Rural flight

[Deleted]

Rural areas are vastly preferable to raise children because:

1. Less crime.
2. Less distractions so they can focus on schoolwork and building real-life skills.

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Also, if you dislike noise pollution, light pollution, and just want fresh air and quiet, rural areas are the way to go.

People should stop living in shitty cities...

[Kellhound]

Lack of highspeed internet would be my chief complaint. I must have cheap, fast internet.

This is the US, very very few people have fast cheap internet, but my little town has 50Mbps dsl.

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People should stop living in shitty cities...

That would require people to stop living in cities.

[Deleted]

That would require people to stop living in cities.

I don't know about the US but cities here ain't shitty. Been to Växjö? Greeeeeeeenest city in Europe?

[Kellhound]

I don't know about the US but cities here ain't shitty. Been to Växjö? Greeeeeeeenest city in Europe?

I have little experience with cities outside the US (Canadian cities are similar, Mexican cities are just plain SCARRY, and I haven't spent enough time in other areas to really make a statement), but I have yet to find a city that wasn't (once the newness wears off) shitty to live in IMHO.

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I go to the theater every other week, visit art galleries and exhibitions and enjoy an active music scene.
I also like having anonymous sex.

Both are quite easier to do in a populous city than a rural area. I have no kids nor do I ever plan to have any. I can afford the higher cost of living.

It takes me 40 minutes to get into a major downtown area from my rural town, which is not much longer than getting to the same area from the suburb I moved from. One can enjoy the peace of country living and still be close enough to partake in the few nice urban offerings.

[Annoying]

I have little experience with cities outside the US (Canadian cities are similar, Mexican cities are just plain SCARRY, and I haven't spent enough time in other areas to really make a statement), but I have yet to find a city that wasn't (once the newness wears off) shitty to live in IMHO.

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It takes me 40 minutes to get into a major downtown area from my rural town, which is not much longer than getting to the same area from the suburb I moved from. One can enjoy the peace of country living and still be close enough to partake in the few nice urban offerings.

80min @ 80mi/h (round trip) is ~107 miles of driving. That's a ton of gas and time spent to be able to do things with other people that aren't "go to the bar". Living in a rural town, we pretty much have "stay home and play video games" or "go to the bar". It's about 80mi one way to the closest city for me, and it sucks, because it takes so damned long that I can really only bring myself to drive there on a weekend. Which means weekdays end up being: Wake up -> work -> play video games/go to the bar -> sleep. Not very fulfilling, to say the least.

[Deleted]

I have little experience with cities outside the US (Canadian cities are similar, Mexican cities are just plain SCARRY, and I haven't spent enough time in other areas to really make a statement), but I have yet to find a city that wasn't (once the newness wears off) shitty to live in IMHO.

What constitutes as shitty?

[Kellhound]

What constitutes as shitty?

Pretty much every city area over 10000 people, with the level of shittiness increasing exponentially with size. You could not offer me anything to live in L.A., NYC, Denver, Vancouver B.C., etc.

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80min @ 80mi/h (round trip) is ~107 miles of driving. That's a ton of gas and time spent to be able to do things with other people that aren't "go to the bar". Living in a rural town, we pretty much have "stay home and play video games" or "go to the bar". It's about 80mi one way to the closest city for me, and it sucks, because it takes so damned long that I can really only bring myself to drive there on a weekend. Which means weekdays end up being: Wake up -> work -> play video games/go to the bar -> sleep. Not very fulfilling, to say the least.

It takes gas and time true, but the largest portion of time is in city traffic. I can go 30 miles outside the city in the same time I go less than 10 in the city, and burn almost the same amount of gas....

[Spectral]

It takes gas and time true, but the largest portion of time is in city traffic. I can go 30 miles outside the city in the same time I go less than 10 in the city, and burn almost the same amount of gas....

Or you can just live in a nice neighborhood and walk 5 minutes to the square for food, concerts, etc.

[Sunseeker]

Or you can just live in a nice neighborhood and walk 5 minutes to the square for food, concerts, etc.

"nice neighborhoods" usually require 6 figure salaries in cities.

[Hooked]

LOL, living in the country doesn't necessarily mean living on a farm or near livestock, that's silly.

I meant the rural areas of the country that do smell like cow manure. The central valley in California smells like cow crap, of course not the whole thing but a large swath of it. Given a choice I would prefer having to endure the smell of cow manure over the smell of Chinese food mixed with human sewage smell of san Francisco.

[Sunseeker]

I meant the rural areas of the country that do smell like cow manure. The central valley in California smells like cow crap, of course not the whole thing but a large swath of it. Given a choice I would prefer having to endure the smell of cow manure over the smell of Chinese food mixed with human sewage smell of san Francisco.

The Central Valley smells like shit no matter where you are in it. Cow shit, human shit, car shit. One great big disgusting shitbowl.

[Spectral]

"nice neighborhoods" usually require 6 figure salaries in cities.

Depends on the city. That's true in DC or Chicago or San Francisco, but my girlfriend and I just picked out a nice new-build apartment in a great neighborhood of a moderate sized city and we make a shade under 6 figures in base salary between the two of us (she's still in grad school and it's not clear what my bonuses will be like).

Point taken though. I generally don't think cities are great places to live if you're not a high skill person that can command a decent salary.

[Sunseeker]

Point taken though. I generally don't think cities are great places to live if you're not a high skill person that can command a decent salary.

Which is ironic, because cities demand the largest numbers of low-skill workers.

[Radio]

Depends on the city. That's true in DC or Chicago or San Francisco, but my girlfriend and I just picked out a nice new-build apartment in a great neighborhood of a moderate sized city and we make a shade under 6 figures in base salary between the two of us (she's still in grad school and it's not clear what my bonuses will be like).

Point taken though. I generally don't think cities are great places to live if you're not a high skill person that can command a decent salary.

Same deal in Australia, if you're in Sydney, expect to need a six-figure salary to live anywhere remotely nice within walking range of the city. If you're in Brisbane, you can achieve it as a medium-level income earner. In Melbourne, it's roughly a half-measure between the two.

I'm not anywhere near a six-figure salary yet but I live in a modern apartment with 100MBit internet a 2km walk from my office in the CBD with walking distance to hospital or any shop I'd want, and also a 1-3 minute drive to get to all of the major arterial roads out of the city.

[Sunseeker]

Depends on the city. That's true in DC or Chicago or San Francisco, but my girlfriend and I just picked out a nice new-build apartment in a great neighborhood of a moderate sized city and we make a shade under 6 figures in base salary between the two of us (she's still in grad school and it's not clear what my bonuses will be like).

I'd also like to mention that for that same salary in a rural area, you could own massive amounts of property and a stand-alone home. I'm not fond of living right on top/beside/around a lot of other people. I like the idea of my own home, my own dirt. Certainly that's personal preference, but on say, 90k annually, you could easily afford the payments on a roomy home and a sizable plot of land in a smaller town.

[Spectral]

I'd also like to mention that for that same salary in a rural area, you could own massive amounts of property and a stand-alone home. I'm not fond of living right on top/beside/around a lot of other people. I like the idea of my own home, my own dirt. Certainly that's personal preference, but on say, 90k annually, you could easily afford the payments on a roomy home and a sizable plot of land in a smaller town.

Yeah, I grew up rural and I have zero interest in ever going back to that lifestyle. I'm actually moving next month for a new job and to be in the same city as my fiancee (I keep mixing up which to call her, hard getting used to new words), and we had to pick between city, rural, and suburbs because my position is effectively in the suburbs while her grad school is in the city. We chose to go even further into the city, into the downtown area. I'll bike to work (~11 miles) more days than not, but drive when the weather's super shitty.

I just like cities. I have ever since I was old enough to experience them on my own. I like the sorts of people that live in cities better on average (although not universally, of course), I like the food and bar scene, I love being able to walk and bike places, I love having trails to run that I can get to just walking out the front door, and so on.

Also, big houses do nothing for me. I've never understood the attraction. I went from growing up in the big house to a big three bedroom apartment to a moderate sized one bedroom. My experience is that space just winds up with me accumulating shit that I don't need.

[Radio]

Also, big houses do nothing for me. I've never understood the attraction. I went from growing up in the big house to a big three bedroom apartment to a moderate sized one bedroom. My experience is that space just winds up with me accumulating shit that I don't need.

Yeah I'm the same way, I prefer cosy to spacious. Even my current 1 bdrm sometimes feels a little too big.

[Sunseeker]

Yeah, I grew up rural and I have zero interest in ever going back to that lifestyle. I'm actually moving next month for a new job and to be in the same city as my fiancee (I keep mixing up which to call her, hard getting used to new words), and we had to pick between city, rural, and suburbs because my position is effectively in the suburbs while her grad school is in the city. We chose to go even further into the city, into the downtown area. I'll bike to work (~11 miles) more days than not, but drive when the weather's super shitty.

Skip to the final word you'll be calling her: wife. I did. Saved me a lot of hassle. Referred to her as my wife basically since we got engaged.

Well you don't have to go totally rural to get a stand-alone home and some yardage. It's just less the closer you are to the city. But also never fear: the city will inevitably come to you!

I just like cities. I have ever since I was old enough to experience them on my own. I like the sorts of people that live in cities better on average (although not universally, of course), I like the food and bar scene, I love being able to walk and bike places, I love having trails to run that I can get to just walking out the front door, and so on.

From an architectural point of view, I like cities. But they're something I prefer to study from a distance and visit now and again, rather than live in. Of course when I say "city", I'm talking about somewhere with at least half a million people.

Also, big houses do nothing for me. I've never understood the attraction. I went from growing up in the big house to a big three bedroom apartment to a moderate sized one bedroom. My experience is that space just winds up with me accumulating shit that I don't need.

Ha! I hear that. But I do all sorts of things with the space. Office, workshop, toyroom.

[Mihalik]

Rural areas are for holidays not for actual living. Professionally and personally your development options are extremely limited if you aren't living in a urban area. While of course this doesn't mean you don't have options, but the simple fact is that it still remains a major limiting factor.

Also rural areas are the hiding spots for all sorts of fringe groups, social conservatism, ignorance, intolerance and stupidity.

[Sunseeker]

Rural areas are for holidays not for actual living. Professionally and personally your development options are extremely limited if you aren't living in a urban area. While of course this doesn't mean you don't have options, but the simple fact is that it still remains a major limiting factor.

Also rural areas are the hiding spots for all sorts of fringe groups, social conservatism, ignorance, intolerance and stupidity.

I'm glad to see the stereotyping in this thread goes unimpeded by reality...