[Zhen]

Hey,

Have any City Slickers voluntarily opted out of a sprawling metropolis to permanently relocate to vast masses of empty expanse or a small township?

If so I'd be really interested to hear about your experience. Feel free to P.M me...Cheers.

[firebee]

How far along are you in considering this? And are you thinking along the lines of a self-sufficient homestead or just living someplace with fewer people?

I find such things interesting to read about, but probably not ever to do. I like my processed coffee products too much
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[LaoTzu]

The last few women I have dated have all come from small towns/farms...

They always made a big deal of the diff. between city/rural dwellers...but I never saw it.

All I could say is: It's slower. Everyone knows each other. The simplest things are more important. People take a little more time to be polite.

And finally, the convenience store is no longer that convenient.

I'm moving to the country as soon as I can get a good price on my condo.
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[ElstonGunn]

I lived in a city of about 300,000 people (over a million in the greater metro area) for a few years fairly recently, but I've spent the vast majority of my life in a town with less than 7,000 people in it. I don't think that fits what you're looking for, but it if counts, I could offer my perspective on the two.

One thing I like about where I am now is that if I drive five or ten miles south, I see cows and cornfields. And if I drive five or ten miles north, it's commercial buildings and bright lights. If my choice was limited to either extreme, I'd rather have one neighbor in 50 miles than 50 neighbors in one mile.

[Zhen]

	Originally Posted by firebee To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	How far along are you in considering this? And are you thinking along the lines of a self-sufficient homestead or just living someplace with fewer people? I find such things interesting to read about, but probably not ever to do. I like my processed coffee products too much To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. .

It's been a plan in my mind for many years now...but a few years off in practical ability to be realised. If I was not such a hopeless dumb ass city slicker self sufficiency would be cool but I think just fewer people, clean air and peace would be nice...

p.s I actually found that smaller towns tend to have a really great food scene...things are home made fresh with a focus on using local produce. And they do tend to stock gourmet food items like good brands of processed coffee products albeit at a premium for transport and small market though...





Zhen added to this post, 2 minutes and 31 seconds later...

Originally Posted by LaoTzu To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

The last few women I have dated have all come from small towns/farms... They always made a big deal of the diff. between city/rural dwellers...but I never saw it. All I could say is: It's slower. Everyone knows each other. The simplest things are more important. People take a little more time to be polite. And finally, the convenience store is no longer that convenient. I'm moving to the country as soon as I can get a good price on my condo. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

weird my experience is that people are a lot friendlier and polite because they have much more time to be so. I also notice that people smile a lot more and there is a more relaxed easy going vibe not like all the worried stress you see hanging around chainsmoking outside the investment banks right now LOL





Zhen added to this post, 8 minutes and 39 seconds later...

Originally Posted by ElstonGunn To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I lived in a city of about 300,000 people (over a million in the greater metro area) for a few years fairly recently, but I've spent the vast majority of my life in a town with less than 7,000 people in it. I don't think that fits what you're looking for, but it if counts, I could offer my perspective on the two. One thing I like about where I am now is that if I drive five or ten miles south, I see cows and cornfields. And if I drive five or ten miles north, it's commercial buildings and bright lights. If my choice was limited to either extreme, I'd rather have one neighbor in 50 miles than 50 neighbors in one mile.

Yeah not quite as drastic but whatever insights you want to share! What kind of conveniences do you have immediately in town and how far to the nearest big town/conveniences eg fully operational bank...

I lived in a population of around 1500-2000 recently- I think the town consisted of a supermarket, a butcher, a newsagent with post office and an automatic teller inside, a library, a town hall, a doctor and a bottleshop...and gee that was about it! I could only access incredibly slow internet in a designated 2 hour gap during the weekdays for an exorbitant price. So what I learnt was that once a population hits about the 2000 mark I'm pretty uncomfortable... I also realised how screwed you are without a car...you get very fit with all the walking or you can hitch...

[Undead Bonzi]

	Originally Posted by Zhen To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Hey, Have any City Slickers voluntarily opted out of a sprawling metropolis to permanently relocate to vast masses of empty expanse or a small township? If so I'd be really interested to hear about your experience. Feel free to P.M me...Cheers.

Ah the ubiquitous desire that fuels our suburbs, destroys our cities and consumes our countryside. The common term is suburbanite. Everyone wants to leave the city and get some country living, so they leave the city but they only go so far because you still want the money and options that the city offeres. Thus you settle on the outskirts, but lo! What is this?! The next year other people with the same idea move out one step past you. Suddenly your country vista is replaced with another house that looks suspiciously like your own...and your neighbors. Time to move again!

I grew up in a town of less that 1,000 people. It was a 2.5 hour drive to reach a city of more than 100,000 people. We always got a kick out of people who would move to the country in search of 'the good life' but leave soon after when they realized the price of such a life was steep. My thought has always been that if you live in a city you should live in the city, not the bland suburbs. My thought is the same for the country. Suburbia is the most loathsome existence I can think of, yet here in the good ol' USA it is touted as the great American dream. To quote a favorite author, suburbia is 'a culture medium for a medium culture'.

Do not move to the country with the false impression that you can live in greater isolation or privacy (unless you are talking hermit nut mountain cabin) In a small community even your smallest doing becomes the subject topic for the entire town. It is actually easier to achieve privacy in a city where you could be raped and dismemberd in public and most would close their windows or pretend they didn't see anything.

[Zhen]

Originally Posted by Undead Bonzi To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Ah the ubiquitous desire that fuels our suburbs, destroys our cities and consumes our countryside. The common term is suburbanite. Everyone wants to leave the city and get some country living, so they leave the city but they only go so far because you still want the money and options that the city offeres. Thus you settle on the outskirts, but lo! What is this?! The next year other people with the same idea move out one step past you. Suddenly your country vista is replaced with another house that looks suspiciously like your own...and your neighbors. Time to move again! I grew up in a town of less that 1,000 people. It was a 2.5 hour drive to reach a city of more than 100,000 people. We always got a kick out of people who would move to the country in search of 'the good life' but leave soon after when they realized the price of such a life was steep. My thought has always been that if you live in a city you should live in the city, not the bland suburbs. My thought is the same for the country. Suburbia is the most loathsome existence I can think of, yet here in the good ol' USA it is touted as the great American dream. To quote a favorite author, suburbia is 'a culture medium for a medium culture'. Do not move to the country with the false impression that you can live in greater isolation or privacy (unless you are talking hermit nut mountain cabin) In a small community even your smallest doing becomes the subject topic for the entire town. It is actually easier to achieve privacy in a city where you could be raped and dismemberd in public and most would close their windows or pretend they didn't see anything.

haha thanks for the thoughts- yeah actually I'm extreme in my tastes... middle of the road suburbia doesn't appeal hence for me the change would really be one quite drastic and I'm wondering about how I would "adjust" for the long haul.

[Hatsumomo1]

I did the opposite actually. I relocated from a safe, friendly, beautiful town in upper MI to bustling, crime-riddled, and--to be frank--dirty Philadelphia. Why? For opportunity and adventure. My hometown was closing in on me.

A popular reason why city people move to the country --> To assimilate into a more relaxed way of life.

A popular reason why country people move to the city --> For opportunity that a small town could never offer.

I do have to agree with the opinion that suburbia is boring. It's that weird medium that I can't say is very appealing.

[Frodis]

Just the opposite for me - grew up in a town of fewer than 2000 and now live in a good size city with a metro area of around 1.5 million (more accurately, I live in suburbia but work in the city). Undead Bonzi is right about the lack of privacy in a small town. It's infuriating. Most of my family still lives in that small town, and (god love 'em) they know all the neighbors' business. I occasionally entertain the thought of moving back, but it would drive me insane. If I could move to the middle of nowhere, that might work.

Regarding suburbia, I actually am quite fond of it. I think there's far more privacy in the suburbs than in either a small town or densely populated city. I don't know any of my neighbors, and that's fine by me...and fine by them, I'm guessing. And I have all the amenities I need - groceries and gas stations, malls (ugh, but sometimes necessary), Walmart and Target, dentists and veterinarians, parks and libraries, etc. Perhaps I am "medium culture," but it suits me just fine. And if I want a taste of the city, I can easily get there.

[Henry]

	Originally Posted by Zhen To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Hey, Have any City Slickers voluntarily opted out of a sprawling metropolis to permanently relocate to vast masses of empty expanse or a small township? If so I'd be really interested to hear about your experience. Feel free to P.M me...Cheers.

Spent time in rural midwest and west. Its actually quite nice as there's still a sense of "community" in many areas, and typically there's a libertarian type attitude in most areas. Open spaces will do that to you. Racism is a diminutive concern north of the mason dixon, although there are plenty of places in the south where it remains an issue.

That said, I can't figure out a way to feed myself in the middle of nowhere. And I prefer living in a downtown area to suburbia, so for the time being I'm living in the middle of a bustling metropolis.

[amberlinen]

In my teenage years I did think about living in a remote place by myself, preferably near some mountains and lakes, but now after I planned my life I think it's better for me to live in a city:

I don't like driving, and the most convenient public transit systems are always in big cities.

I want to spend as little time as possible on meeting the basic life needs (have a job, feed myself, housework etc.) so I can have more time doing my own tasks. But if you want to be self-sufficient you pretty much have to spend the whole day doing housework, maintainence job, feeding cows and horses, fighting bears, and many other things I only find interesting doing once in a while.

Libraries and bookstores.

[firebee]

Smallest place I've ever lived was a town of 40,000. This, I found, wasn't really small enough to make living there substantially dissimilar from living anywhere else, except that anything large and interesting was always going on Somewhere Else, probably Somewhere Else You Can't Get To Easily.

My grandmother, though, does live in a small Texas town -- the joke I make at every possible occasion is that "two kinds of people live there -- old ladies who gossip about being robbed, and people who rob old ladies". Which seems to be pretty much true. There's a population of widows in the town whose occupation is essentially a) carrying on gossip that spans a minimum of 60 years and three generations b) being frightened of or victimized by crime and c) having medical crises. Which makes it sound unpleasant but it isn't really -- just not a place I would live unless there was a street there with my last name on it.

I have something of an academic interest in self-sufficient homesteading though -- I find that the people who try that, and the people who succeed, are generally interesting people with interesting stories. You might find some interesting material related to this at yarchive.net -- it's kind of an eclectic Usenet archive maintained by an individual according to his interests, some of which bear on the point of rural living. Look for articles by John DeArmond in particular -- he's a fun read.

[countrygirl]

	Originally Posted by Zhen To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Hey, Have any City Slickers voluntarily opted out of a sprawling metropolis to permanently relocate to vast masses of empty expanse or a small township? If so I'd be really interested to hear about your experience. Feel free to P.M me...Cheers.

I did. I grew up in a city of approx 6 million with an ever expanding surburbia. I got hitched, moved to the country for 7 years now and I love it. I live what I would basicly call a bedroom town. Everybody works in the city so I don't have this problem of everyone knowing my business unless I tell them and I pretty much keep to myself.

There are three cities that are 20 min drive and one that is 30 mins away.

For the last 6-7 years I have been researching self-suffiency and homesteading and my husband and I do have a general plan if and when we have an opportunity to buy the family farm.

[Harmony]

I really wanted to move to one of the smaller towns on the outskirts of my current city... That way I can still come to the bigger city, but not have to deal with it all the time.

It's just something about the shops that are in smaller towns that appeal to me. Seems to be more craft stores and antique shops, cute little diners or coffee shops, bakeries and delis... I'd love to live in a town like that where I could just go walk around downtown and enjoy the scenery.