Thursday, July 19, 2012

Do I live in a city?



NPR has a flowchart (pictured above) that'll tell you whether or not you live in a city depending on what answers you give to their questions. My first difficulty is that the first question is "How do you get to work?" and I don't work. Hmmm... I do go to The Grandmother's twice a day every day, so we'll let that count.

Most of the time I go by car, there isn't bumper-to-bumper traffic and there are fewer than 10 traffic lights, so they say I do not live in a city.

Sometimes I walk, and I see a lot of other people walking, so they say I do live in a city.

I could take the bus, and, if I did, it would not travel on a highway or at 50 miles an hour, so they say I probably live in a city.

I don't own a bike, but the route would be easy on a bike if I did own one, I do have indoor animals, I do not live near a supercenter, I can walk to a Starbucks but there's only one within walking distance, so they say I probably don't live in a city.

I think of Memphis as a city, an urban environment. Memphis is certainly not as dense as it could (should?) be, making the change from urban to suburban areas more difficult to see. There are so many ways to define "city," and I suppose that might explain the inconsistency of the results when using the NPR flowchart.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:34 AM

    The incorporated entity of Memphis, Tennessee charges me city taxes on everything I buy, do or own. So, It must be a city...
    -- A Pal

    ReplyDelete
  2. not necessarily. every tiny little town will have to tax you to pay for its police/fire/government/etc. the county has its own taxes. don't be bitter ;)

    ReplyDelete