Suburban life. What does that mean anyway? Good luck defining such an idea in one sentence or less. It's as elusive as the Holy Grail and nearly as coveted by most people. According to freeonlinedictionary.com, Suburban is defined as:
1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a suburb.
2. Located or residing in a suburb.
3. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the culture, customs, and manners typical of life in the suburbs.
So where does this leave us? Exactly where we started. The first two definitions give us nothing. The third offers a little more insight. "Culture, customs, and manners typical of life in the suburbs." Ok, that makes it easier to pin down, right? So what are these cultures, customs, and manners typical of life in the suburbs? Now that's a good question. If you haven't already caught on, my point is that the idea of the suburbs is very specific to individual experiences and not readily forced into one particular mold. Sure we can all picture in our minds what the "suburbs" look like from the outside; those neat little housing tracts conceived in the minds of wealthy developers. When I think of the suburbs I envision tons of little "bubbles" rapidly expanding as more and more people move in. Each of these bubbles has characteristic cultures and customs. They often represent a multitude of ethnic backgrounds and races. Some have high crime rates and some couldn't be safer. Some residents indulge in community BBQs every weekend while others might not know their neighbor's first name. In essence, suburban life is what you make of it. It's where you live. It doesn't have to be who you are.
Nowadays the suburbs where I grew up in are inhabited by all kinds of different people. Some elderly couples have moved in replacing the younger families. Some have extended relatives living with them. Other couples have young children and Golden Retrievers. Most of the people are happy at heart, or at least from what I can tell. The ones that aren't have a hard time concealing it. Try to have a shouting match with your significant other and see if you don't get a disapproving glance from your neighbor the next morning as you go outside to grab the newspaper. As much as you want to remove yourself from this constant scrutinization it may be impossible. Suburban life does require a certain amount of compromise, but in the end it's what you make of it.
1 comment:
i agree with eric in that, like most everythin, the suburbs are what you make it. It seems like while the suburbs may be known as homongenous, this is changing. There are different kinds of suburbs now too. From my own experience, the only thig differentiating the burb from the city is a dearth of skyscrappers while some towns still resemble Waldie's Lakewood.
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