Building Community: Why Suburbs Are Great For Social Connection

Suburbs have seen a massive expansion in the United States, resulting in massive growth of urban and suburban population centers all over the country. According to Pew Research Center, over 50 percent of the population in the U.S. live in suburban neighborhoods outside of major urban areas. Living in the suburbs has plenty of benefits, one of which is the opportunity to be part of a community.

What Benefits Come from Living in the Suburbs?

Suburban communities are constructed outside of large urban cities, usually around a conglomeration of school districts, restaurants, and shops. Space, affordability, safety, education, and community are some of the more attractive aspects of suburban living. In the suburbs, residents typically have access to numerous schools within a district, shops such as grocery stores, department stores and sometimes malls, community recreation centers, and public pools and parks.

Both the proximity to and distance from nearby cities are beneficial to suburban residents too. Being so close to large urban areas means that suburban residents have easy access to the city for events such as sports and concerts, as well as amenities including airports. By living outside of those cities in the suburbs, however, people get to enjoy less traffic, fewer crowds, and a generally quieter atmosphere than you’d find in a big city.

Building Social Connections in Suburbia

Community is an important part of the human experience; forming and maintaining social connections is critical for mental and physical health. Suburbs, while not all the same, usually have a number of ways to facilitate those connections.

Community Amenities

Most suburbs have public recreational facilities for people to meet and interact. Parks, public pools, and libraries are all resources that these communities have that can enrich their lives in many ways. These spaces often have events open to members of the neighborhood; for example, a public pool might have a “first day of summer” opening event with food and drinks, where families can bring their children to play with friends while the parents mingle.

Community Events

Local events are another way residents of a neighborhood can come together. These events vary, ranging from parades to picnics to festivals to school-sponsored fundraisers, among others. Many suburban cities have websites where residents can view events scheduled by the city. For example, Katy, Texas is one of the fastest growing and largest suburbs of the city of Houston, and its website features an events page where people can see upcoming events, view ongoing contests and submit their own events for posting.

Neighborhood Organizations

For as controversial as they can be, homeowners associations, or HOAs, are another way suburban communities can come together. As a quick breakdown, HOAs exist to create and enforce rules for subdivisions and other developments; their responsibilities include maintenance of common areas like pools and parks, setting guidelines for lawn and fence care and holiday decorations, and organizing community events, among others. HOA boards come together to decide the best ways to foster connections and community for their members. By becoming a member of an HOA, you have access to these public facilities, giving you the opportunity to meet your neighbors and affect changes in your community.

Neighborhood watch programs are another way that members of a suburb can support their community through organization. These programs are typically comprised of volunteers who are dedicated to making their community safer through reducing crime via observation and reporting. Members of neighborhood watch programs strive to educate themselves to recognize suspicious behavior and report it, though they don’t ask members to take action themselves. Instead, members are encouraged to look out for one another through regular meetings and occasional patrols around their neighborhoods.

Proximity and Walkability

Most suburban divisions are built with houses right next to each other, which makes them convenient for making new friends. Being in such close proximity to one another means that it’s very easy to invite neighbors over for games nights, barbecues, or having a get-together for your kids’ friends. Additionally, most suburbs have extensive sidewalks and trails, making it easier to get from house to house or to one of the various public facilities found in suburbs, like public pools.

Shared Interests

It’s not uncommon for suburban residents to have some things in common; typically, people living in the suburbs are family units. This, and the fact that most suburbs are built near or in areas with school districts, makes it easy to form an initial connection with other families. Parents can bond with each other over the shared experience of raising a family, while kids can make friends through school or shared spaces like parks.

Many neighborhoods have other institutions as well, such as religious groups and civic organizations. These provide suburban residents with ways to connect over shared values and provide opportunities for community service, such as volunteering to help keep the neighborhood clean or working at a soup kitchen to help feed the community.

These are just a few of the ways that putting down roots in the suburbs can help grow social connections. For more information about suburban living and other home-related facts and tips, visit newhomesource.com/learn.