What's the best environment to raise kids?

[Valmy]

Values... that gets a bit tricky now doesn't it.  Religion is going to be stronger out in the country, now isn't it...

I was more thinking along the lines of:

If you think "loading the dishwasher" means getting your wife drunk...
If you own a home that is mobile and 5 cars that aren't...
If you think the stock market has a fence around it...
If you consider the fifth grade you senior year...

you might be...

[Jacob]

For younger kids I'd go either rural or urban; if you're rich enough, both

Once the kids become teens, I prefer urban. Too much boredom in the suburbs or rural leads to too much drinking, fighting, drug abuse, and early pregnancy.

[Barrister]

For younger kids I'd go either rural or urban; if you're rich enough, both

Once the kids become teens, I prefer urban. Too much boredom in the suburbs or rural leads to too much drinking, fighting, drug abuse, and early pregnancy.

I see a lot of that in the urban kids I prosecute.

[Martinus]

Yeah, I don't know about kids these days, but at least in my generation, drug use appears to have been much more common in the urban kids (and I don't mean stuff like "inner city" ghetto kids, but even kids coming from so-called "good homes").

I grew up in the suburbs and I think I knew there was a couple of guys in my high school who may have taken something more serious than pot. From what I talked with my peers who grew up in Warsaw and went to the most prestigious high schools, half of the students were running on amphetamines.

Of course there were downsides, too - growing in the suburbs as a gay kid made me feel like I'm the only gay in the village.

But as I said, it's probably completely different now, with everybody having access to the internet.

[crazy canuck]

For younger kids I'd go either rural or urban; if you're rich enough, both

Once the kids become teens, I prefer urban. Too much boredom in the suburbs or rural leads to too much drinking, fighting, drug abuse, and early pregnancy.

I see a lot of that in the urban kids I prosecute.

When people speak of urban settings they mean real cities.  Not frontier towns with government offices.

[Sheilbh]

That's what people have already said about living in rural areas.

Well I think Jacob's onto something on the split. But I also think the British countryside is different. There's rural poverty which is one thing, and the odd area that's a bit inbred. But I don't think drug abuse would be a common association with the countryside - fighting, to an extent, but there's always fighting with kids. Similarly I'd say drinking's more difficult in the countryside. No pubs nearby, no shops - you have to wait for house parties.

Also I don't mind drinking. I started underage drinking when I was about 14 and went to the pub a few times a week. But it was fine. There was only one or two pubs in town that server under-agers, everyone knew they did and generally the landlords would make sure no-one got really drunk. The landlady used to give me a birthday cake every year and say '18 again?'

I feel sorry for kids now because they've clamped down on it. I think it's far better to be drinking in a pub or a bar than buying a bottle of vodka at a dodgy off-license and going to the park.

[crazy canuck]

That's what people have already said about living in rural areas.

Well I think Jacob's onto something on the split.

That is why where I live is ideal.  A short drive to downtown Vancouver where they can take in a wide range of entertainments; a short walk to a trail head which takes them into the wilderness; a short bike ride to beaches; and a short bus ride to the local mountains for skiing in the winter or hiking in the summer.

Having grown up in a rural setting I would say it was the worst of all possible worlds.  The only real entertainment was getting drunk at field parties and all the trouble that comes with that.  And the trouble part ended up being most of the entertainment of going to the things in the first place.

Living in a suburb would be a living hell I would think.  Hey guys, lets go hang out at the mall, again...

[Valmy]

Living in a suburb would be a living hell I would think.  Hey guys, lets go hang out at the mall, again...

Maybe it was just us but I never found the 15 minute trip to downtown all that hellish.  There were even free parking garages on weekends. 

[Valmy]

You have the cash necessary.  I'm positive you could find a 3 bedroom apartment/condo in downtown Austin, possibly by renting.

A quick search suggests: negative.  I am somewhat amused by what Austin Realestate considers 'downtown'.  North of 45th street is not even close people.

[crazy canuck]

Living in a suburb would be a living hell I would think.  Hey guys, lets go hang out at the mall, again...

Maybe it was just us but I never found the 15 minute trip to downtown all that hellish.  There were even free parking garages on weekends.

Read much?  Try going back and reading my post.

[Valmy]

Living in a suburb would be a living hell I would think.  Hey guys, lets go hang out at the mall, again...

Maybe it was just us but I never found the 15 minute trip to downtown all that hellish.  There were even free parking garages on weekends.

Read much?  Try going back and reading my post.

Read it again and it still looks like you are saying a suburb would be living hell.  Which part do you want me to take into consideration?

[ulmont]

Not really.  My wife grew up suburban and would never move back; I grew up rural and would never move back.

WHy's that?

For me - small town where everyone's related or at least knows everybody's business; no movie theater or even a decent restaurant closer than a 30 minute drive, and at that the restaurants are iffy; intensely religious and conservative area; didn't like it then, wouldn't like it now.

For my wife - as best I can tell, pick your parody of suburban NJ life and that's how she grew up, so really has no desire to go back to anything close to that.

[crazy canuck]

Living in a suburb would be a living hell I would think.  Hey guys, lets go hang out at the mall, again...

Maybe it was just us but I never found the 15 minute trip to downtown all that hellish.  There were even free parking garages on weekends.

Read much?  Try going back and reading my post.

Read it again and it still looks like you are saying a suburb would be living hell.  Which part do you want me to take into consideration?

You either need glasses or reading comprehension classes.

A short drive to downtown Vancouver where they can take in a wide range of entertainments

[Eddie Teach]

You I either need glasses or reading comprehension classes.

My money's on the classes.

[Valmy]

You either need glasses or reading comprehension classes.

A short drive to downtown Vancouver where they can take in a wide range of entertainments

Usually paragraphs contain a complete statement.  You were talking about living in a rural area in that paragraph.