Culture
Urban and Suburban Lifestyles Are More Similar Than You’d Think
A new study finds strong similarities in how residents of U.S. cities and suburbs spend their time—with one, counterintuitive difference.
People who live in cities spend their time eating in restaurants, visiting art galleries, attending concerts, and hanging out with friends; they walk or take transit for short commutes to work. Americans who live in suburbs don’t socialize as much, are less physically active, and have long car commutes.
We all have our convenient stereotypes. Now, a new study has come along to bust some of these apart. Eric A. Morris, who teaches urban planning at Clemson University, has found that urbanites and suburbanites are remarkably similar in how they apportion their time on a day-to-day basis.