Difference between the country and the city

[osbornk]

When I lived in a city, the police wouldn't come to your house for anything short of the injury or death of someone. This week I have had two things happen at my house that surprised me.

I noticed a broken guy-wire on the electric pole in my yard. I called the power company at about 4:00 PM. The power company had a worker at my house at 8:30 PM during a thunderstorm. I didn't expect to see them for days.

When I got my newspaper this morning, I saw where someone had destroyed my recently replaced mailbox that is about 200' from my house. Since this was the second one in a few months and the third one since I have lived here, I called the Sheriff's department to alert them to the problem (someone had damaged a couple of hundred a few months ago). They insisted on immediately sending out a deputy to investigate the damage to a $30 mailbox (he found a few more on the way here). You can tell we have a serious crime problem when mailbox damage is a priority.

 

[akbeemer]

The times I've lived in metropolitan settings have been misery for me. Lived in Toronto for a year while attending their Command and Staff College. As cities go Toronto is a good one. Clean, low crime and good facilities throughout.... just too many people, which means the personal touch you described is missing.

 

[Dmftoy1]

Moved back to the country 9 years ago and I'm never going back. So much easier to housebreaking a golden retriever puppy when you can demonstrate what you expect her to do! . Try to do that in town on a regular basis.

Have a good one,
Dave

 

[39520]

Osbornk: if you happen to see three BMWs parked outside the General Francis Marion in mid April, look us up at the Lucky for a free beer. We're heading for the Dragon and Asheville that weekend.

 

[Walking Eagle]

The Small Town Life. . .

is not for everybody, but those Airhead machines sure like the "no traffic jam, EVER" deal. Oh, yez.

Walking Eagle

 

[36654]

When I lived in a city, the police wouldn't come to your house for anything short of the injury or death of someone. This week I have had two things happen at my house that surprised me.

I noticed a broken guy-wire on the electric pole in my yard. I called the power company at about 4:00 PM. The power company had a worker at my house at 8:30 PM during a thunderstorm. I didn't expect to see them for days.

When I got my newspaper this morning, I saw where someone had destroyed my recently replaced mailbox that is about 200' from my house. Since this was the second one in a few months and the third one since I have lived here, I called the Sheriff's department to alert them to the problem (someone had damaged a couple of hundred a few months ago). They insisted on immediately sending out a deputy to investigate the damage to a $30 mailbox (he found a few more on the way here). You can tell we have a serious crime problem when mailbox damage is a priority.

It's a matter of how far out you are. When your local police is the state police and the utility crews are dispatched from some place in West Virginia, that local touch can be a bit distant. However, is that worse than dealing with the beltway traffic around most metropolitan areas? Not in my opinion.

 

[osbornk]

Osbornk: if you happen to see three BMWs parked outside the General Francis Marion in mid April, look us up at the Lucky for a free beer. We're heading for the Dragon and Asheville that weekend.

I'll keep an eye out. Enjoy the nicely refurbished old hotel and if anything is going on at the Lincoln Theatre just down the street, go in and see our restoration of one of the two remaining Mayan themed theatres left that were built in the 20s. Have a ride across 16 to Tazewell (http://backofthedragon.com/ while you are in town. The folks at the new BMW dealership in Asheville are nice folks.

 

[osbornk]

Moved back to the country 9 years ago and I'm never going back. So much easier to housebreaking a golden retriever puppy when you can demonstrate what you expect her to do! . Try to do that in town on a regular basis.

Have a good one,
Dave

Some people won't understand us at all. We MOVED BACK to the country. If you've never lived in the country, it's hard to understand peace and quiet with no sirens, yelling or traffic noises.

 

[dennisdarrow]

The ride/drive to the closest town for groceries and stuff is 9 miles........The majority of the time that I go I might see one other car coming or going.......That is during rush hour.........lol.......at night.......probably nothing........

No politically correct folks telling me what to do or how to think...................

Though I carry, always there hasnt been any home invasions, mugging, car jackings, or burglaries.

The guys down at the store/cafe in the mornings hanging around always have ideas on how to fix something or where to get it.

Honest God fearing folks that mind their own business; but are right there if you need them..................God bless the USA.......Dennis

 

[redbeemer]

My wife is from L.A. Lived there for 50 years. I grew up in rural Oregon and except for military time have always lived in rural Oregon.

LA population is what? 18 million or so?
The town we live in is 3500.
The "city" (15,000) is 7 miles away.
Three hours by interstate to Portland.

Wife is always stating how nice life is out in the country...don't know what she will do when she goes over the Cascades and sees places like Jordan Valley and Brothers. And Juntura will be too much.

 

[pffog]

Five minutes from a decent size small town, 5 minutes from a medium size hospital, 30 minutes from two of the biggest city's in upstate NY, for social activities and and major airports.

But out far enough, that the keys stay in the ignitions of many of the vehicles, many times the bike keys are in the ignition, in the unlocked barn. No lock ever on the old garage that houses thousands of $$ of woodworking tools, and equipment. The post man opens the front door and leaves any packages that will not fit in the mailbox on the floor for me.

If working outside and the morning cup of coffee decides it wants to escape from my bladder, a few steps behind a tree or building I all that is required, and the best part, I own the land surrounding my house so no one can build any closer than the 1/5 mile or so they do now.

 

[glenfiddich]

Moved back to the country 9 years ago and I'm never going back. So much easier to housebreaking a golden retriever puppy when you can demonstrate what you expect her to do! . Try to do that in town on a regular basis.

Have a good one,
Dave

AAAAHAHAHAHA! I can SO relate to this!

We live in a town of 3500 in the hills of Vermont. Before I met my wife I was teaching stats at a university with a student enrollment of 36,000. Can't imagine living that way again.

Here, neighbors (nearest is 1/4 mile away) help because it's the right thing to do. Nothing is locked. Pretty much everyone is armed and civil.

The local cops? They know we have and rescue golden retrievers. An officer once showed up at 9pm on a winter night with an old golden found wandering the roads. He knew our home was a better place for the old timer than the kennel. While in our home he removed his gun belt and put it on our dining room table so he could sit on the floor and play with the dogs. You just don't have that sort of relationship with big city LEOs.

I love it here!

 

[BCKRider]

Yep, I think those of us who live in the country, but within a half hour driving distance of a decent sized city, have the best of it.

My musical careers still require that I don't REALLY move to the boondocks. And there are TWO towns about a 30 minute drive away which provide great musical entertainment which I really enjoy when a member of the audience rather than on-stage. (Good live plays and film festivals as well.)

Big city traffic? Rush hour traffic (now most of the time) on the freeways leading into the big city? Think I will avoid them for the rest of my life.

There must be a reason so much of the population is congregated so close to major cities. If you, like me, have found a way to earn a living outside that madness - well, maybe we shouldn't broadcast that information too widely!

 

[kantuckid]

There are benefits to them both & we choose to do w/o the city benefits except for when we choose to be there. My county has zero red lights,zero fast food,zero jobs(well very few-has been on the 10 poorest counties list in the whole USA!),zero doctors or dentist live here,etc............... I/we have been here since 1974 and choose to do w/o much for the much we gain. This county is 58% Daniel Boone Nat. Forest and poor, as in really poor. It is also clean and relatively crime free. No, we don't lock our house much-really what good would it do as we live on a private road back in the woods. Hope the booger man's not reading this. People used to ask me WHY??? I moved here,partly because few do & partly because as I'm from from Kansas & it lacks the gang banger aura of places like -fill in the blank- & I'll avoid tramping on somebodies city.
We drive 25k to Wally World/Krogers,restaurants & 1.5 hrs to Lexington,KY for even more healthcare,food,shopping ,etc.. What do we really gain? I'd say the rock cliffs,deep woods full of huge trees,currently hundreds of dogwoods & redbuds in bloom here on our place,clean air,quiet,privacy(can you take a whizz in your driveway?) and our log house in the woods has low taxes, zero zoning(that can swing both ways if you don't own enough to isolate yourself) lots-as in lots!!! of space to do my hobbies & mucho work to keep it all up! When we are sitting in our LR we often see wild turkeys ,deer,possums,racoons,fox, out the window. This can be very distracting while watching the news.
Other day my BIL was carping about how the city(Lou,KY) wasn't doing a good job of picking up the branches he had piled up on the curb. I told him I had 58 trees on my road after an ice storm a few years ago & wasn't a soul showed up to help cut one tree! Actually I cut and sold them. He got fuzzed up, saying,"Well I pay a lot of money to live there & we expect those services"! It's all give & take. We had several recent tornados here-my roof has $9,000 damage. Nope, FEMA doesn't show up & I didn't make a claim because I have insurance. Guess who pays for the people with no insurance ,that lost their homes, to build back? ME & you. Apparently, from looking at their website, FEMA also pays for their cars too-IF- they don't have insurance! Of course the law requires insurance, but what the heck, its only fair for me and you to but them a car, right? Honestly, as a human with some compassion, I do feel for anyone that loses their home.
Oh, the country life is hard but good.
Oh, the country life

 

[39520]

I've lived in cities and I've lived rurally, twice in unincorporated towns with populations of less than 100 people. There are advantages and disadvantages to both situations, for sure.

A few years back my wife and I were in a position to pick where we wanted to live without regard to employment, but with strong regards to our childrens' education. We were in the city and a little tired of traffic and anonymity, but we did not want to live rurally where health care, education, and entertainment are marginal.

So we picked a small town with a major university. Very little traffic. Intelligent population. We know almost everyone in our neighborhood, and the neighbors tend to be educated and successful in their fields. We get to go to NCAA Div I football, basketball, lacrosse, and most importantly, baseball. We have lots of homegrown musical acts and clubby venues with microbrews, but we also host international acts like the Stones, U2, Chesney, and Dave Matthews, all a 20 minute drive from the house (where we have bears, deers, and foxes in the backyard). Two new hospitals just minutes away. Excellent restaurants, and many of them. Very little crime, and the rural epidemic of meth, and the urban epidemic of crack, are still way below the radar. A big menu of good private schools and reasonably good public schools.

It's a good combination of the advantages of both situations.

 

[akbeemer]

I've lived in cities and I've lived rurally, twice in unincorporated towns with populations of less than 100 people. There are advantages and disadvantages to both situations, for sure.

A few years back my wife and I were in a position to pick where we wanted to live without regard to employment, but with strong regards to our childrens' education. We were in the city and a little tired of traffic and anonymity, but we did not want to live rurally where health care, education, and entertainment are marginal.

So we picked a small town with a major university. Very little traffic. Intelligent population. We know almost everyone in our neighborhood, and the neighbors tend to be educated and successful in their fields. We get to go to NCAA Div I football, basketball, lacrosse, and most importantly, baseball. We have lots of homegrown musical acts and clubby venues with microbrews, but we also host international acts like the Stones, U2, Chesney, and Dave Matthews, all a 20 minute drive from the house (where we have bears, deers, and foxes in the backyard). Two new hospitals just minutes away. Excellent restaurants, and many of them. Very little crime, and the rural epidemic of meth, and the urban epidemic of crack, are still way below the radar. A big menu of good private schools and reasonably good public schools.

It's a good combination of the advantages of both situations.

Please fill-out your profile so your posts can be even more interesting to the rest of us.

 

[rickyd]

Man, you know we're an aging demographic from the number of posts about the bennies of being able to whiz in your driveway.

 

[kantuckid]

I've lived in cities and I've lived rurally, twice in unincorporated towns with populations of less than 100 people. There are advantages and disadvantages to both situations, for sure.

A few years back my wife and I were in a position to pick where we wanted to live without regard to employment, but with strong regards to our childrens' education. We were in the city and a little tired of traffic and anonymity, but we did not want to live rurally where health care, education, and entertainment are marginal.

So we picked a small town with a major university. Very little traffic. Intelligent population. We know almost everyone in our neighborhood, and the neighbors tend to be educated and successful in their fields. We get to go to NCAA Div I football, basketball, lacrosse, and most importantly, baseball. We have lots of homegrown musical acts and clubby venues with microbrews, but we also host international acts like the Stones, U2, Chesney, and Dave Matthews, all a 20 minute drive from the house (where we have bears, deers, and foxes in the backyard). Two new hospitals just minutes away. Excellent restaurants, and many of them. Very little crime, and the rural epidemic of meth, and the urban epidemic of crack, are still way below the radar. A big menu of good private schools and reasonably good public schools.

It's a good combination of the advantages of both situations.

Hmmmmmmm-I like the part best about "intelligent population"& no, I don't wear my feelings on my shoulder. I gave my own neighbor the GED test about 15 years ago, so yes, I suppose we have an "intelligent pop." here on Indian Creek? My county has been on a list of one of the ten poorest in the whole USA at one time or another. Here in Hillbilly land we don't play lacrosse, so got me on that one. We do have Div 1 BB,BB,FB ,etc., within an hour one way & 40 min another & some great HS sports too.Couple of super golf courses. Believe me because I'm a ball playing/watching fool!.Have health care at local hospital branch clinic 5 days & big hospitals the same as ball games distance.As to homegrown musical acts-I'm in the land of mtn music & we have Bluegrass music halls in every direction & some country music venues too. Not much U2/Stones out this way. Excellent restaurants are a few feet from my computer or just down the road(not the kind that have a wine list) or farther for nicey nice. I wish I could say we have no druggies & pill heads & I bet many other places have the same wish. My area(Kentucky) has a name for being a haven for such but truth is its a national problem & rural areas are plush grounds for meth labs. Not saying your heads in the sand but kinda hard to escape whats often a problem rooted in grandma & grandmas medicine cabinet. Our court news wouldn't fill a teaspoon but we're low population in the 1st place. We have zero menu of private schools(not my forte as I'm a retired public school person/fan) & have to say you can make it happen here as our 3 sons include docs & engrs all and there graduating class of less than 40 kids also includes several other docs,lawyers & other high sounding occupations-maybe its in the water? Our "microbrews" are of the high test variety-if-you know the right people...
I've been places further below the radar than my eastern Kentucky locale, but not much further. I used to work with a guy that said people in my county lived in a "state of siege" as if someone was going to come in a change something-fact is many rural places are a bit parochial. As to very little traffic, as I often say, we have zero red lights in the whole county.
Lastly, TODAY IS! the day that KY makes a statement that we can beat ANYBODY! in BB! Even our own other guys. Best stay away from this state today because there will be nobody to answer the door come game time. We are closed for business. GO CATS!

P.S. The hard part for me is IF my Jayhawks play my CATS , then I'll have to wear my Wildcat/Jayhawk combo T.

 

[kantuckid]

Man, you know we're an aging demographic from the number of posts about the bennies of being able to whiz in your driveway.

Not sure where age figures in on that one but fully understand the convenience of such whizzing.

 

[crazydrummerdude]

Not sure where age figures in on that one but fully understand the convenience of such whizzing.

Some people think that people younger than themselves can't appreciate anything.. It's weird.