unless you live in a very few parts of town

[Left Is Write]

43. Suburban.

[u4ic]

44. Urban residential

this city is so sprawled out it seems like almost everywhere is suburban, however.

[Kali]

45. Boonies,

well except for the damn interstate.



I am becoming surrounded by "rural" and just across the valley it is desperately trying to become suburban sprawl. My nearest small town's big ambition is apparently to become the bedroom to both Tucson and Sierra Vista. :puke:

And when we con the state into bringing CAP water to the county, we can run the San Pedro like some big decorative water feature. Yahoo. :eyes:

[SPKrazy]

46. Urban- But That Is An Overstatement In Comparison To Other Urban Areas

It seems more rural, but a small city in a rural area is considered urban

:rofl:

[shanti]

48. i'm here in outer-suburbia

yep....

[eyesroll]

50. City of Milwaukee. Urban.

I like it here. I'd be OK with an inner-ring urban-ish suburb, too...you know, the 100-year-old suburbs that are still on the city address grid. Some of 'em even have alleys. I like the grid. It's hard to get lost when all of the addresses make sense.

The newer suburbs, with their cul-de-sacs and looping developments, have no rhyme or reason behind their addresses. And garages seem to be the most prominent architectural feature (probably because there's nothing within walking distance).

[Quantess]

52. I lived in Milwaukee for one semester

at Marquette U. I lived on NE 21st, I think.
Is that anywhere near where you live?
(edit: I lived there in early 1997)

[eyesroll]

55. I attend Marquette Law, but I live in Bay View.

I'm glad to be away from campus -- too much tension, too many drunks.

:hi:

[Quantess]

59. There was a bar at nearly every corner in Milwaukee.

I mean, there were nearly 4 bars at every street corner. Not a good place to be a drunk. (LOL or was it?)

[Odin2005]

51. mid-sized urban area (Fargo)

But I grew up in the tiny rural town of Ulen, Minnesota (population 532) around 50 miles NE of Fargo.

[Blue_In_AK]

53. Urban

Five minutes from beautiful downtown Anchorage. :)

[SeattleGirl]

54. Seattle is definitely urban.

[grace0418]

56. Another Chicagoan here.

I work in the burbs but I live in the city. My husband wants to move next year though. So do I but I want to live on the west coast, he wants to move to the suburbs. I swore I'd never live in the suburbs. At least not the suburbs in the midwest. But it looks like that's exactly where I'll be this time next year. At the very least I hope the move will allow me to quit my rectum suckhole job. Because if I'm still working there AND living in some lily-white, tract housing, no-ethnic-food suburb I'm just going to lose it.

[MattSh]

57. Kiev, Ukraine

Pretty urban, I would guess. But it's not like many urbans in the USA. Two views....





The snow is two weeks ago. It's gone now. :-) :-) :-)

[dajoki]

58. The "sticks"