Country VS City

[saddina]

I grew up in SF, downtown, as city as it gets. I do miss things like independant bookstores and tiny cafe's with perfect cheesecake. I then moved to the surburbs of silivcon valley, and it was ok. A few years ago my grandparents asked us to move down after grandpa had a heartattack, they needed help packing up and selling the ranch, and my job had an office down here, so I could transferr.

Now i'm still in city limits of a ever widening city slushie that has grown with the freeway interchange outside of town. Hubby told me tonight we're moving further out of town, he wants some acres and a goat!

Wow i love this man.

 

[Equus5O]

My husband and I like the isolation. Don't get me wrong, we have neighbors. But, living on almost fifty acres, we don't have to see our neighbors. If I want to mow the lawn nekkid, I can. Well ... the glider planes might see me, so .....

The only real downside to living here is that our 8 year old son is isolated. That's hard. It's not like when I was a kid, and could just go out and play with my friends. I have yet to hit it off with any of the other mothers in my son's class at school. I guess it's me. I tried Cub Scouts, and the incompetence and lack of communication floored me. I pulled him out of Karate, because the Sensei spent more time networking with the parents than actually working with the kids. We missed baseball sign up, he isn't interested in football, and I'm still waiting to hear from the soccer coach about when practice starts.

Okay. Done with my whining.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I grew up ina fairly urban suburb. Now I live in the fairly rural suburb. There are definite pros to country life: I like the quiet and the space to not have to deal on a cheek to cheek basis with neighbors, have my own animals etc.

But, having said that I miss being able to walk anywhere!! The distances to anything interesting is too far and the roads are horrible for walking on! The middle school is - to me within walking distance, but the road the kids would have to cross is narrow and in a valley so there is no shoulder whatsoever and people drive WAY too fast on it. NO sidewalks anywhere is great in theory, but in practice, not so good.

I haven't had decent Thai food in four years!

I also miss the spontaneous interactions of seeing people on the front porch. I enjoy my space and privacy, but I do also miss chatting on a walk or having the neighborhood kids have a spontaneous game on the lawn or even the street!




Like some of the others I think I need a more middle ground.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Quote:
It is very similar where i am... close to everything , but far enough away... it does sound perfect... doesn't it?

That's exactly how our situation is. We live in the country, and I work in the inner city. My commute is about 20 minutes (most of it is highway).

I lived in the city for four years before we moved out here. Despite the fact that I could walk to a convenience store when I ran out of something, I still hated it. I didn't have a garden or a yard because I was living in an apartment or townhouse. There were always groups of really rough, loud teens around. It seemed like a lot of parents just let their kids run wild and didn't know where they were all day; they would congregate in big groups and mess around. I couldn't sit out on my deck and read a book because I would be distracted by all the noise (the swearing, yelling, shrieking, etc.).

I missed the wild birds that one can see in the country. We got sparrows and house finches in the city. Now I see bluebirds and barn swallows.

 

[Buckhorn Farm]

I love the country....I live 15 miles out side of town (very small town) trip into the city is about 60 miles. we are moving to another peice of property as soon as our house sells and it is 25 miles out of town...LOVE IT!!!!!

 

[Ol'FashionHen]

We lived on my grandparents farm when I was small til I was 5, I absolutely LOVED living there. We rode horses, swan in the ponds, watched all the hogs have babies, played in the barns, hid in the tobacco and corn fields when playing, we had big pig roasts and invited everybody, it was a blast, my most unforgetable memories there as a child, not to mention my grandma is the best ever

.
I hated it when we moved off the farm. We still moved to the country on only 2 acres, big difference of having the run of 60 acres and then been thrown on two and you had neighbors

.
My other grandparents lived on the same road so we could visit them anytime, but still not my the same, and not my other grandma. I love, love, love the country and would not take the city if it were given to me. I love to see farmlands and animals, cows on the hillsides with their babies at foot, ducks in the pond, chickens chasing bugs, kids playin' in the water hose, walkin' through the fields with a small sense of we did this, no neighbors fussin' cause they don't like the flowers you planted or your tree hangs on my property, you can pee outside and nobody knows, you don't have to walk the dog on a leash, don't have to listen to mowers starting up next door at 7 am on Saturday ......... Oh the list is long and I am blessed indeed. If convienence is a big thing for ya then the city is where it is at. Plenty of folks to conversate with, and you can walk to where you need to go. I just prefer the country.

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

We moved to the country 3 yrs ago...hubby was born and raised in the country in Quebec so he missed it .and for a business move.... Me at the age of 40 "something" wanted to fullfill my girlhood dream of owning a horse(parents divorced when I was young ...so it was cancelled)(finally came true this month !!! YEAH!!)) and wanted to give that dream to my children also....
I can see where your coming from...my problem is when we lived in the city I had other mothers...neighbours ...to talk to ....We called them therapy sessions ....We always had the neighbourhood gang of kids passing through our house ...so I knew what was going on with my son ...who he was hanging out with...I could talk to the kids in the group to get information that my son wasn't giving me...I knew through other mothers what was happening in school...etc....it was tough for awhile...now we have it so the city slickers come to the country and their parents LOVE it !!! ....We bought our teen age son an ATV.....and he's trying to save for another more"powerful" one that we bought thats sitting in the garage waiting for the $$$$....and his buddies come out here to sleep over ....plus my daughter...preteen has her own horse and so her girlfriends always come out for sleepovwers etc...We had to learn to stock up on the extra items that were so easy to get in the city. But were managing...Thank you for my therapy session..

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Advertising exists - and thrives - by creating an ideal within our minds, of how things can be - if we only use the advertisers products or services.
Drink this beer and you will be sexy and young.
Use this face cream and the years will melt away.
Live in the country and life will be idyllic.

Says who? "Home is Where the Heart Is," after all. If you are city bred and prefer that, then there you go. You are not defective or somehow "not getting it."

"It is what it is," as my good friend Terry often exclaims.

Certain things are better if we accept them for what they are. In fact, they may not need to be changed at all, contrary to the modern notion of human existence. This is one of them, I suspect.

Consider, as others here mention, compromises that better suit your nature.
- Maybe you could live on the outskirts of a smallish town, which offers those conveniences and benefits you desire. That's what I do. Not everything about people living together is bad.
- Or perhaps you could live right in the middle of a city, and just have a few chickens in a small garden. The English do it all the time and manage pretty well.
- Or perhaps you can find some spot in between that suits you.

I personally believe that you make happen that which you want, in the main. Certain things occur that we do not plan on, of course. But when we stay the course and get through them, we almost always end up with what we want. Success in anything is more about the trying than the pondering.

Perhaps its time to sell, or rent, ** your country place and move closer to town (a chicken friendly town, of course!). At the end of the day, you must suit yourself and not try to live according to some ideal that others offer as "best."

** I don't recommend selling property outright, if it can produce income. There is nothing like cash flow to brighten your day.

Talk to me if you want some tips in that arena....

 

[Wifezilla]

I live in the burbs, but I am in the County...not city limits. That right there is a great benefit. I am actually in between 2 cities. One has very restrictive laws and high taxes. The other isn't so bad, but the fewer levels of government I have to deal with, the happier I am.

I would like more land, but I think it would be more fun to buy out the neighbors and plow their houses down than to move out on the prairie (shudder).

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

As a kid I spent as much time on my grandparents farm as possible, my parents were city dwellers. After getting out on my own I lived in various cities in the US and overseas. If I had to live in a city it would be either Hong Kong or San Fran, Calf.

Now we live about 10 miles outside a small town, pop less than 1000. I always wanted to include in the directions to our house "turn off the paved road", we have that and one better "drive thru the corn field" .

We love it, the quiet. our neighbors are far enough away and they mind their own business even. All that and a view.

Steve in NC