I’ve been looking at houses lately, so this has been on my mind. I want to live out in the country. Where do you guys want to live?
I’ve always lived in the city and always wanted to. But recently I’ve been thinking it might be kind of cool to live in the country. Maybe. Definitely not the suburbs, that’s like the worst of all worlds: inconvenient AND manicured. Give me gritty city or gritty nature but don’t ever give me neither one.
Country. Two years ago I bought a house and looked at quite a few rural properties.
What stopped me was financial reasons, mainly: more money to commute to work, more money to maintain. I have limited financial resources so that waas a consideration.
So I bought a house NOT in suburbia, but on the edge of a city. So I’m close to open space and lakes, I have turkeys and other wildlife showing up in my yard, I have working farms within a mile, but I’m not burdened by having to keep an acre of grass mowed every week, or spending $20 and two hours of every work day just getting to work.
If money and commute were not a problem, I’d definitely want to be out where it’s very rural and I don’t see my neighbors. Failing that, like Blackberry, I’d want to be right in the middle of a city. I would not want to live in some suburban subdivision. I work in them almost every day. Do. Not. Like.
Countr7 is okay, but Countr6 is best.
Go to bed to the sound of frogs. Wake up to the sound of birds. Fresh air. Well water. Forest.
When I lived in the city, I thought that living in the country was going to be quiet and peaceful. Then I moved out to the country. Now I hear ATVs going by, people shooting right out in their yards, and drunks yelling and fighting each other. I’m going back to the city.
country…its like being on vacation every day…lots of acres, embedded in a forest…big garden for eats, big pond with fish, woods with turkeys, deer, fox, snakes and coyotes galore. huge lake & resort nearby. I can be in two big cities, in 1 and 2 hrs respectively.
i work from home and travel often to clients in the MidWest, East Coast, and SE, so I can live anywhere in that region.
“buy you some land; they ain’t making anymore”
remember, 200 yrs ago, we existed and raised families with just a log cabin or two, and dozen or two acres.
PS I believe the last drive by shooting was on horseback 150 yrs ago in these parts. Also, it seems most the ppl I know who suffer from depression are city folks…sorry, no cite
Reluctantly voted suburbs. Living in the country would be nice by itself but I don’t really like to drive. I live in the burbs now and I can walk to the grocery store. And I don’t think I’d be cut out to live in a city.
Not all suburbs are the same. There are varying degrees and they are what you make them. I too would love the country life IF…
- I did not have to drive miles to go get a quart of milk.
- I have emergency care at the ready
- Have neighbors close enough to say hello everyday but not too close that they know my every move or so far that a phone is needed or a long walk is needed to see them.
- For the northern climates a shovel will do well enough to move the snow at get the mail at least.
- Municipal water that I know is treated and healthy and I don’t have to check it every so often.
- A sewer system and water drainage that is safe and well maintained. Well water and septic tanks are not a fun thing.
- A grass and/or sidewalk as a buffer to traffic to make my kids safe and a walk pleasant.
- A police presence at the ready when needed in a reasonable amount of time. 8) Schools close enough that I can if need be drive and pick up my kids if I want. Without driving 10,20 or 30 miles. Or rely on a school bus that may or may not be ready at scheduled times.
- Easy access to shopping malls, theaters, and sporting events.
- Convenient refuse pick-up even if I must pay for it if its not included in my tax bill. Just put it to the curb and its gone every week like clock work. No mess to getting my car or truck full of garbage to bring to the dump.
- Easy access to get competitive bids to have major work done if I can’t do it.
- In most cases quite evenings and just enough noise during the day to know other people are around without being annoying.
- And yes that constant summer time drone of lawn mowers every Saturday is a bit soothing.
- As far as lawn manicuring goes, you pick and choose how much you want to do and how well you want it to look. Me, I just cut it, that’s all and it looks fine. No complaints from Mr. Neighbor.
I could go on but you get the idea. I love to visit the country (grew up in when I was young) but I wouldn’t want to live there. On the other hand, a small country village would be nice.
Now lets here from the big city folks and why it’s great.
PS… The one thing I would not like at all is a gated community. That sucks!
I can’t answer the poll, because there isn’t an option for “it depends on my mood on any particular day/week/month”…
Sometimes I’d like to have an apartment in in downtown San Francisco. Sometimes I’d like to have a cottage out in the middle of nowhere. And sometimes I think that where we live now, a suburban neighborhood here in Sacramento, is just right.
if i had enough finances to buy a house, i’d probably be buying a house in the city. i live in downtown PDX in an apartment right now, and i love not having to drive. the restaurant i work at is three blocks from my apartment.
Just a comment. Almost all of your bullet points include the words “easy” and “convenient.” With a few “safes” and “pleasants” thrown in.
So suburbs are great if your goal in life is everything being safe, easy, convenient and pleasant.
I think there’s a lot to be said for that. It would make me want to slit my throat mind you, but if those were my primary goals in life I suppose I would be content.
I do agree that many suburban areas/subdivisions are not soul-less locales, but have developed great communities.
I won’t vote in public polls. But I am a staunch city boy. If I did live someplace rural, it would have to be no more than an hour away from some sort urban conglomeration.
City. I live in Chicago and I love it.
I’ve always lived in cities, but not your urban big skyscrapers type of city. Is a normal house in Tulsa or Richmond ‘the city?’ I guess when I think of cities, I think of Manhattan or somthing. I live in Tucson, is that a city?
Yes, Tucson is definitely a city.
I live in the heart of big city, and I never want to live anywhere else.
I prefer walking over driving. Things I have within a 30-minute walk of my apartment:
- Three shopping malls.
- Three movie theaters.
- The beach.
- Hundreds of restaurants, coffee shops, bars and clubs.
- Half a dozen museums, several theaters and an opera house.
- Several large parks.
- Schools, a hospital, and basically anything other services I might need.
- Anything I could possibly want to buy.
- A beautiful mosaic of fascinating people (plus a few jerks).
Also, I don’t have to interact with my neighbors; and I’d much rather go to sleep with the sound of traffic than with the sound of frogs.
Small town close to a big city. Most of Spain doesn’t have suburbs; there are a few inglorious exceptions, mostly in the Madrid metro area, but then, even the city itself has some areas which are nothing but blocks of houses with a school that looks like a warehouse and no stores except for whatever is at the mall.
Suburbs, definitely.
I like visiting the country, but could never live there. I’d die of boredom, and would feel endlessly scrutinized seeing and being seen by the same small set of people all the time.
I like the amenities and the anonymity of the city, but the behavior that gets tolerated in cities disgusts me. Some people are mature enough to handle anonymity, but enough are not. It’s one thing to avoid littering, spitting green loogies on the sidewalk, yelling catcalls and peeing in doorways to dodge the opprobrium of people you know and care about, but it takes discipline and self-respect to avoid them on principle.
The suburbs are a compromise I can live with - there are things to do, and people are expected to behave themselves.
I have been considering a move to the country as I recently retired but in the back of my mind I am thinking that I will start needing more doctor visits as I age and it just may not be practical. At present I have no medical issues and take no medication but I have seen so many of my friends parents do this and then regret it.