Difference between "urban", "suburban", and "rural"

interesteddad
Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:08:36 +0000

“Suburban” covers a lot of different kinds of territory, so you almost have to take it school by school. For example, Swarthmore is listed as suburban, but is located in a gorgeous old heavily wooded neighborhood inside the beltway of a city of 5 million people. It has a train station on campus that takes you to downtown Philadelphia in 20 minutes (it’s about 11 miles).

Or, suburban can mean a totally self-contained campus that requires a car to get to the city.

Different people want different things. Some students want a suburban that offers easy access to a major city. Others want a suburban that is more like a rural campus.

There’s something for everyone.