Country living vs city living.....

We live on the edge of what we consider country. We only have three acres, but have hundreds of acres of unbroken woods behind us. Turn right out of our driveway and it becomes rural almost instantly, turn left and after a few small towns, it populates pretty quickly. I can be in the middle of downtown Cincinnati in 12 minutes, but I can walk outside my door any time of day or night and shoot a gun. Life is noticeably different in the immediate area than in the more populated areas. Strangers wave to you regularly, people that you've never seen before say hi to you or at least smile. Drive 5 miles west and any of those things are a rarity.

Originally, we wanted to move farther out in the country, in a much more rural setting, but in the end were very glad we didn't. The more we thought about it, isolation was appealing, but not necessarily in our best interest. Probably the main reason we didn't want to move farther out was vulnerability. There are bad people everywhere and I think sometimes you are at their mercy in isolated areas. We didn't want to become prisoners in our own home for fear that someone would steal everything that we'd worked for.

It sucks being single in the country. Couples, couples, couples...*puking*

bassJAM said:

the first time she drove out to my house and saw corn fields she got worried I was a serial killer and was going to hide her body in a field. She had somehow NEVER seen corn fields up close and associated them with fear.

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"children of the corn"

bsruther said:

Originally, we wanted to move farther out in the country, in a much more rural setting, but in the end were very glad we didn't. The more we thought about it, isolation was appealing, but not necessarily in our best interest. Probably the main reason we didn't want to move farther out was vulnerability. There are bad people everywhere and I think sometimes you are at their mercy in isolated areas. We didn't want to become prisoners in our own home for fear that someone would steal everything that we'd worked for.

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People further out feel the same way about moving closer to the city! I think criminals know that out in the country, home owners are much more likely to have a loaded gun nearby.

bassJAM said:

People further out feel the same way about moving closer to the city! I think criminals know that out in the country, home owners are much more likely to have a loaded gun nearby.

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In every room even.

Made the move from a 1st ring suburb of Mpls-St.Paul in 1997 and never regretted it. IMO the key thing you need to balance is travel time/expense between where you live and where you work. Being a contractor, your money is your time and your time is your money, only so much available and no one makes more time.

As to rural living, my wife and I choose not to mow grass, landscape, or try to turn country into the city we left. The country is beautiful because it is country. Fishing, swimming and water/ice sports are out our front door; firewood, lots of woods, deer and critters are out the back door. Can't even see the nearest neighbor through the trees, but neighbors all are friendly and helpful when needed, and don't bother anyone if not needed or wanted. Shopping trips once every week or two, build the list and stock up; and internet and UPS provides 2nd day delivery at better prices on almost everything.

It's -26F outside (real temp, not windchill) as I write this, wood stove in the living room is blazing and house is toasty, pitch black dark outside except for the stars, not a sound except a ticking clock, I think one car came down our road yesterday (darn traffic jam!), dog is sleeping on the sofa, and solar electric produced 29 kwh yesterday - power company paid me instead of me paying the power company. Life is good.

So, what do you do for broadband?

Phone land line DSL, about 9Mbps.

We can't even get DSL. As said earlier, 3G, good for 1 Mbps, and hoping for 4G. Plus, we're the lucky ones. Rural broadband access is an issue.

I was going to mention the lower crime rates in the country . . . but I honestly am not sure if the rates are lower . . . or if they're just lower per capita since you have to figure in the lower number of people in the country.

I lucked out in terms of the internet . . . we're in the country, but only a mile outside of town so we get pretty decent internet with DSL.

firefighterjake said:

I was going to mention the lower crime rates in the country . . . but I honestly am not sure if the rates are lower . . . or if they're just lower per capita since you have to figure in the lower number of people in the country.

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Just try leaving your car unlocked outside in the city.
Of course, there are always crooks, and the crooks tend to go where opportunity is.

firebroad said:

Just try leaving your car unlocked outside in the city.
Of course, there are always crooks, and the crooks tend to go where opportunity is.

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Depends where you are . My place is on a dead end road and a very long lane and don't forget the 2 dogs
bark there heads off and lick you to death
but of coarse I live in the Country
Also close enough to town to get DSL
Fiber optics next summer

johneh said:

Depends where you are . My place is on a dead end road and a very long lane and don't forget the 2 dogs
bark there heads off and lick you to death

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Its hard to sneak up on a house with a gravel driveway and dogs. Its what we call our "hillbilly alarm system".

semipro said:

Its hard to sneak up on a house with a gravel driveway and dogs. Its what we call our "hillbilly alarm system".

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My parents have geese out in the pasture with their sheep and goats, those things make WAY more noise when disturbed than even their dogs do. They're meaner too.

Say hello to my little friends...

Jags said:

Are those pelts worth anything these days?

<ducks and runs>

I am sure it was an innocent post by Sue, but as a reminder, lets leave the guns to the many gun sites out there.

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Hadn't Looked at it that way.

bassJAM said:

My parents have geese out in the pasture with their sheep and goats, those things make WAY more noise when disturbed than even their dogs do. They're meaner too.

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If we had more land, I'd have me some guard geese.

I have Guineas, which make a racket when anyone shows up. Then they run at the visitor acting all mean. It is funny to watch adults back up from them.

I don't know if I could stand the noise they make. Bug removal would be nice though!!

Any way you look at it, living in the country is safer that living in the city. I won't deny that there is crime, but I moved here so I wouldn't have to live in a fortress. Some of my neighbors come here with the same fears they had in town, but that is just habit. Of course it is judicious to take precautions, but I definitely feel safer here, and don't have to worry about prowlers around every corner.

firebroad said:

Any way you look at it, living in the country is safer that living in the city.

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http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/...afer-than-country/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

While violent crime is higher, the increased risk of car accidents makes rural areas less safe on average.

woodgeek said:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/...afer-than-country/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

While violent crime is higher, the increased risk of car accidents makes rural areas less safe on average.

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Hmm, interesting. Of course I don't travel except when I need to.
Don't tell my auto insurance company; my rate was cut in half when I moved up here.

woodgeek said:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/...afer-than-country/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

While violent crime is higher, the increased risk of car accidents makes rural areas less safe on average.

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you really believe that? I live in the country, and hear of every death and crime in my county. There is no way that there is more death or violent crime in rural areas.

I promise, you walk around in the rural areas for 10 hours,,,you pick the area,,,then go to any major citiy,,,you pick the city,,,and walk around in a populated area for the same 10 hours and see where something happens.

LOL,,, anything can be proved with fuzzy math