Soul Deadening Suburbs?

(Miss Cheapist tests the suburban waters of a condominum pool)

This entry is dedicated to my dear friend T., who years ago, on the eve of her engagement, stated that a move to the suburbs was inevitable, given the high cost of living and limited school options in the city. Miss Cheapist protested that many working families make it in New York City by being resourceful (a.k.a. cheap), and seeking out as many opportunities as possible, meanwhile offering their children a culturally rich and multi-ethnic experience. Miss Cheapist wasn’t particularly persuasive, but perhaps other factors influenced T.'s change of heart, because a few weeks ago, she said would rather pay almost a million dollars for a Brooklyn duplex, so long as she didn't have to live in“the soul deadening suburbs.”

This past weekend Miss Cheapist spent time in an inner-ring suburb of Washington DC, and contemplated the question: Are the suburbs truly soul-deadening? During this time she basked in a condominium pool, cooling off after playing tennis in one of many community courts in suburb V, and doing extensive sales shopping at TJ Maxx, Target and Macys (at only 5% sales tax). In her blissed out state, Miss Cheapist came to a startling conclusion. In that vast unknown beyond New York City, there are probably suburban neighborhoods with redeeming qualities, even providing those accoutrements that we’ve come to love in the city at a cheaper price, and with even higher quality.

After all, suburban friend A. has a sizeable one-bedroom apartment in a full service building with 24 hour security and free parking. It's price: less than $300,000. Additionally, A. only pays common charges of approximately $300 per month. Compare that to an apartment in DUMBO, Brooklyn, of the same size costing nearly triple her price, (pre-construction), with common charges nearing $1000 per month, and NO PARKING for the 2007 Subaru 4WD. Furthermore, what does DUMBO have to offer in contrast to suburb V? The York Street F-train station, the soothing rumblings of the D/B train over the Manhattan Bridge, charming cobblestone streets that eat up kitten heels, and riverside city and state parks hostile to biking, fishing or people of color! In the name of hip sustenance, residents enjoy the fusion cuisine of the ever hip and insubstantial Rice restaurant, purhcase overpriced everything at Peas and Pickles grocery and treat themselves with the occasional Jacques Torres hot chocolate.

Reader note, Miss Cheapist is not here to endorse suburban living. That would be hypocritical. Miss Cheapist cannot leave the city until she overcomes her fear of houses and open stretches of land, and reduces her dependency on living near a full-service Chinatown. Instead, she wishes to highlight the absurdity of how urbanity has evolved into a more expensive version of suburban living. Read tomorrow's entry and see Miss Cheapist break down all the suburban components of an ideal lifestyle in NewYork, and tell her what’s really going on.

Cheapism and Race

In a certain faraway island patois, pake (pa-kay) means Chinese person. Ironically, it also means cheap. We can all read between the lines and figure out how Chinese people were "constructed" historically in this tropical paradise. Miss Cheapist does not mean to sing in the key of Asian-Am. H. Alger lovesongs, but this pake nature also allowed the Chinese to move from plantation work to saving enough money to buy plots of land from their bosses, who trusted them due to their docile, Confucian ways. Within a generation, shopping malls, and for those with smaller assets, shaved ice shops and grocery stores, to be enjoyed by the island masses were built on these plots and the money multiplied. So, as the Cheapist engages in the exchange of goods and services with other Chinese-Americans, urban and suburban alike, she tries to maintain a certain level of respect, if anything, for the sake of ancestral memory. Partially, because she suspects that the whole discourse of cheapism can be racialized, and because it's not appropriate to make fun of any other racial group besides Asians, and Chinese people are so remarkable in their diversity and behavioral range, this blog may spend some time focusing on them/us.

What is frugality?

This blog was initially conceived as the Frugalist, with inspiration from her mentor, The Materialist (with apologies), and as an homage to Miss Cheapist's high school students, who try if they might, could not memorize the definition of "frugal" in preparation for their SATs. Actually, they were only able to recall its meaning when they reminded themselves that "frugal" was synonymous with all the qualities of their dear teacher. Unfortunately, the Frugalist blog already exists to provide its readership with a guide to reasonably priced food. In contrast, the Cheapist will be dedicated to all things cheap, or, as she has been often corrected by more refined and less literal friends, "affordable."

You will be guided through cheap eats, travel, services, material culture, and even emotional experience in which feelings, words or gestures are withheld. She will go beyond describing the cheap objects in vulgar microfocus to fully capture the cheapist experiences, namely, the fraught interactions with those who partake in the exchange of all things cheap, as well as their surrounding environs. At times, Miss Cheapist may take on the tone of moral authority, as one should not be cheap at the expense of everything else. In a time when flagrant excess reigns, Miss Cheapist believes it is important to maintain a conscience, even when desire takes over.