Rural, Suburban, Urban: vocabulary; Communities and Changes 2

Urban, Suburban, and Rural

1. People live in different kinds of communities. Some are very busy. Others are quiet. Some places are in between. We divide communities into three main kinds: urban, suburban, and rural.

What are Urban Communities?

2. Urban communities are cities. They are busy places. Usually, many people live in a small area. To be called an urban area, there has to be at least 1,000 people per city block. That’s a lot of people! To fit everyone, buildings are sometimes very tall. These tall buildings are called skyscrapers. Urban areas can feel crowded. But they can be fun to live in. Cities have museums, airports, and lots of shopping and restaurants. Public transportation, like buses and subways, can be found here. Urban areas are known for nonstop activity—and traffic jams!

What’s Outside the City Center?

3. Not everyone lives in an urban area. People who don’t live in the city center, but are nearby, live in suburban areas. Suburbs surround cities. These areas don’t have as many people as urban areas. People in suburban areas are more spread out. The homes and yards are usually larger than homes and yards in urban areas. Suburban areas have some of the same qualities as urban areas, but they don’t usually have a well-developed public transportation system or very tall buildings.

Country Living

4. People who don’t live in urban or suburban areas live in rural areas. People in rural areas are spread out and often surrounded by nature. There are fewer people in rural communities. When people think of rural areas, they think of wide open spaces, or forests. Rural areas are where farms and mineral mines (like gold and coal) are located. Those who live in rural areas often have to travel to suburban or urban areas to visit a museum, go to a professional sports game, or see a movie.
5. There is a wide range of different types of communities around the world. No matter which type of place you live in, it has things that make it special. Look around you—do you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?

Practice Question