City or Suburb or Rural?
For centuries, philosophers and scientists have studied the value of cities in contrast to rural settings. Historians provided records of ancient cities dating back thousands of years. Scientists from other disciplines studied the historical documents to derive their structure and function. From these and contemporary studies, we now have modern-day conclusions about how cities work best. In the early U.S. history, there was an intensive debate about the nature of the city as being evil.
Some felt that the smaller, spread out cities supported better physical and mental health (although little science went into their claims). Some claimed that the mega-city had the best to offer and architects laid out enormous city plans, using mega-buildings, other using parks and grids to create the ideal city plan that attempted to balance urban traits with rural ones. Many of these plans were utilized in the development of suburbs.
Individuals often weigh in on the debate. Urbanites are drawn to the city for a number of reasons including:
• The energy
• Diversity of people
• Dining and entertainment
• Safety (yes, many people feel safer in cities)
• Cultural events
• Sporting events
Those not attracted by the city are repulsed by:
• Fear of crime
• Large numbers of people
• Expensive costs
• Congestion
• Crowding
People often fear the unknown. City dwellers often fear rural living because they think that if they had an accident or health crisis out in the countryside, no one would be there to provide help. Rural dwellers often fear cities because there are so many different types of people and unless you are "street smart" you would not be able to distinguish the bad guys from the good ones.
Sociologist Herbert Gans described three different types of people who live in cities. Gans focused on the life-style of the city-dweller as much as the demographic background.
• Cosmopolites
• Ethnic Villagers
• The Deprived and Trapped
Cosmopolites are intellectuals, professional, and artists who are attracted to the city because of opportunities and community that are found there.
Ethnic villagers are city dwellers who group together with others of the same ethnic background and set up miniature enclaves.
The deprived and trapped are the very poor, disabled, or emotionally disturbed who are often victims of other city dwellers.
Certainly Gans' descriptions have merit in our day. We might add a few other categories since over 40 years have passed since his work was published. On one hand we might add the opportunist who see the big city as providing their big break in life. We might also add the business entrepreneur who wants to capitalize in the concentrated marketplace of the modern city.
On the other hand, we might add organized criminals, white-collar criminals, and gang members. We discussed organized and white-collar criminals in the previous lessons. Street gangs have been around in the U.S. in one form or another since the early 1800s. In some communities. street gangs account for 80% of all the crime (National Gang Threat Assessment Issued 2, February, 2009 from fbi.gov/).
Gangs are not only an urban issue. The FBI report that, "gang members are migrating from urban to suburban and rural areas, expanding the gangs' influence in most regions. They are doing so for a variety of reasons, including expanding drug distribution territories, increasing illicit revenue, recruiting new members, hiding from law enforcement, and escaping from other gangs" (National Gang Threat Assessment Issued 2, February, 2009 from fbi.gov/).
Use caution in drawing too hasty of conclusions about cities causing gangs. Cities don't cause gangs. They just facilitate a high concentration of people so that gangs can easily do the crimes they want to do. Besides, many of today's worst gangs originated in prisons, not the city streets. Other gangs came in with migrants. Still, some have been around long enough to move from the urban to rural areas.
For the most part, gang membership is an urban lifestyle of young men. However, female gang membership at a lower level of participation is common. White gangs do exist, but gang membership is predominantly African-American and Hispanic. The burden of managing gangs falls mainly on law enforcement officials who curb or eliminate gang problems in the community.
