i'm from the suburbs

having grown up in the west-end of the West End, anything past the kingston centre was considered "downtown". so i find it super weird when people refer to kingscourt as "the suburbs". even my own dear brendan uses that label to describe it. "it's like the suburbs..." i don't really get the comparison. yes, kingscourt is a residential area with wider, more quiet streets, and bungalows, but i don't think that makes it a suburban neighbourhood. today's suburbs have oversized houses on tiny lots, which actually kind of makes downtown like the suburbs.

"suburbs" is a term that describes car-dependant neighbourhoods far from the city centre.

believe me, i should know. my place of origin was so deeply in the suburbs that the only thing in walking distance was a beckers, a creek and two (far apart) parks. technically my school was close enough to walk, but we were bussed because it involved crossing train-tracks and in the 70s a ten-year old boy had been killed on the tracks while on his way home from school (he was actually playing 'chicken' with his friends – super sad).

i do find that it gets my back up about the whole "suburbs" label, but i'm just going to have to let it slide. everyone has a different definition of what downtown is. i just think it's an issue of perspective.