Things people say that mean "I'm from the suburbs" Posted at 04:47 PM ET, 06/28/2013 Every once in a while someone tells me they like a particular city because it's "very clean." When that happens, what I really hear that person saying is "I judge cities by suburban standards." Cities are inherently messy places, and the best ones, with the most vitality, are often the messiest. If a city is too clean then it's just an office park. Of course, vitality means messy in the sense of being busy, which is different than messy in sense of being dirty. But how bad do litter and grime have to become before they overwhelm one's enjoyment of a place? Worse than in most cities, I think. Litter stinks, but a newspaper on the floor doesn't make me want to leave the Smithsonian.