Rural town question

[RSW]

An intersection of two county roads with a bar, gas station and a church is urban to you.

I believe Fannie says that urban is the city, suburban is the area surrounding the city and rural is the area outside of that. Like that really says a lot!

 

[LordofTexas]

If you can step out back and scare off a racoon with a shotgun and no one cares; it's rural.

Urban is that fake country singer from Australia.

Suburban is a vehicle nobody drives due to gas over $4 a gallon.

 

[Blue1]

Fannie...Section 401.01 - Location

"An 'urban' location relates to a city, a "suburban" location relates to the area adjacent to a city, and a "rural" location relates to the country or anything beyond the suburban area."

Websters: "Adjacent" = "near or close (to something): adjoining"

That's clear isn't it? :m2:

 

[LordofTexas]

Then again, 95% of all appraisals I reviewed in Los Angeles within 2 miles of the main business downtown had Suburban on them and not Urban. Every appraisal from Santa Monica, California (located 5 miles from Los Angeles and a big city in itself) also had suburban on it.

It has been a long standing debate. Just be sure dang sure it's rural before you stamp it so. Because, as we know in the mortgage industry; them's fightin words.

 

[Blue1]

Then again, 95% of all appraisals I reviewed in Los Angeles within 2 miles of the main business downtown had Suburban on them and not Urban. Every appraisal from Santa Monica, California (located 5 miles from Los Angeles and a big city in itself) also had suburban on it.

Websters definition of 'Suburb': 1. "a district on the outskirts of a city: often a separately incorporated city or town. 2. "outlying parts" "the suburbs, the residential areas on the outskirts of a city"

And just in case you are a total word geek: "Outskirt" = "a district remote from the center, as of a city."

Well...That clears it up.....Right?

 

[Elliott]

Suburban, educated HO can drive to work at a decent salary and
enjoys the lower density of the surroundings. Enjoys gardening.

Rural, HO can only find local hard labor work. Enjoys shooting beer bottles
with his .22 from the front porch and moves the the goat's stake when the
grass gets short.

 

[LordofTexas]

Suburban, educated HO can drive to work at a decent salary and
enjoys the lower density of the surroundings. Enjoys gardening.

Rural, HO can only find local hard labor work. Enjoys shooting beer bottles
with his .22 from the front porch and moves the the goat's stake when the
grass gets short.

my bold

A fellow appraiser I know in Whittier, California (suburban) used goats to clear his weedy hillside (mandated by the city). So, guess goats don't clear up the issue either.

 

[Elliott]

LofT,
It has to meet the 'and' provision....does he also shoot his .22's in Whittier,
I don't think so?

 

[Metamorphic]

The fannie definition is pretty useless which begs the question of how important it is to get it right, or even if its possible to be wrong on borderline cases.

For me, I kind of like at it like this.
Urban = In Town. When you define the neighborhood, its a small area, and pretty much all of it is within walking distance of businesses, it has mass transit, and businesses are scattered throughout the area.

Suburban = Neighborhood is pretty much all residential, some sort of isolation from primarily business districts, some suggest of coherent/planned larger scale subdivision development, has parks, sidewalks, minimal/no mass transit etc.

Rural = The whole idea of a neighborhood is a vaguely absurd concept. Neighborhoods are defined less by location, and more by lot size, property use, drive distance to urban/suburban areas, and commonality of lifestyle/interest preference. There's little or no planning to land division, no tracts, streets are probably not constructed to city standards with lines and sidewalks and stuff like that.

For what you're talking about I'd probably check the rural box, and then describe it as a "small lot tract development in a rural area".

 

[c w d]

Upon everyone's suggestions I've decided to mark it down as rural urban....lets see....I'll need to pencil in a checkbox for that......