# The demographic inversion of the American city



## HirakataShi (Feb 8, 2004)

isaidso said:


> You called them 'inner ring' suburbs which might be confused with inner city to someone not familiar with Toronto. Jane/Finch, Malvern, Scarborough, etc. are suburbs where much of the poor originally flocked to.


Would just like to add, that much of Scarborough's growth was fueled by immigration - as the huge Tamil, West Indian, and Hong Kong Chinese populations in the north and centre of Scarborough attest to. 

But Scarborough isn't uniformly poor or immigrant. Areas like the Scarborough Bluffs, Rouge Hill, sections of West Hill, Highland Creek and Centennial have affluent and middle class residents. I remember going to high school in Toronto and having to explain to classmates that Scarborough wasn't some monolith they should easily stereotype.


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## Third of a kind (Jun 20, 2004)

I find it interesting this article brings up a few times people not wanting to live in cul de sac neighborhoods, in favor of urban ones. Growing up in a very urban neighborhood, especially now I hear the opposite from my friends I grew up with, some of them actually want to live in cul de sac and gated communities. I've lived in both and I can honestly say I prefer being able to walk out on the street to the train etc.

I also found this interesting


> In recent years, teaching undergraduates at the University of Richmond, the majority of them from affluent suburban backgrounds, I made a point of asking where they would prefer to live in 15 years--in a suburb or in a neighborhood close to the center of the city. Few ever voted for suburban life.
> 
> I can't say that they had necessarily devoted a great deal of thought to the question: When I asked them whether they would want to live in an urban neighborhood without a car, many seemed puzzled and said no. Clearly, we are a long way from producing a generation for whom urban life and automobile ownership are mutually exclusive. In downtown Charlotte, a luxury condominium is scheduled for construction this year that will allow residents to drive their cars into a garage elevator, ride up to the floor they live on, and park right next to their front door.


that is nuts, I'm damn near 25 and I still don't plan on buying a car


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## Homer J. Simpson (Dec 2, 2003)

^I hear that, I will admit to being 26 and I don't own my on vehicle. I do have a company car....... but that was their choice and not my own.

More people are fed up with driving in traffic and extensive costs associated with cars.


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

HirakataShi said:


> Would just like to add, that much of Scarborough's growth was fueled by immigration - as the huge Tamil, West Indian, and Hong Kong Chinese populations in the north and centre of Scarborough attest to.
> 
> But Scarborough isn't uniformly poor or immigrant. Areas like the Scarborough Bluffs, Rouge Hill, sections of West Hill, Highland Creek and Centennial have affluent and middle class residents. I remember going to high school in Toronto and having to explain to classmates that Scarborough wasn't some monolith they should easily stereotype.


The neighborhoods near the lake are pretty nice, IMO. I think that's near the bluffs, but I haven't been there for years.


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