Do you prefer country living or city living?

[hey_moe]

The question says it all. Now that I am getting older I wanna retire near the Sky Line drive. ( Mountains ). Linda wants to retire near Nags Head, NC. In my younger days I loved the beach but as I have got older I want to stay away from the city and tourist area. I have lived near the water all my life and the traffic here is terrible, not to mention the crime. Nags Head is fine for me in the dead winter but come summer the place is packed. We have looked at some places in Cullpeper and Madison which has a great view of the mountains and has a few acres to boot which for me is fine. Most of the homes we were looking at were between 275,000.00 to 500,000.00. I told Linda I will be glad to get rid of this house. It's to big for us. Linda says she hates living out in stick land and I hate living around wall to wall people. Any of you city slickers got a room she can rent.

[extrudinator]

SWMBO.

Learn it. Know it. Live it.

[Terry]

Here are a couple things to think about before jumping out into the sticks.

It costs me $6 just to get to the nearest food store and back.
Forget any fast food deliveries.
Postal service will only come within 3/4 mile of the house.
Need something fixed, they will charge extra for the milage.
Need to get to a hospital quickly, wish you luck.
Keep plenty of fire extinguishers on hand because it will be a while.
Ditto with the Sheriffs dept.
Maintain your own well and septic system.


Everything else is better .

[JoeW]

I've lived in several large cities, Tampa being one. When your neighbors steal your valve stem caps .............. It's time to get to the country. However ....... When you call the police here most times they can't fit what you want in the budget.
Oh well ........... I'm looking for a shotgun.

[Henry]

born a country lad
but love cities
H

[Trans_23]

You can have the best of both worlds is you look hard enough. I grew up in the country so when I started working around Chicago I knew I didn't want to live in the city or even in the immediate suburbs. I found a town that is large enough to have services and shopping close by yet I have a cornfield outside my back yard. Chicago is about 40 miles away but I take the train in if I am working in the loop area.
I always thought Chicago had the worst traffic but I went to Moe's area about 6 weeks ago. We took an unintended detour in Pennsylvania so we did not get into the DC are until around 1 AM. What was there to greet us? A parking lot on the interstate do to road construction. It seems as though they are working on about every major road in that area. I guess the money doesn't fall far from the tree.

Good luck Moe.

[Dain Arns]

Live far enough to get away from the hustle and bustle, but close enough to still get high speed internet service.

Grew up in a city.
Lived in the sticks in Montana for a good many years.
What Terry said is very true.
You give up a lot of little things you might be now taking for granted.

Now, living in a small enough town that still has a 24 hr hospital, Walmart, Lowes, etc.
University is here, so at least there are 'somethings' to do throughout the year.
Concerts, good movieplex, too many pizza places...
Close to about 3 good shopping areas that are about 45 minutes travel one way each, so that's not too bad.
Only a few hours to the 'civilization' of Minneapolis/St. Paul, which the visit usually reminds you why you choose to live in a small town....

[OBIO]

I am a country boy. I hate cities.

I was born in the hills and woods of deep southern Ohio...in a county with a population of around 24 thousand...yes, that was the population of the entire COUNTY. The largest "city" was my home town....population of 4800 back then...now about 5500. I lived about 7 miles outside of the city limits in a small green house, surrounded by hills and woods. Closest neighbor was 1/2 a mile away.

My current home is in the country...or on the edge of country as I like to say. Not quite far enough from the city and urban sprawl to really be in the country, but far enough out that we have a nice quiet view of 25 acres of land, trees and a 3 acre pond. Mansfield has a population of around 50 thousand...not a large city by any means, but gigantic by my standards. There are more people living in this city than lived in the entire county I grew up in. I hate going into town...too much concrete, to many people, to many cars, too much noise and stink.

I could not imagine living in a big city, like Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati. A few years ago, I was heading home from the Air Force Museum in Dayton, missed my exit and ended up on 315 during rush hour on the edge of Columbus. 8 lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper. Thousands of cars packed onto one road..and all of them in a hurry to get someplace else. I can not imagine that mess being a part of my daily life.

OBIO

[cheezyflier]

right now i'm living in one of the largest cities in north america. i don't like city living.
i'm an outer suburban guy. i would rather live in the country but that takes money i don't have.

[limjack]

With my recent road trip back to North Dakota all the small towns found a place in my heart quickly. My soul quickly devours places you can sit back, relax and meditate. I am sure for others that is medicine to drive a person crazy. Of course, to each his own. So chalk one up for the country...I even read country magazine just to enjoy the stories of the folks living the life.

Jim

[hey_moe]

Well I have lived out in the sticks before. When I married Linda she wanted the city life and closer to the kids. We moved....lol. You guys are right about most of the things but I repair everything at the house. I really liked the country part because of the peace and quite, no traffic, crime rate is nell. My kind of living.

[Bjoern]

The countryside is only useful for holidays.

[jmig]

I prefer country. When we moved where we live, we were outside of the city limits. Now, 26 years later we are in the city. Oh well!

Actually Lafayette is a nice city to live in. It is big enough to have anything you need and small enough that you can get anywhere within 30 mins. If I want big time plays or musicals, there is New Orleans or Houston. Both within driving distance.

If we only had a few mountains and a little cooler summers, it would be perfect.

[Cazzie]

Moe, I wuz born, bread, and buttered country, I don;t think I could ever live in any city, large or small. I am also a mountain man, I do not like flatlands and the coast is flatland. The Staunton/Waynesboro area (country part) is one of my favorite places for cycling.

Caz

[Navy Chief]

I live about a 1/2 hour's drive from Blue Ridge, GA, which is the closest place for "real" grocery stores, etc.... The area I am in is called Farner, TN. Back when the local copper mine was running, this area was booming. Not now. Very little business, save for the Piggly Wiggly, and Dollar General. Were it not for white water rafting tourists, this area would not survive.

But I love living out in the country, away from traffic, and crime. I was raised in Indianapolis, but there's no way I would move back there, or to any large city. Nope.

I love having my own well, WITHOUT any added chemicals. If I want to burn a pile of brush in the middle of the day or night, I do it. No one will bother me, period.

And I live far enough from the road that if someone is approaching the house, I will see them. Or, at the least, my rottweiler lets me know about it!

With so much going on with the economy, and general unrest, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.........

NC