# Do you prefer a rural or an urban lifestyle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739 "2013-04-15T01:38:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/21 "2013-04-15T11:34:39Z")
Rural, just as soon as they move in some museums, theaters, a good variety of restaurants, easy public transportation, and convenient police and fire services. Oh, and more people to interact with. And a good harbour to sail in. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/22 "2013-04-15T11:47:23Z")
Have done each, _far_ prefer rural. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/23 "2013-04-15T11:59:27Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Rural for me. That is hard for me to believe because I have always been a fan of cities. > But, after decades of long commutes, working from home in the middle of the woods is pretty dang great. I prefer working from home in the middle of a big city. More lunch options. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/24 "2013-04-15T12:06:55Z")
I swing between rural and urban, as both have their advantages. But you can keep suburban – sooo dull. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/25 "2013-04-15T12:14:48Z")
I vote for small city/large town. Combines a lot of the advantages of city, rural and suburban living. Does not have large plots of land, easy access to _all_ services, or closeness to jobs, but it does have walkability, easy access to wild land, and it’s easy to drive to get what you can’t walk to. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/26 "2013-04-15T12:17:50Z")
Definitely the urban/downtown areas. Suburbs are where you go to hide and rural is where you go to die. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/27 "2013-04-15T12:35:21Z")
Rural, and then some. I’d go and live as a hermit on an island if it was practical for me to make that change. At the moment, I live in a semi-suburban (but not really rural) village location. It’ll do. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/28 "2013-04-15T12:59:39Z")
The extremes of both are depressing, but urban life depressed and irritates me constantly, whereas rural life would only depress me on weekends when there was nowhere nice to go. I really, really wish I had a lot of nice museums and things at my fingertips, here in the small city I live just outside of, but the light traffic and affordable real estate more than make up for that on a daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/29 "2013-04-15T13:01:04Z")
Rural. It is such a hassle even having to go into an urban area for a day. Living there must be a nightmare. > [@even\_sven](#): > > And I want the full range of restaurants, events, and social activities that a city has to offer (and yes, I do take advantage of them). Can you expand on this? People always say this about cities, but what exactly does this mean? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/30 "2013-04-15T13:08:18Z")
Rural all the way. Sure, some things take a little bit more planning ahead. Like running all your errands at once. Or stopping by the store on the way home from work But it’s the life for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/31 "2013-04-15T13:12:33Z")
Rural- I can’t stand large cities. However, I like being able to to easily get to the city. My current house is damn near perfect- out in the country, surrounded by trees and wildlife, but in ten minutes I can go out for dinner, shopping, or a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/32 "2013-04-15T13:15:50Z")
I prefer rural - but my wife prefers suburban. Right now I’m working in a town of 35,000, about 70 miles from Chicago. My preference would be to live 5 miles outside of this town, which would give me a short commute, and access to in-town shopping, libraries, and such. The ONLY thing drawing me to Chicago is family there. Our solution might be to maintain homes both here and near Chicago, with the two of us splitting time between the two. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/33 "2013-04-15T13:26:46Z")
I live in the very center of a metropolitan area of 3,000,000 people. I love it, but I miss Manhattan sometimes. Now THAT’s a proper place to live. I’ve lived in the country. It didn’t take. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/34 "2013-04-15T13:26:55Z")
No option for suburban, but that’s what I like. Easy drive to use city parks but I come home to a decent sized lot in a low crime area. Having to drive everywhere doesn’t bother me the least. McDonalds and Pizza Hut for food and shopping at Wal-Mart are just fine for me so I don’t miss not having the food and store options the city does. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/35 "2013-04-15T13:30:41Z")
Urban for me. I need people and diversity around. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/36 "2013-04-15T14:27:31Z")
Rural. I’ve spent most of my life in suburbia; I’m living there now, in fact. Honestly, suburbia seems to combine all of the worst things of both lifestyles with very few advantages. Yes, there’s more space in suburbia than in the city, but the cost of living isn’t all that much cheaper, so it doesn’t seem worth it. I dated long term someone who lived in the city, and while I hated the traffic and the crowding, there were some advantages. It was nice to be able to walk pretty much anywhere we wanted to go, and if I enjoyed the nightlife, that would have been a huge plus, but the amount of space she had and the cost was just ridiculous. It might be better in a city with better public transportation to live in a place with a better compromise, but it wouldn’t be that much better. I also spent a significant amount of time as a kid living on a small farm. I LOVED the space and the quiet and, generally, the people were a lot friendlier. Yes, it’s not nearly as convenient, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal; I generally don’t go out a whole lot anyway. Now, that’s not to say I’d want to live 2 hours out from a small town no one’s ever heard of, that’s way too rural. Where I lived as a kid was about 10 minutes from a small town and 25-30 minutes from a large town where we could do all the shopping or whatever else we needed or wanted. We tended to do large shopping trips about once a month to the large town and did smaller weekly ones to the small one. And if we ever did want to go to the city, it was maybe like a 90 minute drive. Of course, today, for the same experience, it would have to be about 2 hours out, but I’d also need to go to town even less often, so I’d think it’d still mostly balance out. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/37 "2013-04-15T14:37:33Z")
UK person checking in. I currently live in a village with a population of around 2,000. So I guess that is semi-rural? I love it. Our back yard backs onto a canal and there are horses in the field beyond. Very picturesque and relaxing. The only drawback is that the nearest city is not a very nice one. We are actually looking at moving in the next couple of years to a similar sized village near Bath, which is a much nicer city. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/38 "2013-04-15T14:38:51Z")
I grew up in the country, on 70 acres. Worked on a dairy farm for several years as a teen and generally lived the country life. I couldn’t get away fast enough when I had the chance. Urban life all the way for me. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/39 "2013-04-15T14:49:00Z")
Either, but not in between. If it’s urban, I want to be able to walk to shopping, restaurants, events, etc. If it’s rural, there damn better well be friggin’ deer and antelope playing outside my door. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739/40 "2013-04-15T14:52:15Z")
Rural. I grew up in a rural area, and then went to college in Cincinnati for six years. I \*hated \*living there. Hated the noise, crime, and traffic. I now live in a log house on 15 acres in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio. I love it. It’s so peaceful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-a-rural-or-an-urban-lifestyle/655739.md?page=3)