Category talk:Suburban communities in Indiana
Suburban vs. Commuters[edit]
Having grown up in the Suburbs and now living in a small town where some residents commute into the nearby urban area for work, I have a different definition of Suburban communities that seems apparent in some linkages to this category. My definitions:
- Suburban - a community or independent city that has become a continuation of the urban area without any distinguishing feature on the ground to identify a change between communities.
- Commuter community - a populated area, where some or most of the residents may commute into an urban area to either a business along the outer reaches of the urban area or to the central city for work; but there is a distinct visual separation, i.e., open lands, normally farmlands in between the two developed areas. At a future date, the urban growth may expand to incorporate the community.
Note: The Federal use of Metropolitan Statistical area (MSA) provide guidance on which counties around a city may contain suburbs, but not all communities in those counties are suburbs. Example: Porter County, Indiana is part of the Gary-Hammond MSA, which is a unit of the Chicago CMSA (consolidated MSA). In the county, the communities of Portage and Ogden Dunes are the edge of the urban development. Going west towards Chicago, there is a continuous develop of businesses, industry and residents. Going south and east, you quickly enter farm fields and open spaces without development. The communities of Wheeler and Valparaiso are reached after passing through undeveloped areas. Thus, the first two communities' area suburban, be the last two are not, in spite of the fact that many residents of both commute into the mills in Portage or to downtown Chicago to work.
If Valparaiso is to be considered a suburb because of the commuters into the urban area to work, then, don't the small communities further out that commute into Valparaiso or whose residents commute through Valparaiso to the mills in Portage (1 hour plus) become suburban communities also? I choose to decide on the following factors:
- Is the community/town in a county defined as part of a metropolitan statistical area? and
- Is the urban development continuous from the community into the central city?