Word of the Day

Calling this post the ‘Word of the Day’ is an outright lie, and you know it. Why? Because posting a link to a word once like, every four months, is about as far from ‘daily’ as I am from owning a house in San Francisco (far). But unfortunately, I have no other potential headline I can use for this post so screw it.

‘Exurb‘

The expression “exurb” (for “extra-urban”) was coined in the 1950s, by Auguste Comte Spectorsky in his book “The Exurbanites”, to describe the ring of prosperous rural communities beyond the suburbs that, due to availability via the new high-speed limited-access highways, were becoming dormitory communities for an urban area.

I ran across this word in a very frightening LA Time editorial about the Republican election machine. I’d seen it before, even read the definition, but still needed a refresher, as the idea hadn’t sunk in (obviously). Anyhow, as a true urbanite, the reality of the exurban landscape, while now clear in my mind, is distant physically and, just as important, culturally.

I sometimes wonder how my existence in the protected bubble of San Francisco – and not some suburb or exurb of San Francisco – affects my worldviews. Why, just this weekend, I was trotting around the Mission district with my dog and my cousin, when I ended up at the Dyke March, supposedly the worlds biggest lesbian event. I didn’t cringe, or even stutter. To me, that was just as it should be: people celebrating themselves, engaging in activism, and walking around a public park topless (not all of them).

In the same park, just yards away, was a massive Aztec dance troupe, at least 60 members strong, in full Aztec garb with giant feather head dresses, traditional garb, and all, engaged in traditional dance for over an hour. And that was that, people of all stripes, of different motivation, background, and focus all living side by side, each finding their tribe, their connection to other human beings, enjoying their commonalities and not offended by others’ differences.

Can’t say for sure, but I really don’t think you see that too much in the exurbs.