A Preterite vs Imperfect Example

Question

I have the general idea that preterite signifies a completed event (That may or may not have a definite end) while imperfect is a habitual or ongoing action, but I seem to always get stuck when translating things like "I grew up in the suburbs." In my mind, the "grew" could either be preterite because it is a (presumably) ended action, or imperfect because it happened in the past and has no definite end. Could anyone clarify which route I should go with?

Answer 1

Growing up presumably has a beginning (birth) and an end (age of majority) so it has a definite beginning and end (assuming you grow up in one place) so I would say preterite. However, males never really grow up so I guess it could be imperfect as well.

Answer 2

This is an either/or, but I think in much more often preterite.

I grew up in the 'states.

Crecí en Estados Unidos.