Suburb vs Exurb ?

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Is there a hard rule for distingushing the two types of communities ?

If so what is the rule ?

[TML]

Suburbs are usually just outside city limits, and are often close to shopping, schools, and transportation ; therefore, entertainment, restaurants, and top-notch medical facilities are often within reach.

Exurbs are usually well beyond city limits, and there are fewer commercial properties in such areas and residential units are more spread out.

In my geographic region (Long Island), I would consider Nassau and extreme western Suffolk counties as suburbs, western and central Suffolk County as exurbs, and eastern Suffolk County as rural.

[Smash255]

Suburbs are usually just outside city limits, and are often close to shopping, schools, and transportation ; therefore, entertainment, restaurants, and top-notch medical facilities are often within reach.

Exurbs are usually well beyond city limits, and there are fewer commercial properties in such areas and residential units are more spread out.

In my geographic region (Long Island), I would consider Nassau and extreme western Suffolk counties as suburbs, western and central Suffolk County as exurbs, and eastern Suffolk County as rural.

Most of western and central Suffolk county is pretty much completely built up.   I really wouldn't say you get to truly exurban areas until you are east of the William Floyd.  Perhaps an argument can be made a little further west (somewhere between the William Floyd and 112), but certainly not anything further west than than that, it is just way too dense to be considered exurban. 

[Stranger in a strange land]

No, not really, but the general rule one can follow is that exurbs:
- Are farther from the city center
- Still have some obvious rural land use, such as corn fields or horse pastures interspersed among housing developments
- Are less densely-populated, often much less so.
- Have few or no residents who commute to the core city, but rather commute to the suburbs or who work in and around the exurb itself

[Tekken_Guy]

Suburb is often used as a catch-all term for both types of communities.

For example, in Warren County, Ohio, Mason's a suburb while Lebanon's an exurb.

Suburbs are usually just outside city limits, and are often close to shopping, schools, and transportation ; therefore, entertainment, restaurants, and top-notch medical facilities are often within reach.

Exurbs are usually well beyond city limits, and there are fewer commercial properties in such areas and residential units are more spread out.

In my geographic region (Long Island), I would consider Nassau and extreme western Suffolk counties as suburbs, western and central Suffolk County as exurbs, and eastern Suffolk County as rural.

I still consider Smith and Brookhaven as suburbs, as they're fairly dense, and anything east of that as exurbs. And there are no rural parts of Suffolk County TBH.

[Del Tachi]

I have always conceptualized the distinction as having more to do with the age of the development than the distance from the city center.

[kwabbit]

I have always conceptualized the distinction as having more to do with the age of the development than the distance from the city center.

The quintessential exurb somewhat died along with the Housing crash in 2007. When I think of an exurb I think of clumps of fifteen McMansions in the middle of woods or farmlands built in 2003. No one is building tons of huge houses 1.5 hours away from the CBD anymore. Take Kendall County, IL, which had 110% growth 2000-2010 and then 14% growth 2010-2020.

[dpmapper]

They aren't still building them in Illinois, but they are most certainly still building them in Texas. 

[Torie]

It has no formal definition. Mine is that it is a municipality where work commutes are primarily to suburbs rather than the city itself. Thus a suburb could be quite far out if it is next to a commuter rail line that zips right into the city.

[muon2]

It has no formal definition. Mine is that it is a municipality where work commutes are primarily to suburbs rather than the city itself. Thus a suburb could be quite far out if it is next to a commuter rail line that zips right into the city.

I think that view overlooks old satellite cities and their adjacent, often older neighbor towns.

The Fox Valley outside of Chicago is generally viewed as the corridor from Aurora to Elgin. Communities in and near the corridor are more likely to have commuters within and near the corridor, for example from St Charles to Naperville or from West Chicago to Elgin. St Charles is not what one would think of as an exurb with a historic downtown and a built-up corridor of light manufacturing, though it has some subdivisions that might seem exurban. Campton Hills just west of St Charles probably is what one thinks of as exurban - low density, high value, little business besides light retail. They incorporated in 2007 to block the expansion of Elgin.

[Torie]

It has no formal definition. Mine is that it is a municipality where work commutes are primarily to suburbs rather than the city itself. Thus a suburb could be quite far out if it is next to a commuter rail line that zips right into the city.

I think that view overlooks old satellite cities and their adjacent, often older neighbor towns.

The Fox Valley outside of Chicago is generally viewed as the corridor from Aurora to Elgin. Communities in and near the corridor are more likely to have commuters within and near the corridor, for example from St Charles to Naperville or from West Chicago to Elgin. St Charles is not what one would think of as an exurb with a historic downtown and a built-up corridor of light manufacturing, though it has some subdivisions that might seem exurban. Campton Hills just west of St Charles probably is what one thinks of as exurban - low density, high value, little business besides light retail. They incorporated in 2007 to block the expansion of Elgin.

Well yes, they are the closer in towns and cities that were engulfed by the sprawl.

The NYC area is interesting because it is so hilly (I mean Orange County NY outside of the valley in which Newburgh and Middletown sit, is hilly to downright mountainous, so that valley is pretty densely populated, and so much of the hilly real estate is now protected parkland. So where it is reasonably cheap to build has all been built out, and the flatland area that is lightly populated is now the exurban infill is engulfing Poughkeepsie and even hopping across the Delaware en route to Allentown since if you look up snob zoning, you will see a map of northern NJ next to it, so the masses need to search for the other side.

NJ is just amazing. You go from one municipality to the next, and from mansions to slums, and back again, based on a line on a map. The municipal lines are also class lines, typically very hard impermeable ones. I did not really viscerally understand why the appellate court cases on snob zoning in law school almost all came out of NJ, until I saw it up close and personal. And not much has changed. Yes, it does make my skin crawl.

[muon2]

It has no formal definition. Mine is that it is a municipality where work commutes are primarily to suburbs rather than the city itself. Thus a suburb could be quite far out if it is next to a commuter rail line that zips right into the city.

I think that view overlooks old satellite cities and their adjacent, often older neighbor towns.

The Fox Valley outside of Chicago is generally viewed as the corridor from Aurora to Elgin. Communities in and near the corridor are more likely to have commuters within and near the corridor, for example from St Charles to Naperville or from West Chicago to Elgin. St Charles is not what one would think of as an exurb with a historic downtown and a built-up corridor of light manufacturing, though it has some subdivisions that might seem exurban. Campton Hills just west of St Charles probably is what one thinks of as exurban - low density, high value, little business besides light retail. They incorporated in 2007 to block the expansion of Elgin.

Well yes, they are the closer in towns and cities that were engulfed by the sprawl.

The NYC area is interesting because it is so hilly (I mean Orange County NY outside of the valley in which Newburgh and Middletown sit, it hilly to downright mountainous, so that valley is pretty densely populated, and so much of the hilly real estate is now protected parkland. So where it is reasonably cheap to build has all been built out, and the flatland area that is lightly populated is now the exurban infill is engulfing Poughkeepsie and even hopping across the Delaware en route to Allentown since if you look up snob zoning, you will see a map of northern NJ next to it, so the masses need to search for the other side.

NJ is just amazing. You go from one municipality to the next, and from mansions to slums, and back again, based on a line on a map. The municipal lines are also class lines, typically very hard impermeable ones. I did not really viscerally understand why the appellate court cases on snob zoning in law school almost all came out of NJ, until I saw it up close and personal. And not much has changed. Yes, it does make my skin crawl.

Chicago had a belt of industrial cities from the 1800's all about 30 miles (ie a day's ride) from the center. It was fascinating living in the belt as the sprawl reached and then hopped the belt from 40 to 20 years ago. Some communities fought to keep their character while others joined the sprawl with a host new subdivisions. Others tried to keep some balance or were forced to keep a balance based on their initial real estate.

[Sol]

I have always conceptualized the distinction as having more to do with the age of the development than the distance from the city center.

It is useful to distinguish between these imo, since the relationship between land use and distance from the city center varies so much between cities. Personally I prefer to define the term in terms of the latter when I'm talking about stuff on the forum, since it matters so much more for electoral patterns.

For example, there are tons of places in North Carolina that look like prototypical exurbs based on appearance--lots of new construction, large lots, McMansions interrupted by farmland--but based on their situation in the urban structure function as conventional suburbs since so much of the built environment is extremely new. There isn't really anywhere in Mecklenburg County that's an exurb under the "situatedness in urban structure" criteria except maybe somewhere in the extreme north, but a lot of the county is extremely exurban looking in terms of land use.

[King of Kensington]

I think of areas that are largely rural in character but within commuting distance of a metropolitan center. 

In Toronto, I'd say King Township, Caledon, Innisfil and Halton Hills are examples of exurbs. 

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I think of areas that are largely rural in character but within commuting distance of a metropolitan center. 

In Toronto, I'd say King Township, Caledon, Innisfil and Halton Hills are examples of exurbs. 

Would Barrie count as an exurban city under this paragidm?

[King of Kensington]

I think Barrie would fall under the category of satellite city.

[libertpaulian]

Porter and LaPorte Counties in Indiana would be examples of exurbs, IMO.