What WE think a suburb is?
The rhetoric of the suburb is the picturesque ideal of a home composed of a white, wealthy family with 2-3 kids and a stay at home mother, with a father that commutes to work and is home by 6. The kids play soccer, the mom drives a mini-van, and the kids have a dog named Sammy. The house has a big backyard, maybe a slide for the kids, a white picket fence, and a mailbox in the front with their last name on it.
A suburb is a place between the city and country. There is distance from the city but suburban residents can still take advantage of urban amenities. The idea of the suburb is also attracted to the country but shies away from agriculture and wilderness.
Particular kind of community:
middle- and upper-middle class North American (white) families
Primary civic concerns are:
- Protection of property values
- Freedom from crime
- Good schooling for their children
As Dolores Hayden has said, suburbia is:
The physical expression of the middle-class desire for living in a detached house with like-minded neighbors in a quasi-pastoral setting.
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