Country vs. City
 

Where do you prefer to live?

I was looking through a website today that sold bolt action rifles (they're neat). I've always wanted to buy one, but usually abstain due to financial problems and the fact that there aren't many animals around here to eliminate, meaning it would be a toy(I could use it to get those damn kids off my lawn, but the police frown on such actions).

Probably for the best anyhow, when I was a kid my dad bought me a BB gun, which I used to bring about the great pigeon holocaust, but I digress.

The restrictions of living in the city bother me. I grew up on a farm where we had dirt bikes, all kinds of weapons, legal fireworks, horses and a good 1000 acres of land. There's too many people here, it smells bad and it's too loud, you can't even chop your own firewood without going to jail. I prefer to live out in the country, and I plan on doing so once I finish college and get a decent job.

P.S. Bolt action rifles are neat.

Re: Country vs. City
 

It would be very cool, but I think the lack of human interaction would bother me because i'm a very outgoing person, and as a writer I sometimes need that human interaction for research for things. Maybe if I had a nice big place that was near enough to a city, I'd be ok. Also, i'm no farmer or great woodsman, although i'm a fuckin LUMBERJACK with a hatchet on camping trips, so it'd have to be a really modern home with access to all my modern conveniences.

And yes, [evil grin] bolt-action rifles ARE neat. [/evil grin]

That fucking made me laugh my ass off. :lol: I couldn't even begin to count how many pigeons I killed with mine when I was a kid. Once I got tired of killing birds it moved over to rabbits, and the neighbors cat that always got into our garbage. I shot a couple of my idiot friends too. Come to think of it, that's the only bad thing I ever did as a kid. I couldn't think of anything for the thread which asked how bad you were as a kid.

I'd much rather live in the city. I have friends who live out of the city and it's kinda cool to go hang with them and shoot little animals running around, ride four wheelers and snowmobiles, but I don't want anything to do with it every day. Some dudes I work with don't have city water, gas, and other simple things. They look and live like fucking bums. They can have it. Plus the people that live around them are mostly racist redneck assholes. Although, I can't say I live in a big city. I live in the burbs just outside of the city. Not that Youngstown is much of a city, and I sure as fuck wouldn't want to live in Y-town either.

When im young, city, when i get older and settle down, country.

I live in the country, but about 20 minutes from a mediocre city. We have indoor plumbing and everything. The water comes from a well, but no chemicals (aside from Giardia). I have all the amenities (BROADBAND!!). I like urban environments and have lived in San Diego and LA and some smaller cities, but I like being able to piss off the back porch if the hag wont come out of the toilet.
I have a bolt action and several other firearms (I guess it is safe to say that). I never use it, but it does a good job of collecting dust.

Of course, you don't have to own a shack to live in the country. Cable modem, big nice house, plus no people crowding it up.

I'd take country life over city life any day. City people and their attitudes drive me nuts. They don't seem to have any idea how the real world works...I feel sorry for them.


bolt action? :thumbsup:

City.


If I'm not surrounded by Winos, Junkies, Pimps, and Whores I'm not home.

Being from a dense city I can't even stand living in cities that are relatively spread-out. I hate cars and like to be able to walk or take public transit where I want to go. That, and I find the country lifestyle tremendously boring -- if there's something I want to do there that can't be done in the city, I'll go visit.

Gimme the big city baby. Indianapolis will do just fine for now. I'd love to move to a warmer big city though.

I’ve lived and kept studios in both San Francisco and New York City. I enjoy the all-at-once nature of urban life and the instantaneous cultural gratification available to city-dwellers.

Havin’ growed up on a mushroom farm, I love driving a tractor around, forkin’ manure, sweatin’ like a hog after a heavy day of rough chores. Love to see the horses out to pasture too.

And if you make me choose one way of livin over th’ other, I figure you’d be tryin to rip out my heart and stomp on it. I would also be compelled to state my unequivocal appreciation of the bifurcated life.

Who said you had to choose? Plenty of people who can afford to have both country and city homes probably do so because there are pros and cons to both. That at would be my ultimate goal- have a nice place that I can retreat too, but also something that's in the middle of all the action.

I grew up in Bong Leech...errrr Long Beach CA. I moved to Tacoma WA. when I was 21. I'm currently living in Grants Pass OR, which is very rural....I love it! I hunt in my parents backyard, Fish for salmon and steelhead without having to go very far at all (10 minute drive). It's definitely the country for me.

I hate cities, to many people. To many idiot people who have no real idea of reality.

I want peace, open land, trees, animals, and my own damn rules. :)

I may want to live in the country later in life, but I grew up in the city and can't imagine living anywhere else. My dad grew up on a farm and bought land about 30 minutes away once he had the money. He loves it and wouldn't go back. However he has to mow about 80 acres, so it isn't all good :)

Tractor and a bushhog makes mowing 80 acres much easier then mowing 2 acres with a push lawnmower.

Give me the country anytime as said above I would rather bush hog 100 acres rather than mow a postage stamp yard. And speaking from experience nothing is better than just whippin' it out and letting it fly, no going inside to the bathroom.

I'm not surrounded by Winos, Junkies, Pimps, and Whores I'm home.
(thanks Original King)

Sittin on 124 beautiful acres. If I ever have to live on less then 5, I dont think I'll be able to handle it.

I don't know what part of the country you're talking about, but around here, broadband stops at the city limits.
It's either an expensive satellite internet connection hookup fee, then the regular monthly fee(on top of the tv satellite fee) or it's dial-up.

I would rather live in the country with all of the aforementioned amenities.

City
Country is boring.

I like having everything readily available and diversity.
It's exciting.

And if I want to get away from it all,
I sit on my ass at home and read a good book. :)

I've lived in places as different as the cornfields of Indiana to Manhattan... And I have family that range from blue collar to multiple doctorates.

I vote for living in the city but carrying the country with you wherever you go. There is something about not needing the constant stimulation of a city that makes me envy the country life. You know, being complete with living in the space and in the moment. A worthy goal for us city folk as well...

You can get cable in the country, Nirol here in this very thread says as much. It's not as readily available but you can still get it.

I've spent plenty of time living in both - my first 9 years in the city, then the country until I was 18, now the city again for the last 4 years. Definitely prefer the city, though it's nice to go visit my parents and brother in the country now and then.

I'm not sure how cities in New Zealand compare to cities in the States and elsewhere, but I've heard that it's generally cleaner here, quieter and not as crowded.

Having grown up in New York, lived in LA, trailer parks in west bumfuck NJ and PA, and finally settled on living in San Diego, I'm still not sure what I'd prefer. I love New York, and love the fact that it's always awake, always moving, and one isn't bound by the time of day. The ability to walk places is great, and I've yet to see another city that matched New York's pedestrian friendliness.

But I also have liked the time I've spent in small towns. It's great driving around the US, seeing small towns which actually have character and aren't some tourist attracitons, or strip malls. It's great see places where each house is different and people don't live on top of one another.

I think RedL|ne had it right, when I'm young the city, when I'm ready to settle the country all the way.

I live in the country outside of a small town (600 people max) There's not real city nearby. I'd like to live in the country but be close(work driving distance) to a medium size city. I have to drive 60+ miles to a decent mall and a best buy.

Suburbia!

Well, sorta. I couldn't live too far from a city. I'd need a big town (San Francisco would be ideal) to be within about a half hour drive or so. I'd like to have my own house with it's own yard, but nothing on the scale of acres. At the same time, I can't stand cookie-cutter housing developments...

So somewhere in between the city and the country is what I'd like.

Growing up in a small city if I had to choose it would definatly be country. I drove out to see my best friend in Oklahoma last yr and fell in love with the area. All dirt roads, hills all around but only half an hour from a small city with all your needs. Oh yeah, I absolutly loved the fact you could walk out on the back porch and piss. Where I live my neighbors porch is a foot away. i only piss out there if I'm drunk!

I can enjoy both but I guess I prefer the country having grown up in it.

Country, but not redneck style. Private style. And a lake or pond or something I can swim in is required.

could not have said it better myself. country life is geat... having neighbors that hate country people sucks though.

bolt action rifles?? ... damn skippy :D

I was driving up to the theater tonight to see The last samurai (which was good by the way) and missed the road I was supposed to turn on. I kept going for about a mile and all of a sudden moderately dense city turns into cow farms and horse ranches. "WTF!?" I said to myself, I bet the land value is insanely high but that would be an awesome place to live.

I'm a Navy-brat so I have lived in both large cities and podunk towns.

That being said I am at heart a countryboy. Living in a very small Texas town I went from despising country music when I moved there, to being one of the best 2steppers you'll meet.

I currently live in a city (Austin) and I love it here as well, tons to do, new people every minute of the day.

But I still need to return home every month or so. Go out hunting havolinas, quail, whitetail, etc., go see the ol' football/wrestling team, and just see all the old faces.

Country living is one of those that grows on you, you can resist it for a year or two but the people and the country itself alter you. I have seen people move to a city only to find themselves alone and depressed, but I have never seen a person do that out in the country.

If I look out at the front of my house I see a city of 1 million.If I walk out into my backyard it looks like I live in the country. People who come over tell me I am very fortunate.

Well, I grew up pretty much in the city (Charlotte NC), but we had about 50 acres of woods behind my house, in which I used to spend every waking moment. Much of my family also either lives in or owns houses in the country, and we have a lakehouse in the middle of *nowhere*. I think they both have their place, but if I had to choose one, it would be country. I love the isolation and freedom there is in the country. And the natural beauty.

I grew up on the outskirts of big woods near a small town in northern Minnesota. I now live in the burgeoning metropolis of Durham, NC. Having seen both scenes, I definitely prefer the city. Small towns are so homogeneous, isolated, tend to be conservative and small-minded. I love the diversity of the city, and the fact that you can eat food from about 5 different continents on any given day. You don't have to wait 6 months to see first-run movies, you don't have to drive for 2 hours to find Chinese takeout, there's an indy arthouse theater somewhere, etc. I like to escape to nature often to remind myself of my literal and spiritual roots, away from the noise of traffic, where you can see the stars, but I prefer to make my home amongst the teeming masses of humanity.

I've lived in rural areas, and I lived in Washington DC (which completely fucking SUCKED). My favorite is the suburbs. Right now I'm 15 minutes away from a nice beach and an international airport, and have all kinds of places to shop and eat. But I can get around without sitting in traffic all day, and I can walk to the 7-11 at 3am without worrying about getting mugged. Pretty good compromise as far as I'm concerned.

I've lived in a number of places ranging from a small country house on 10 acres of land to where I am now in the middle of the fifth largest city in the United States. And I would say that I prefer the city. It's here in the cities where all the fun stuff happens. And everything is so close to me. There are three grocery stores just down the street from me. Everything I need for everyday life is just a short drive away.

Rural areas have drawbacks and many of these are very expensive depending on where you live. Things one takes for granted in a city or town are quite oftewn things that are available only if you provide them yourself. I don't know what you consider as being rural but, in our part of the country when you leave the city limits you leave water, sewer, gas, electricity, tv, etc. When you leave the city limits these are things that you provide for yourself. Rural electricity is available everywhere but quite often the cost of hooking up to it are yours to pay. Water wells must be drilled - sewer systems (usually a spetic tank system) are very expensive to install and have recurring maintainace costs. We have no local TV so if you leave town you must purchase a satellite system (great TV but expensive). Fire protection, ambulance service, law enforcement - the people who are only minutes away in the city, are often many minutes, sometimes too many minutes away. Consider these things when you look at country vs city. Country living is great - but there are definite trade-offs.

I have lived mostly in the country. Spent a while in a city and hated it.

I find that people in the country tend to, because of the isolation not be as up to date on alot of topics.
People tend to stick to what they know best, and if I want to know about a John Deer tractor, or a bolt action rifle then I'll talk to someone from the country, however if I want to find out the take on the political sceen well....perhaps a farmer won't have the same social base to draw information from.