What have your kids learned growing up in the city compared to Suburb raised friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't make any sense the responses... all the best authentic asian food in DC is in the suburbs, as well as the best asian groceries. Almost all areas of NW DC are less diverse than Arlington, Falls Church, and PG County. (http://proximityone.com/diversity/neighborhood_diversity_dc.htm). Prince William County and MoCo are in the top 15 most diverse counties in the country and DC, and Silver Spring MD is a top 10 most diverse City but DC doesn't crack the top 10 (https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/2021s-diverse-cities-america-wallethub-study/). Suburb kids can visit museums just like city kids, so that makes no sense either. So we're basically left with "my kid uses public transportation comfortably" also could be rewritten as "my kid knows how to be poor"

I think it depends on what definition of suburb you use. We live in downtown Silver Spring. It can certainly be described as a suburb of DC, but it’s an urban area. Many people live outside of DC, but they can walk in 5 min to great restaurants, live music, etc.

By that standard, most of upper NW DC is a distant suburb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How to be cool. Seriously. City kids are comfortable in all situations and have a confidence and swagger that stays with them.

Sadly I couldn’t convince DH to stay in the city. We still see friends from our kids’ old schools and they are so self-assured and cool compared to my sweet, sheltered kids.

I thought we were done with Pompeo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hated the sameness of the suburbs growing up around DC. We’re in NYC and I see my kids with so many more diverse interests and rich lives living in the city as compared to what I had growing up.

+1. We are in DC. My son is 7. It’s incredible the experiences he has had on so far that I never had in the suburbs, that his similar age cousin doesn’t have in the burbs.

We just went to the Philips Collection Friday for their 100th anniversary. He did some amazing arts and craft activities. My favorite was an activity based on Alma Thomas work and then we went to the gallery to actually see the art piece. Lots of family friendly events at the Kennedy center, Smithsonian, etc…

Above is just 1 example but the cultural, artistic, musical, theater exposure is just incredible. There’s always lots of things like above going on for families.

Is this satire? If so, it is brilliant! Brava!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public transportation and general street savvy. Also, being comfortable around ethnic food - both restaurants and groceries.

Huh. Why's that? We moved out to the suburbs in large part due to the better ethnic grocery stores and restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess this thread is really only aimed at white people, since it's bizarre to me to think that you can't get exposure to "ethnic food" or "diverse people" in the suburbs.

-- Indian-American who grew up in the suburbs as did most of the Indian-Americans I know from around the country. Also one who typically went to the Maryland suburbs of DC is she wanted "ethnic food".

How long was the drive for each suburb and at what age were you able to do the trek on your own?

There is a Mexican grocery, a Polish deli, an Albanian grocery and a Russian grocery within 3 blocks from my home. Not to mention various takeout places. This is part of my kids' lives, not "exposure".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More exposure to diversity. In terms of ethnicity and also life experience. My son started asking questions about homeless people at like age 3. Also better grasp of public transportation and navigation in general. When you just get in the car and get out when it stops, you don't have a good sense of direction. If you're walking or relying on metro/bus, you have to pay attention to north/south/east/west.

We live in Wheaton. My dis school is ten percent white and over fifty percent white. My friends in dc send their kids to wealthy largely white private schools or to Wilson which is now over fifty percent white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How to be cool. Seriously. City kids are comfortable in all situations and have a confidence and swagger that stays with them.

Sadly I couldn’t convince DH to stay in the city. We still see friends from our kids’ old schools and they are so self-assured and cool compared to my sweet, sheltered kids.

This is so not true.

It is my my experience. We know lots of city kids and lots of suburban kids. Do you?

Yes. I’m the pp with kids who grew up in both worlds. To refer to kids as “cool” is ridiculous. Are you 15?

NP. There is a totally different vibe to kids raised in the city. Cool might not be the perfect word, but savvy might cover it. And savvy can translate to cool in some kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public transportation and general street savvy. Also, being comfortable around ethnic food - both restaurants and groceries.

Huh. Why's that? We moved out to the suburbs in large part due to the better ethnic grocery stores and restaurants.

It's not that there is no good ethnic foods in the suburbs. But getting ethnic food in the suburbs is an outing, as in "today we are going to that <insert ethnicity> place where we go every couple of weeks". And there are menus, and Yelp reviews, and they are making certain adjustments for the proverbial "white people", have waiters who speak excellent English, etc. It's a bit different with the places that are first and foremost serving local immigrant communities and also happen to be your neighbors, and you interact with them as neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public transportation and general street savvy. Also, being comfortable around ethnic food - both restaurants and groceries.

Huh. Why's that? We moved out to the suburbs in large part due to the better ethnic grocery stores and restaurants.

It's not that there is no good ethnic foods in the suburbs. But getting ethnic food in the suburbs is an outing, as in "today we are going to that <insert ethnicity> place where we go every couple of weeks". And there are menus, and Yelp reviews, and they are making certain adjustments for the proverbial "white people", have waiters who speak excellent English, etc. It's a bit different with the places that are first and foremost serving local immigrant communities and also happen to be your neighbors, and you interact with them as neighbors.

You haven't been to the suburbs in this century, I take it. The most vibrant, strong, and growing immigrant communities are in the suburbs now, and have been for thirty or so years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public transportation and general street savvy. Also, being comfortable around ethnic food - both restaurants and groceries.

Huh. Why's that? We moved out to the suburbs in large part due to the better ethnic grocery stores and restaurants.

It's not that there is no good ethnic foods in the suburbs. But getting ethnic food in the suburbs is an outing, as in "today we are going to that <insert ethnicity> place where we go every couple of weeks". And there are menus, and Yelp reviews, and they are making certain adjustments for the proverbial "white people", have waiters who speak excellent English, etc. It's a bit different with the places that are first and foremost serving local immigrant communities and also happen to be your neighbors, and you interact with them as neighbors.

You haven't been to the suburbs in this century, I take it. The most vibrant, strong, and growing immigrant communities are in the suburbs now, and have been for thirty or so years.

And to clarify, that isn't to say that there aren't amazing, vibrant immigrant communities in cities, but the greatest growth has been in suburbs. This is well-documented with demographic data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public transportation and general street savvy. Also, being comfortable around ethnic food - both restaurants and groceries.

Huh. Why's that? We moved out to the suburbs in large part due to the better ethnic grocery stores and restaurants.

It's not that there is no good ethnic foods in the suburbs. But getting ethnic food in the suburbs is an outing, as in "today we are going to that <insert ethnicity> place where we go every couple of weeks". And there are menus, and Yelp reviews, and they are making certain adjustments for the proverbial "white people", have waiters who speak excellent English, etc. It's a bit different with the places that are first and foremost serving local immigrant communities and also happen to be your neighbors, and you interact with them as neighbors.

Hmmm, as someone who moved from Upper NW to Silver Spring, you're describing my suburban experience, not my city experience.

I think it's so weird that people boast about how they are raising their kids in the city to understand diversity and then they post all these stereotypes of the people, majority POC, who live in the suburbs of DC. Like if you're raising your kids to be as close minded as you are, and to think that you understand someone's experience better than the person who lives there, then you're doing it wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in DC, my kids are growing up in the burbs. City kids are more savvy & streetsmart , no question. Suburban kids are more at ease doing other things, though. But they depends on parents for transport. I don’t think there’s anything greater than growing up in a city.

Depends which suburb and which part of the city.

One of the things I love about my suburban neighborhood is that the kids all walk to elementary school and then maybe ride a bike to middle school and high school (we're in an area with school choice). I teach in a charter school in DC. Most of the kids are transported by parents.

[Anonymous]

Kids who grow up in the city know lots of things about city living. Kids who grow up in the suburbs know lots about suburban living and kids who grow up in the country know lots about country living. All of these styles of living have their own cultures, attributes and drawbacks. They are all a part of our country. Pick the one you like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't make any sense the responses... all the best authentic asian food in DC is in the suburbs, as well as the best asian groceries. Almost all areas of NW DC are less diverse than Arlington, Falls Church, and PG County. (http://proximityone.com/diversity/neighborhood_diversity_dc.htm). Prince William County and MoCo are in the top 15 most diverse counties in the country and DC, and Silver Spring MD is a top 10 most diverse City but DC doesn't crack the top 10 (https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/2021s-diverse-cities-america-wallethub-study/). Suburb kids can visit museums just like city kids, so that makes no sense either. So we're basically left with "my kid uses public transportation comfortably" also could be rewritten as "my kid knows how to be poor"

The only context in which any of these responses make any sense is if by "city" the OP really only meant NYC and the boroughs. Though, even then the diversity comments don't really make sense. Depending on whether you view Jersey City/Newark as suburbs, they are extremely diverse. So is Long Island, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public transportation and general street savvy. Also, being comfortable around ethnic food - both restaurants and groceries.

Huh. Why's that? We moved out to the suburbs in large part due to the better ethnic grocery stores and restaurants.

It's not that there is no good ethnic foods in the suburbs. But getting ethnic food in the suburbs is an outing, as in "today we are going to that <insert ethnicity> place where we go every couple of weeks". And there are menus, and Yelp reviews, and they are making certain adjustments for the proverbial "white people", have waiters who speak excellent English, etc. It's a bit different with the places that are first and foremost serving local immigrant communities and also happen to be your neighbors, and you interact with them as neighbors.

You haven't been to the suburbs in this century, I take it. The most vibrant, strong, and growing immigrant communities are in the suburbs now, and have been for thirty or so years.

+1

There's a certain sort of white person who insists on living in DC, absolutely refuses to visit "the suburbs", but imagines them as if they are "the suburbs" of Des Moines in 1980, likes to pat themselves on the back for their child's "diverse" experience of going to an "ethnic" restaurant once in a while, and CANNOT imagine that there are diverse ethnic communities created and rooted in the suburbs. I've had these white people sneer at me, to my face, and judge me for being so uncouth as to live in the suburbs. I'm Indian, and choose to live in the suburbs *because* they are more diverse than AU Park or whatever. It's ridiculous.