Knocking suburbs is just snobbery

America's suburbs get no respect. City-dwellers and rural residents both look down their noses at those of us living in the fringes of America's urban areas, despite the fact that more than half of Americans live in the suburbs.

We are the silent majority!

I'm ready to defend us, as soon as I finish eating at a chain restaurant and drive home to my master-planned development.

I'm not mocking them. I like both, despite the disdain in which they are held by others.

Anti-suburb snobbery has been around for decades, but has grown with the gentrification of America's cities. It's chic to call out the suburbs as lacking soul. As creating sprawl. As places where beaten-down commuters live.

America created an industry over the past 70 years of building homes in the suburbs, then having city-dwellers and rural residents mock and hold them in disregard.

Talk to a young resident of San Francisco. Watch an episode of "House Hunters." Listen to someone from a small town. They all agree: The suburbs are boring and a wasteland.

I call baloney.

And not just because I live in the suburbs. Or maybe because I live in the suburbs. Who knows?

I'm tired of hearing cities like Fairfield, Suisun City and Vacaville described as boring and predictable. Because here's what else they are: Safe and (relatively) affordable.

The great American suburban explosion started in the years when soldiers returned from World War II and desired a place to raise their families. That resulted in tract housing. Daily commutes to work. New schools. Supermarkets. Fast food restaurants.

For some people, those things are boring and bland. For the rest of us, they're where we grew up and chose to live as adults.

What, exactly, is wrong with wanting to live away from a city or not in the country? To live where you can afford a home (even an apartment), but still have access to plenty of opportunities?

I don't begrudge people who live in cities. That's what they want. Urban residents love the energy and opportunities and buzz of the city (or they're poor and can't get out). If you live in San Francisco or Oakland, you can probably walk to a dozen restaurants and go to street fairs and see concerts or sporting events within walking distance.

I don't mind people who live in rural America.

I'm glad they have that option.

I just think they should have the same view of those of us who live in America's suburbs.

Disdain for the suburbs isn't sophistication or a deeper understanding of life. It's snobbery. It's looking down your nose at people who choose to live in a place they can afford and where they choose to raise their family.

Disagree? I'll meet you at a chain restaurant at the mall to discuss it, then return to my three-bedroom home that looks a lot like the others in my neighborhood.

And perhaps then I'll simply revel in my paranoia about what others think about where I live.

Brad Stanhope is a former Daily Republic editor. Reach him at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.