Blog Post # 15 - Rural, Suburban and Urban Living

I have lived in urban and suburban areas and I have family who lives is rural areas, and I must say there has been a lot of change.  When I lived in my country, I lived in a fairly suburban area.  There were stores, malls, roads, etc, but nothing as fast paced and crowded as urban areas.  When I went back to visit my home city, I noticed that it was completely different.  In my opinion it was still suburban, just with the worst aspects of urban cities incorporated in it.  There double as many stores, triple as many cars and buses, 5 times as many people, still with the under-developed aspects of a suburban area, such as low quality streets and living.  It was a surprising experience, and quite interesting.  Don't get my wrong, I do like urban living, and would love to live in places such as New York City or DC, however as I said before, my home town had the pollution and disorder of a big city, without the museums and theaters.  

My grandmother from my father's side lives in a fairly rural area, and it somewhat remains that way.  There are obvious changes, but not as many as one would expect.  There is more transportation and roads have been built, however one can still see the same trees, green fields, animals, and natural beauty from before.  The same applies to the urban environment I live in now.  It is crowded and noisy, however in my opinion it hasn't changed much.  Urban environments by definition are always high in activity, so I wouldn't expect a lot to change there, except maybe small details. 


I noticed the the area in between rural and urban, which is suburban, was the one which suffered most change.  In my country, which is a third world country, suburban areas have the worst of both rural and urban.  They have the sub development of rural living, which the pollution and violence of urban living.  In the United states this is quite different.  Suburban areas here have somewhat the best of both rural and urban places.  Here in the United States, suburban areas have the peace of rural areas, but the easy access to stores, entertainment, business of urban areas, without the violence and large crowds.  That is why in my country, Urban areas are the best, however in the United States both Urban and Suburban are quite ideal.  Rural, suburban, and urban areas have suffered much change along the years, but in my opinion urban living will always be more ideal.