Home sweet home! True it is. Homes are where we feel wanted, safe, and content. It shields us against the tough conditions that exist in the outside world. Perhaps, that is why we all strive to build a house away from areas of chaos. Thus, were built suburbs and exurbs. OpinionFront tells you the major differences between them.
Houses which look identical in all respects are termed as cookie cutter houses. They have the same design, same appearance, and are mostly located in the suburbs.
Wars have brought about massive changes in the lifestyle of people. History holds testimony of such bizarre references when wars did bring in sea-change, not only in the war-affected areas but also across miles which were adjacent to that area. In this light, we shall have to talk about the change which revolutionized the way city dwellers lived.
WWII brought in the culture of staying in the outskirts cities. These areas were outside the busy city, came to be known as suburbs. The major reason being, a sudden rise in the population which rendered the existing place in the city insufficient for everyone to live comfortably. Another reason was certainly cheaper rates of the houses that were found in the suburban areas. They were self-sufficient, and had their own community centers, schools, churches, and shopping centers. So, on the whole, the advanced countryside was now the suburb. Suburbs enabled the government to allot GI bills to veterans of war, both, the WWII and also the Korean War. To bridge the distance between the suburbs and the city, communication and transportation improved greatly. One of the noted benefits that suburban areas have bestowed upon city mongers is the growing need of preserving nature. Hence, they are also accounted as being the pioneers of environmentalism.
As they say, history repeats itself. Just as suburbs came into play because of growing demands, and the inability of the urban world to fulfill those, likewise, there cropped up exurbs, which are similar in their purpose of finding an abode which is cheap, less crowded, and of course, which has no or negligible pollution. So, this happens to be the point of similarity between the suburbs and the exurbs. Does this also imply that life in the exurbs and suburbs are the same, or at least similar? Well, let us first spot some major differences between suburbs and exurbs, and also enlist the reasons which enable these areas in adding a new meaning to the lives of the urbanized masses. Here’s an exurbs vs. suburbs comparison for better understanding.
| Suburbs | Exurbs |
| Suburbs are areas comprising the outer stretches of a city. | Exurbs are the areas which are stretched further. They lie farther than suburbs. |
| They were formed back in 1850s when there was a rising need of having areas for dwelling due to overpopulation that urban areas suffered from. | Almost a hundred years later, around the 1950s, the term exurb surfaced up, to add some more areas in the dwelling parameter. |
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Suburbs are rich in all the facilities that the urban dwellers have. They have well-knit roads which link the suburbs to the city. There are places like malls and other community centers that dwellers throng to.
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The exurbs, however, are a little different than the suburbs. They may be more rural in nature, or urban, or may as well be somewhere as a mix of both.
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Suburbs are rich in commercial features.
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Exurbs don’t have any commercial place to boast of. They may also have large farm areas. |
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Suburbs have a modest growth rate.
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Exurbs however, have higher growing ratios. |
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Why Do People Choose to Live in Ex(S)urban Areas?
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People who value open space, lesser chaos, and less human population in their vicinity choose to live in the suburbs.
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The key reason to choose an exurb for a home is certainly its thin population. The usable land is definitely another point which makes dwellers shift towards these areas. |
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Suburbs are away from the city, but still have access to urban lifestyle. Transportation is not a reason to worry about. This also has a flip side. The crimes that horrify the urban realm may also be common place in the suburbs.
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Exurbs, unlike the suburbs, are not within the contemporary facilities of transport and other advantages of the urbanized world. People who have their own medium of communication and transport choose these areas. But an advantage is lesser rates of crime. |
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Suburbs, according to many, still have a lifestyle which is somehow ‘mixed’, and apart from its distance, has many commonalities with the cities. As for instance, schools, community centers, modes of recreation, et al.
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Exurbs are entitled separate schools. They can devote more time to practice their hobbies, which could differ from those that are practiced in the cities and suburbs. |
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Many are also of the opinion that life in the exurbs and suburbs are certainly different and way better than urban areas, but the exurbs rank higher than the suburbs in lifestyle.
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Suburbs provide residents with ample freedom and independence.
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Exurbs are more liberal. They provide residents with greater sense of freedom and independence. |
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Suburbs have industry. They also have a community of their own. They make a niche which they call theirs, and where no one else but only they stay. The suburbs build their houses in a distinct pattern, which makes them uniform. They also have their own local government.
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Exurbs don’t have a government which is so advanced as that of the suburbs. They don’t have any major industry. These areas have a population who are counted as the wealthier ones, are also deemed as the more educated masses. |
Examples of Suburbs
- Rossmoor
- Huntington Woods
- Rancho Cucamonga
Examples of Exurbs
- Fredericksburg
- Port St. Lucie
- Loudoun County
Did White Flight cause Ex(S)urban Areas?
Back in the period of the 1950s and ’60s, there was a huge rush of populace who shifted from the urban areas to the suburbs. The point to note here is, most of the people who went were whites. Thus, the question that lingered is whether the whites chose to live within their own community, outside the cosmopolitan urban. So, back to the same point – White Flight is another facet of a type of racism.
However, the other side of the story is, many modern historians rather want to believe that the migration was primarily because of the easy and fast availability of homes in the areas which were away from the city’s hustle and bustle.
Both suburbs and exurbs have huge potential to attract the solitude-loving urban population. But the cause of worry is to what extent is it possible to keep them separated and away from overpowering urbanization.
