Cites a study which suggests that suburbanites today are more
nontraditional in their values than inhabitants of cities, so-called
'centers of liberal thought.' Comparisons of values between city- and
non-city residents; Numbers of Americans moving to the country;
Additional information.
By
PT Staff, published on May 01, 1993
Values
To the children of the 1960s, the suburban landscape picket fences
and June lie Cleaver look-a-likes was a boring, conservative nightmare.
Now suburbia is raising everyone's eyebrows as it sheds its "its
ma-and-pa values and shows a little leg.
Suburbanites today are more nontraditional in their values than
inhabitant's of cities, those "centers of liberal thought," according to
a recent study. Boondockers still cling to conservative beliefs and
old-fashioned morals. But suburbanites outswing both city slickers and
country folk on tell-tale values. More of them:
o Deem premarital sex not always wrong
o Think marijuana should be legalized
o Believe there should not be laws against the distribution of
pornography to persons over age 18
o Disagree with the statement: "Women should take care of running
their homes and leave running the country to men."
Sociologists richard Alba, Ph.D., Sun Joon Jang, Ph.D., uncovered
the free-wheeling suburban attitudes while looking at the influence of
place on beliefs. Yes, they found, where you live counts, and the big
divide on social attitudes is metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan
settings. But regardless of place, the young, the male, and the divorced
or separated tend to be the most liberal.
And that's who's living in the 'burbs these days--mostly white,
educated, affluent former city folk. They brought their urban attitudes
along with the sofa.
More Americans than ever (over 50 percent) now live in suburbs, and
a steady stream continues to pour burb-ward. According to a Gallup Poll,
50 percent of L.A. residents and 60 percent of New Yorkers would move
there if they could.
Suburbs have grown so populous they can now accommodate a
subculture of liberalism, say Jang, of Ohio State, and Alba, of the State
University of New York At Albany. And that stems largely from the
ex-urbanites' high levels of education. Education is still the best
predictor of people's attitudes.
But if most suburbanites are white and affluent, it doesn't mean
they all are. Says Alba: "They're becoming more and more diverse.
Americans don't appreciate that."
ILLUSTRATION
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