Is rural living always better than urban?

[Deleted]

Doesn't that depend on you? Better is arbitrary at best... at long as you have access to basic services, then it's entirely up to your own taste. Want silence, air and a green environment, nature? Want a horse and chickens? Rural is the way to go... Want 50 yards to the nearest shop, the buzz of the city and easy access to absolutely anything? Then it's the city for you...

Personally, I live in a city of some five million, but I'd get the hell out and live in the country if I had the opportunity right now. Mostly because I find people annoying and prefer a hammock under a tree to a busy shopping mall. But that's just me...

[Ghostpanther]

It is for me. The article however, paints a false picture of many rural communities here. Depends on where you are. Some of the areas of large cities still suck.

[Wildtree]

I vastly prefer rural living compared to urban.

Not to rain on your parade here, but..

Rural vs Urban means vastly different things depending on the country we're talking about.
Every country has another infrastructure. That of the USA is extremely different to any European country. It comes with the sheer size of the country already.
Some random US state with the size of your own country but with less than 2 million people population (metaphorically speaking) is a whole other rural by default already .
Just a little example, from Seattle on the west coast to Fort Lauderdale on the east coast it's a whooping 4400.
So by nature it feels more empty already everywhere, except for the metros.

I lived in rural Germany, and Americans would rather call that suburbs.
I lived in rural USA, and Germans would call that the middle of nowhere.
In both cases it's been 3000 ppl towns.

[Puupi]

Not to rain on your parade here, but..

Rural vs Urban means vastly different things depending on the country we're talking about.
Every country has another infrastructure. That of the USA is extremely different to any European country. It comes with the sheer size of the country already.
Some random US state with the size of your own country but with less than 2 million people population (metaphorically speaking) is a whole other rural by default already .
Just a little example, from Seattle on the west coast to Fort Lauderdale on the east coast it's a whooping 4400.
So by nature it feels more empty already everywhere, except for the metros.

I lived in rural Germany, and Americans would rather call that suburbs.
I lived in rural USA, and Germans would call that the middle of nowhere.
In both cases it's been 3000 ppl towns.

Maybe if you compare Germany to a US state. But in Finland, rural is rural. 37 of US states have higher population density than Finland.

Central Europe is one big of a suburb, that's true.

[Fencers]

Not surprising as the world has only come to rely on modern urban infrastructures, services and technology.

Every rural place I have visited in the world I regretted from the US to Europe to China and the south Pacific.

Mankind's greatest achievement is the city in my opinion. This attachment to 'country living' is one of ignorance, poverty and lack of social fluidity.

[Ghostpanther]

Not surprising as the world has only come to rely on modern urban infrastructures, services and technology.

Every rural place I have visited in the world I regretted from the US to Europe to China and the south Pacific.

Mankind's greatest achievement is the city in my opinion. This attachment to 'country living' is one of ignorance, poverty and lack of social fluidity.

Sorry Fencers. But such a blanket statement is false. There are literally millions who much prefer rural living for reasons which have nothing to do with poverty, ignorance or lack of social skills.

[Shadowferal]

Mankind's greatest achievement is the city in my opinion. This attachment to 'country living' is one of ignorance, poverty and lack of social fluidity.

The concept of the "city" to me is one of the worst in my opinion. Too many people in such a small area....positively hellish to me. Whenever I'm in Philly...I always rush to do what ever I came to do and then get out.
I recall a lass from Ireland that visited an acquaintance of mine on a Nebraska farm. After cutting the head off of a chicken Ms. Irish realized she couldn't do the farm life. Ms. Nebraska moved to NYC and is still there as far as I know (6 years now)
Despite the work on the farm, it seemed rather laid back.

[Mihalik]

If access to services, healthcare, education and employment is of no concern to you, then rural is indeed better.

Also, not all cities were created equal. European cities in general across the board are multiple times more livable than most US cities.

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The concept of the "city" to me is one of the worst in my opinion. Too many people in such a small area....positively hellish to me. Whenever I'm in Philly...I always rush to do what ever I came to do and then get out.
I recall a lass from Ireland that visited an acquaintance of mine on a Nebraska farm. After cutting the head off of a chicken Ms. Irish realized she couldn't do the farm life. Ms. Nebraska moved to NYC and is still there as far as I know (6 years now)
Despite the work on the farm, it seemed rather laid back.

Urbanization and civilization are synonymous.

[Puupi]

Mankind's greatest achievement is the city in my opinion. This attachment to 'country living' is one of ignorance, poverty and lack of social fluidity.

Poverty is what drives the masses to city.

Coincidentally all rich people buy villas from rural areas. Of course they have a city apartment for work/business reasons.

Modern cities are for hipsters and ghetto rats.

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If access to services, healthcare, education and employment is of no concern to you, then rural is indeed better.

It's not like you are stuck inside your house and there wouldn't be any of those things nearby in rural areas....

Cars exist.

[Aggrophobic]

Interesting article on rural America which contradicts the conventional wisdom that rural is always better than urban.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/marke...cid=spartandhp

I saw a lot of this when our firm provided engineering design and construction observation services for a CA wind farm company with facilities in Illinois and Tennessee. Their facilities are generally located in rural areas in close vicinity to small- to medium-size cities like Fithian or Danville. I still recall all the boarded up retail businesses, empty factories, barely occupied office complex’s parking lots, and beautiful Victorian houses that looked like trash because of lack of care & maintenance.

Why on earth would rural living be better than urban?
I mean, it's nice to get away sometimes but living in the middle of nowhere, always? Why?

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Poverty is what drives the masses to city.

Coincidentally all rich people buy villas from rural areas. Of course they have a city apartment for work/business reasons.

Modern cities are for hipsters and ghetto rats.

Though, most rich people in western society live in urban or suburban areas.
Rural areas are usually poorer.

[Super Kami Dende]

I like living near capital Cities. I.e. I live 25mins train ride from Melbourne CBD. But I enjoy living in a Suburb.

[Tic Tacs]

Poverty is what drives the masses to city.

Coincidentally all rich people buy villas from rural areas. Of course they have a city apartment for work/business reasons.

Modern cities are for hipsters and ghetto rats.

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It's not like you are stuck inside your house and there wouldn't be any of those things nearby in rural areas....

Cars exist.

Do you really think successful people spend most of their time at their villas in rural areas?

[Mihalik]

It's not like you are stuck inside your house and there wouldn't be any of those things nearby in rural areas....

Cars exist.

As someone who spent 4 years doing a 1.5 half hour commute to and from school every day I can tell you that cars are irrelevant. I walk to work in 20 minutes. The guys who live in the suburbs and the metropolitan area of the city spent between hour and hour and 45 mins getting to the office, permanently stuck in some traffic jam.

No matter where you live in the city you can get to any other point within 50 minutes tops if you forgo your car (and I live in a city of 3.2 million), all hail decent public transportation.

Also...cars are literally cancer. A black hole of hours of wasted time and a source of environmental damage.

P.S I'm one of those successful people and I would never sink money into a rural property. If I want to leave the city I can rent anywhere I want in under 10 minutes from my phone.

A beach house is potentially different, but I'm still not convinced as I wouldn't want to spend half my damned holidays in the same damned place.

[Puupi]

Why on earth would rural living be better than urban?
I mean, it's nice to get away sometimes but living in the middle of nowhere, always? Why?

Safety, peace, quiet, less people, people are nicer, nature, freedom to do things you like.

Though, most rich people in western society live in urban or suburban areas.
Rural areas are usually poorer.

That's because their jobs and businesses are centered in urban areas.

[Fencers]

Sorry Fencers. But such a blanket statement is false. There are literally millions who much prefer rural living for reasons which have nothing to do with poverty, ignorance or lack of social skills.

It is my opinion so there is that. Also I do not know of a single reason one would prefer rural living. Every reason I have been given or read of falls right in line with the concept I laid out above.

[Aggrophobic]

Safety, peace, quiet, less people, people are nicer, nature, freedom to do things you like.


That's because their jobs and businesses are centered in urban areas.

Indeed. Then why would living in the woods be better?

[Deleted]

Over the years of living in rural and suburbia, only visiting urban life when staying with the other parent, I have to say that I prefer urban.

It HAS gotten better with the advent of high powered internet and better shipping services, but the distance from all the important places/things in my life is quite literally exhausting. Many years as a youth standing in the extremely overcrowded buses with all climate control on board busted for the better part of an hour to get to the city for some lecture I'd already feel battered an exhausted before it even started was not fun.

[Puupi]

As someone who spent 4 years doing a 1.5 half hour commute to and from school every day I can tell you that cars are irrelevant. I walk to work in 20 minutes. The guys who live in the suburbs and the metropolitan area of the city spent between hour and hour and 45 mins getting to the office, permanently stuck in some traffic jam.

Yeah, cities are like that. That's not an issue in rural areas.

No matter where you live in the city you can get to any other point within 50 minutes tops if you forgo your car (and I live in a city of 3.2 million), all hail decent public transportation.

Good for you, enjoy your life there. Doesn't mean everyone else should.

Also...cars are literally cancer. A black hole of hours of wasted time and a source of environmental damage.

So are many more things. That's why we as a society try to develop more eco friendly solutions.

PS. You nicely bailed out of the discussion yesterday when you got smacked by reality considering the cell phone talk in the other thread.

You can live in your urban office hipster bubble all you want, but it doesn't mean everyone else has to. We, the others, can enjoy reality instead.

[Alcomo]

Both have their pros and cons. I have lived in both rural and urban but have spent most of my life in rural areas. I would definitely pick urban over rural. Rural is nice, but it lacks so much. Long travel times, usually poor healthcare compared to cities, lack of jobs, more expensive cost of goods and utilities depending how rural you are, postal service can be very slow, not a fan of the more redneck atmosphere that comes with rural living, etc. There are just so many cons to rural living compared to urban.

[Puupi]

Indeed. Then why would living in the woods be better?

Did you read the sentence just above?