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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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".

In DC!! where?? the MD part of tacoma park doesn't count. I think this s true in Chicago, where we live now but when i live din DC in 2016, i had to schlep out to the suburbs to go to a minuscule patel brothers and really schlep to get to the korean grocery. I dont believe you. and Vacce is not a real italian stop/deli its a threadbare lifeline. Here i have to go far out to the suburbs to get to the Japanese market but everything else is in the city and i know teh same is true of NYC. DC is not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the "city" kids I know go to expensive private schools, while most of the "suburban" kids I know go to public schools. The city kids are learning that it's good to *appear* to embrace diversity by living "in the city" but that you don't want to *actually* integrate your life/education with people who are different from you.

The BEST comment in this thread! Bravo!!!!!!!

No, sounds like poster above don’t know many city kids then. Our DS goes to a charter elementary and we have a net worth of over 3 million. Lots of UMC families go to charters or DCPS. Schools are diverse unless you are in upper NW. Also, many families like ours who could afford to move to upper NW but choose to stay closer to downtown. We are in NE and so is our school. One of my DS closest friend is AA. Another good friend is middle eastern and another Latino.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diversity and comfortable with all people. DS considers the old Asian woman who sits on the park bench every day his friend, for example. We live near an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and my son wishes them “Shabbat Shalom” on Fridays even though we’re Catholic. My kids play with all races of children and all types of parents. My kids give money to the homeless and always smile at them. Both kids have friends in our building that they can visit in their pjs on Saturday mornings (we take turns hosting). They aren’t afraid of busy sidewalks or noise (like I was being a suburban kid).

Museums are their playgrounds and not a once-a-year field trip.

Covid was definitely harder in the city but I’m really glad we stuck it out!

Building friends are the best!!

[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.

uh, there are waaaaay more immigrants in the suburbs.

[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.

snort. have you ever considered that the person to whom you are responding might be *gasp* a member of an immigrant community/ethnic minority and that's why she/he said what they said?

I love being whitesplained by clueless white urbanites. Dunning-Kruger personified.

[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.

snort. have you ever considered that the person to whom you are responding might be *gasp* a member of an immigrant community/ethnic minority and that's why she/he said what they said?

I love being whitesplained by clueless white urbanites. Dunning-Kruger personified.

Yes, that PPs cluelessness was painful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diversity and comfortable with all people. DS considers the old Asian woman who sits on the park bench every day his friend, for example. We live near an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and my son wishes them “Shabbat Shalom” on Fridays even though we’re Catholic. My kids play with all races of children and all types of parents. My kids give money to the homeless and always smile at them. Both kids have friends in our building that they can visit in their pjs on Saturday mornings (we take turns hosting). They aren’t afraid of busy sidewalks or noise (like I was being a suburban kid).

Museums are their playgrounds and not a once-a-year field trip.

Covid was definitely harder in the city but I’m really glad we stuck it out!

Building friends are the best!!

+1. This response made me miss the city. Growing up the Metropolitan Museum of Art was my playground. I hate the suburbs but DH and I both work out here and he grew up in a suburb.

[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.

uh, there are waaaaay more immigrants in the suburbs.

"The City" has by far the least amount of immigrants in the metro area.
Foreign Born population:
Montgomery County: 32.2%
Fairfax County: 31.3%
Alexandria City: 27.2%
Loudoun County: 24.5%
Prince William County: 24.5%
Arlington County: 23.2%
PG County: 22.7%
Falls Church City: 19.2%
Washington, DC: 13.7%

[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.

Hahaha what. That’s hilarious that you think that.

[Anonymous]

They know about rats, and not to sit on sidewalks.

Suburban kids know their way around the mall and learn to drive to school.

[Anonymous]

Depends. I think it's more about specific neighborhood in the city vs. specific suburb than it is about making sweeping city vs. suburb generalizations. I live in Bethesda- near Westbrook Elementary. Besides address, I'm struggling to think of how kids' experiences are all that different than a kid that lives a mile away just over the border in AU Park or somewhere. Anyone?

Obviously their childhood is a bit different than a kid who grows up in an apartment in say, Foggy Bottom or a Cap Hill row home, but then you could also say that a kid who grows up in a high rise in Rosslyn or downtown Silver Spring is having a more "urban" experience than a kid who grows up in Spring Valley or AU Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the "city" kids I know go to expensive private schools, while most of the "suburban" kids I know go to public schools. The city kids are learning that it's good to *appear* to embrace diversity by living "in the city" but that you don't want to *actually* integrate your life/education with people who are different from you.

The BEST comment in this thread! Bravo!!!!!!!

No, sounds like poster above don’t know many city kids then. Our DS goes to a charter elementary and we have a net worth of over 3 million. Lots of UMC families go to charters or DCPS. Schools are diverse unless you are in upper NW. Also, many families like ours who could afford to move to upper NW but choose to stay closer to downtown. We are in NE and so is our school. One of my DS closest friend is AA. Another good friend is middle eastern and another Latino.

You'll have them in private schools by 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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".

Now I'm curious. I've got a Polish deli, and Ethiopian, Korean, Salvadorean stores among other things in my suburban neighborhood, but my kids haven't had Albanian food. Where in Washington DC do you live? We might take a day and go wander around.

Sorry to disappoint, I am not in DC area. However I live in a city, that's why I joined the discussion.

[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.

snort. have you ever considered that the person to whom you are responding might be *gasp* a member of an immigrant community/ethnic minority and that's why she/he said what they said?

I love being whitesplained by clueless white urbanites. Dunning-Kruger personified.

PP. Have you ever considered that I may be a member of an immigrant community too? And this is how I know the difference between the place I and my family go to and food places of my ethnicity that get endlessly blogged? Keep snorting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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".

Now I'm curious. I've got a Polish deli, and Ethiopian, Korean, Salvadorean stores among other things in my suburban neighborhood, but my kids haven't had Albanian food. Where in Washington DC do you live? We might take a day and go wander around.

Sorry to disappoint, I am not in DC area. However I live in a city, that's why I joined the discussion.

OK, so it's a little weird that you assume that your experience speaks for all city vs suburban people.

Yes, somewhere in the US there is one neighborhood with that specific combination of restaurants and grocery stores.. In my specific suburb, there is a different combination of restaurants and grocery stores.