City or Country?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Its been almost a year since I sold the condo downtown and bought 6 acres 50 miles from town. I had the black turtleneck, the high speed internet, and the black 2004 Golf. Working in the IT industry my wife and I were copius sushi consumers, martini drinkers, jazz enthusiasts.

Now I live in the country, havent shaved for … um…probably 2 weeks. Thats the norm.

My internet connection is via satellite, still “hi speed” up and down, but no where near the speed I had in the city.

I still have the golf, but bought an 87 toyota and put 32" wheels on it to navagate the 100 acres I bought down the road.

I love it here. I have a pond with pet frogs, the overpowering noise of crickets and leaves rustling in the wind far outweighs the sushi and cappucino’s I used to do. I never would have pictured myself a country bumpkin, and I still work in the IT industry…but now I am. I think Ive learned a lot about taking in every moment, really appreciating every molecule of every day. I saw the milky way the other night in all its glory. Ive never seen it that clearly just staring up into the sky…and this was from my front porch!

So how about you dopers? Country or City? Recent convert to either? Recent converts…what did you learn? Where do you picture yourself in 5 or 10 years?

2

I’d never be happy in the country, or even the suburbs most likely. I’d hate having to drive everywhere.

3

well…I dont drive much. Mainly walk to the pond…walk to the trees…walk to the woodshed …walk to the blueberry bushes etc… We do a trip once a week into town to get the needs though.

4

City. Mainly for job-related reasons, but I do like it here.

I wouldn’t mind moving to the countryside (say, out to Hokkaido or Shikoku somewhere), but I doubt my wife would stand for it.

5

The town where I grew up is 35K people, but considered “country” by outsiders (most people outside the area think we still make our living from raising artichokes). When someone from a big city tells us wouldn’t we rather be in a city, our standard answer is “why bother, we are one hour away from two fabulous shopping centers!” “uh?” “well, we can always go to Pamplona or Zaragoza to do the shopping, you know, then come back and let the kids out to play in the street :smiley: After all, how long does it take someone from their 'burbs to go downtown?” (answer: easily one hour and they have to drive, we can go by train or bus and don’t have to worry about parking)

The flat I just bought is 20km from Pamplona, so the answer is multiplied by three. Many neighbors asked Mom and me whether I was getting the place for vacation: I’ve gained a lot of Appreciation Points because it’s “no, to live in”. I still haven’t stayed a weekend… the furniture I’m missing is the closets and the combination of pictures hung + clothing in boxes is kind of depressing… but I have already located the public pool (covered, so you can go in the winter; a humongous 50 yards from my house as the road twists), the park overlooking the river, the “ermita” (a little church outside the village itself, one of the yearly fiestas consists of everybody walking out there and having too much food), the two marked trekking paths…

In town, a flat two storeys higher than mine, also no lift, in much worse shape, and with no views would have cost about 240,000€. This one cost 150,000€ (without counting the garage/storage space/kitchen downstairs) and it comes with a view of the mountains. There are few streetlamps and those few have specifically been chosen to light what’s under, not over, them. Of course the stars are even more visible if you walk outside of the village (my house is 200yd from the “you’re leaving our village” sign) but yep, I see a lot more of them than if I was in town.

Since the village is… hm… let’s call it the county seat, it’s got all the services: school, high school, tech high school, judge, notary, property registry, firemen, guardia civil, doctor. Hospitals and universities, you have to go to Pamplona; there’s a bus.

I got so lucky with this flat, I’m going to be pinching myself to make sure I’m awake for a loooooooong time.

6

Lived in the city, moved to the country.

It is indeed nice to walk outside and see stars so close you feel as though you can touch them. And having various wildlife running past the back door through our stand of trees. I can be on the slopes in fifteen minutes - a lot of people carry their skis in their cars, just in case they get a free couple of hours. Oh, and I’m three minutes from work (I can’t even listen to a full song).

But …

We miss culture, dining opportunities, the ability to get anywhere (we’re about an hour and a half from anywhere). We also miss a little cultural diversity.

So, come March, moving back to the city. (and still close to skiing there - yay!)

7

Country.

I just moved to a 1 acre place in rural NE North Carolina, surrounded on 3 sides by a 20 acre cotton field.

Nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away; nearest municipal limit is 3 miles east and the nearest city big enough to have 2 groceries is 16 miles; work is 50.

I moved there from SE Virginia, where there was all of the crowding of southern California and none of the advantages. I don’t regret it in the least.

8

City please!

I’m from rural Mississippi.

I left. I ran screaming, actually. :stuck_out_tongue:

Now I have nice restaurants and cafes and my friends and shops and bookstores - YES - bookstores! LOTS OF BOOKSTORES and I can walk to them all. BWAHAHAHA YES YES I CAN, DON’T YOU TRY TO STOP ME!

cough yes, anyway…

I can wander up the road for coffee on a Saturday morning. I don’t have to drive much.

And, best of all, nothing anywhere close to me smells of cowshit. :slight_smile:

Cheers,
G

9

At this point in my life, I want the City. I’m not much of a nature person and I complain a lot about maintaining my tiny city yard with three trees and a bit of grass in the back as well as the front yard. This may change as I get older but I kind of doubt it.

10

Native Southern Californian. San Diego and Los Angeles. When I was laid off in 2003 I moved to a holiday community in Northern Washington. The nearest large town is Bellingham. Or Vancouver, BC. Not much work in the area. Last spring, after the studio closed, I decided I’d better get a real job. So I got one in SoCal.

Not a lot of restaurants up north, at least not close to my house. While a market was nearby, I had to drive 20+ miles to get ‘into town’. On the other hand the house is 450 feet or so from the beach, which makes it handy for kayaking. And I had a pretty route I could walk (about 1.8 miles). And I had plenty of room in the house. The nearest Trader Joe’s was 80 miles away.

Back in L.A. my apartment is tiny. Like, smaller than my bedroom at the house. Some of us walk at work, and it’s very noisy. My neighbourhood is old and funky, but not really pretty walking. I do have a selection of restaurants right across the street, and there’s better pizza available for delivery. And my primary transportation is my motorcycle. It’s often too cold and wet for that up north.

I don’t like my job. Too much stress, too short timelines. I’d planned to go home once a month, but with deadlines looming there’s no time. I haven’t been home since the 4th of July holiday. I very nearly walked out last week, only I didn’t think it would be fair to quit while the boss was on vacation. I’ll see if things improve at the office. I’d like to stay until May/June. But once my car is restored in a couple of months I’ll be less inclined to stay.

Put me down for a house in the country. I don’t have to work in computers.

11

Country. I live 2 miles from a paved road and our nearest neighbor. It’s 6 miles to a country store/gas station, 12 miles to a major highway and 25 miles to a Wal-Mart and civilization. (A town of 10,000)

The dirt road we live on ends at our place, so we don’t get any pass-by traffic either. If anybody come here, it’s because they want to see us. Sometimes the wife and I may go four or five days without seeing another human.

This isn’t for everybody. You have to be able to deal with stuff like going two to three weeks without electricity after a hurricane or major ice storm, be able to cut your way out if a big tree falls across the road, things like that.
One must be handy with gas-powered generators, chainsaws, tractors, trucks etc, to make a go of it.

We wouldn’t have it any other way, but as I said, it’s not for everybody.

12

New York is vhere I’d razzer stay–
I gat allergic smallink hay!
I just adore a panthouse view–
Dahlink, I love you, but giff me Park Avenue!

13

I understand the need for infrastructure as it relates to sushi, but how have your tastes in music and beverages changed? Bourbon and bluegrass? PBR and trucker songs? :slight_smile:

14

Y’know, in the real city there are streets, not roads, and you don’t get to wander unless you’re Alzheimer’s or outpatient. :wink:

15

Funny, the nearest wide spot in the road that has a “Grocery Store” (more like a 7-11 with a meat counter), I refer to as Hooterville, and the GS is the Hooterville General Store.

The town that gives me my snailmail address is known as Mayberry.

16

Definitely city. I love having everything I could possibly need right at my fingertips, and I consider nature something best admired through a window from inside a hermetically sealed, critter-proof, climate controlled habitat.

17

Country. Or more specifically, the mountains. Just two acres, but the closest other developed lot is about a quarter mile away.

No neighbors, no traffic, no noise. Don’t think I could ever take the city again.

For 15 years, we have been the only full time residents on this road. But it looks like the people that bought a vacation house at the end of the road will become full time. Not sure how I feel about that. We shall see how they do. Winters are very, very long at 11,200 feet.

We also own 40 acres about 50 miles away. It’s a nice little get away spot for us.

18

Country, or rather, suburbs. One thing that bugged me when I was applying to college was that most of them were in the middle of cities. Fortunately, the one I’m going to attend has a nicely suburban environment, though (because of the college) it has the added bonus of a few cultural venues.

19

I live in a cisty of ~5000 on a small lot. Farms not far away.
But the “big city” (of ~50,000 - I’m sure some of you think it is “country”) is about 5 miles away, so I have access to movies, bookstores, etc.

Actually the big city has some nice hiking trails on the outskirts and a bike trail.
There are parts of the bike trail that are < 1 mile from downtown, but are fairly secluded.

Brian

20

City. By far. I would hate any non-college town under 1 million people.