shiel097

I thought a lot of the stuff we talked about in class yesterday was very interesting. It was weird to see how people from the cities talked about the people from the suburbs and vice versa. It seemed like people had things that were totally opposite of what I think of where I live. I wrote what I think about the city from a “suburbian� perspective.
I described the city as dangerous. I feel like I have to lock my car doors at all times and not have the windows down, like I’m going to be shot at or something by some gang wandering the streets. I think of all the buildings as run down and all having barred windows. It seems really impersonal, because there isn’t a park to go to or yards for kids to play in or anything. When I’m walking at night it seems like I’m going to be robbed, so I have my wallet and phone in my front pockets. The people who live in the city seem poor to me. Most of the houses are poor quality and are unkempt. I am probably all wrong in my description, but it’s just how I see the city from living in a nice suburban neighborhood my whole entire life.
I think my decisions on describing the city were influenced solely by the neighborhood I grew up in. I almost feel sheltered because of that. My neighborhood is virtually 100% white, middle to upper middle class, successful people. In my cul-de-sac alone, there is the Vice President of a bank, CEO of a company, dentists, and people who retired at 40 after selling their company for millions. It is hard to see beyond the realm of what I was raised in to get any other description of the city. At the same time, I don’t feel like it has destroyed my perception of the city, I mean, after all I do live in Minneapolis now. I love it here; it is way more diverse, more night life, and more fun than living in suburbia.