Urbane

I moved to Chicago eleven years ago for law school. I fell in love instantly. I never want to leave. Ever. I'm staying put come hell or high water - and where I live, I would likely look down upon Noah and his drifting ark were it to flood.

I enjoy lively urban living. Bustle suits me. I'm a busy body and enjoy the comfort of knowing that even if I doze off for a spell, my city is alive and well and will soon resuscitate me.

I have a corner unit with an amazing view and a 24-hour door person. It's my birdhouse in the sky. Hence the flood comment. I maintain control and feel at ease from my vantage point. Plus, the sound of the 22 bus lulls me to sleep and the moonlit city lights illuminate my path to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

What's not to love? Luella is paper trained. We see the Navy Pier fireworks from our living room every Wednesday and Saturday. We keep our favorite take out on speed dial and can order 100 different kinds of food to our doorstep within thirty minutes. The world's best farmers market is up the street. We can walk to the zoo in four minutes - the lake in five. We can whoop it up and take a cab home thus eliminating any opportunity to drink and drive. Oh. And, we don't need to be home to accept packages or let the cable guy in.

Why would anyone ever trade this bliss for suburban living?

I realize that with children come a new set of circumstances and considerations: safety, childcare, schooling, space and the plain old expense of living. With one more child, we will need a bigger home, a new car, more child care ... blah blah blah. The cost of city living can be steep, but to me, it's worth it.

I want Leighton to experience Chicago and come to love it as I have. I want her to visit the zoo several times each week and make use of the museums and parks. I want her to dine al fresco with us during the summer and play in the Lincoln Park snow in the winter. I want to take her to take the el to see the White Sox and walk to see the Cubs.I want her to love people and know as many different kinds of people as she possibly can. Yes - even Cubs fans.

I don't know what to do. We're looking at bigger homes in the city, suburbs and even Milwaukee and the whole ordeal makes me cranky and tearful. Urban twenty-somethings always say they're "never moving to the burbs" and then, one by one, they flee.

Why? Is it cost, space or safety? Do they like having to drive everywhere instead of walk? I'm having trouble recognizing the lure of suburban living. Maybe it's just me.

Did you struggle with the "city or suburbs" question? What did you do? What is so darn great about the suburbs? Please share your fuss with us.

Comments

[Jen - The Daily Fuss]

Where do you live? We are actually considering Oak Park, just west of Chicago. It's got the mini downtown and all of the cuteness with some urban elements. Plus, you could definitely get mugged if you took the Lake street all the way from the loop to Oak Park so it has some street cred.

[A.]

I finally succumbed to the suburbs. It was the second kid that did it for me. The convenience got me.

You can drive a mini-van and park it. You don't have to haul your groceries down the street or up tons of steps to your front door. You have a big backyard so instead of having to pack up the kids to get out of the house lest they crawl your walls you can just open the door and let 'em out.

Yes there are tons of moms who love the city and if I didn't have kids I might be there, too. But with kids I want the burbs, or where we are, a hipper burb near a 5-block mini-downtown that has it's own parades and charm so I feel like I'm sorta-hip, but really, so totally not.

:)

Love your blog, BTW!

[Kara]

I moved to Toronto (a city of 5 million people)for university, and never wanted to leave. The only reason I did (after 10 years), was because my fiance owned a house in a city an hour away (500,000 ppl). We now have a 6 week old baby, and I'm comfortable in the 'burbs now. I still love Toronto, but I'm happy to have a nice backyard for our child.

[Amy]

This post addresses a great question. My husband and I are also Chicagoians (we're actually Michiganders who have been transported to Chicago, but we're here now and we love it... except for the sports teams). Anyway, we live in a Westside neighborhood and we just had our first baby. We are planning to stay. My husband grew up in suburbia and I grew up in a small town, so compared to what we were used to as kids, I'm sure that urban living with a family will have some challenges. But when people tell me about how "difficult" it is to live in an urban community once you have kids... I'm always reminded that tons of people live in urban communities with kids. That's why there's so many Chicago schools. Yes, I recognize that there will be significan challenges for us as we aren't used to some of the differences between urban and suburban schools... and that Chicago Public Schools have some issues... but I'm looking forward to being involved in the school that my little boy goes to. And hoping that other parents who might be tempted to flee to the "ease of the suburbs" will also stick around and be involved with us. Anyway, I recognize the challenges and I'm sure we'll be tired at times... but I think all the benefits of living in the city outweigh the challenges.