The definition of a city is important to the research of them, and what “counts” in the description.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a city is defined as merely a “large town.” But in my research I’m taking the definition to a more narrow scope. For this writing, I define a “city” as a large, metropolitan area. It has a population over 50,000 and greater importance than a suburban town or smaller city. This definition is crucial. It highlights the stark differences between suburban cities and “less” urban areas. These are contrasted with metropolitan cities.

Cities go back thousands and thousands of years. A very notable example is in the Medieval time period. Medieval cities with great fortresses and large walls were designed to protect their inhabitants from what were considered “dangerous people”. Cities were closed areas, keeping out bandits and “outsiders”. Cities were structured around a castle or manor. This was for people to flee to in event of an attack or danger. But after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, many cities fell apart or even ceased to exist. But soon after in 1000 AD, trade began to flourish again- and so did cities.

But in contrast, the origins of cities in the United States show a much different pattern. These urban areas originally began as rural hot-spots. People lived in cities because they were built around farming and the railroad. Some of the fastest growing areas were built around the Transcontinental railroad, which attracted families and businessmen.

But the question behind this writing is why did this change, and how?

When we look at cities today, we don’t see the same structure as Medieval cities. When we visit a city we don’t often see families with small children living in the downtown areas. We usually see the younger generation, single adults, or older families.

Sure, there are definitely reasons for this that aren’t nefarious and are very explainable. Many families don’t want to raise young children in the city due to high costs, especially for childcare. Some families want to raise their children in more suburban areas, for reasons like play space or a smaller sense of a town. Young adults might live in metropolitan areas because of college, or for commuting. Shockingly, over 1 million people commute to New York City for work every single day.

All of these explanations make sense. But what does crime specifically have to do with it? Why do people cringe at the thought of walking in a city at night? Why do they worry about leaving their car in a parking garage? When you stay at a hotel in a city, you need a key card to enter the main lobby. You also need it to use the elevator on any floor. What is the reason for this precaution? Is it the volume of the area? Is it the police force or the specific laws they have?

These questions are easy to answer. We think big cities, we think more people to do bad things. We think cities like New York City when we consider metropolitan cities. We then deduce that Democratic states have more liberal cities with more liberal laws around safety and public health.

But then what accounts for Republican states including Georgia with the city of Atlanta? Atlanta also possesses an ever-growing crime rate and they have more conservative laws.

The biggest question of my research is what change occurred to create such hostile environments within these metropolitan areas. Was it historical differences? Or was it legislative differences?

Answering these complex questions is what I hope to achieve in my research.