Country living v city living: your thoughts?

[rogerjolly]

We have a very, very long running problem with intermittent broadband connection. This morning yet another telephone technician was in our home and looking out through the window. He mused, “Lovely spot you have here. One of the first things I learned in this job was that if a house has a magnificent view like this then you can guarantee it has terrible broadband.”

To misquote a line from the old song Love and Marriage, “You can’t have one with the other.”

Roger.

 

[Lou]

To misquote a line from the old song Love and Marriage, “You can’t have one with the other.”
Roger.

Yeah, just like the song I don't think that is always true. but one of my sisters lives in a house with a nice view and terrible broadband too.

 

[Veganite]

This is rather amusing, and not. I am seriously considering full retirement in Mexico. I have researched it extensively, and from what I have read, I can pretty much live like a king down there, with my current pensions, but the Internet sucks. lol

 

[Forest Nymph]

I actually live in a suburban area of a mostly rural county and even still my phone doesn't work properly occasionally the morning after a strong rain storm. I'm sure if I lived further from the university it would mess with my wifi too. I lived for several months with very little wifi and no cell phone service last summer.

I could go back to LA and have everything I wanted the moment I wanted (so to speak, obviously not exactly but yes). I chose to live in a town with no Taco Bells or 7/11s and it also means there's only one vegetarian restaurant, though we have an excellent local tofu shop.

I think getting conditioned to the "right now, all for me, right now" mentality of city life - and even of a lot of American suburbs - is a bad thing. Of course we miss being able to pop down to Urban Outfitters or Veggie Grill ...or whatever it is you prefer ....but in terms of cost/benefit it's actually better for the earth and likely your health (mental and physical) to not live a fast-past 21st century urban life.

That being said, the place I spent my summer was a little too out of the way, so far out that recycling, soy milk, and calling people became arduous issues, and a kind of icky conservatism festered there, I could practically hear the dueling banjos.

 

[Emma JC]

Yes, this is a never ending conundrum in our minds also. We do intend to "countrify" within the next 2-3 years and in my mind the solution to all of this is to have a small apartment in a nearby "on the grid" community. We are both 'computerized' totally and it would be very hard to be offline permanently and yet we also long to be....

Emma JC

 

[Jamie in Chile]

I live in a rural area of Chile and there is no fibre optic cable in most of the area. We used other services which were some form of wireless internet at slower speeds. Eventually, fibre optic cable came to one small section of this rural area because the neighbours got together and got it organized....so I moved to there.

I think over the last few years I've started to get more specific interests. If I lived in the city I could join some social vegan/animal rights or environmental organization that doesn't exist here. Also, I remember when I lived in Madrid going to art galleries and the theatre and all sorts all the time. That is a downside to living in the country.

We very nearly lived in the city, it was a tight decision between two schools (choosing the school for our kids meant we would then chose somewhere to live nearby). The main reason we chose rural was because we could get a detached house with a garden for the same price as a flat half the size in the city. Also, it's nice to be without traffic. Watching the birds.

We have kids and I work from home, so rural makes sense.

I do believe it's better for the environment to live in a city, for quite a few reasons.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

This is rather amusing, and not. I am seriously considering full retirement in Mexico. I have researched it extensively, and from what I have read, I can pretty much live like a king down there, with my current pensions, but the Internet sucks. lol

My belief is that countries that are cheaper to live also offer a corresponding lower standard of living.

Perhaps the internet breaks down, the taps drip, the lights flicker on and off or there are more power cuts, the customer service is slower, the postal service is less reliable, the roads are more rutted, the food selection at the supermarket is not as good, availability of specialist services is not as good, the airport network is less developed. Shops maybe don't open on time all the time etc.

On paper you are adding everything up and from quick research it looks cheaper, but when you really do it, the reality is that you are paying less, but getting less.

I think that it's largely a myth that some countries are cheaper to live in than others. Just look at the cost difference of buying/renting a house/land (which often IS significant), assume everything else will be about the same for equivalent quality and you'll be about right.

I've never been to Mexico.

 

[Veganite]

@Jamie in Chile

There's no question Mexico is cheaper than Canada. I wouldn't even consider it if not for a friend that retired there almost 20 years ago. From everything I've heard and read, the pros far outweigh the cons.

Here's a very good video that will give you an idea of what it's like. I don't plan on retiring in Ajijic, but it will give you a good idea of what it's like.

 

[veganDreama]

I live in the city of Birmingham, uk. As a deafblind vegan urban life is much better. Better public transport, more vegetarian shops/restaurant. Their is even a vegan buffet in Birmingham. Plus their are Asain and Chinese supermarkets where I can get some of my food from. Also their is a really good library in Birmingham.

Plus I get quite a lot of support from Sense (for deafblind with additional disabilities) which has a centre and housing in Birmingham. I have another deafblind friend who lives in a rural area and she gets NOTHING. She only has her family to help her. So I'm lucky to live in the city.

 

[TofuRobot]

I am so conflicted with this. On the one hand. living somewhere "off grid" with a splendid view sounds lovely, on the other it sounds isolating. I once met someone who wanted to retire in a city, where he could walk to everything - the store, restaurants, shows, the symphony - whatever. I kind of like this idea, too. I am an introvert that needs to be around people sometimes so I don't get depressed and lonely. I also have zero intentions of "slowing down" as I age, the way our society seems to feel we're supposed to do, like we're supposed to be happy with playing bridge and/or golf all day long. I would go nuts. I certainly couldn't live without good internet access, so.......... :/

 

[HappyRoxy]

I moved from Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) to a small regional town in the state of South Australia, for love. It's been a huge adjustment for me. It is relatively vegan friendly here, with some restaurants offering a vegan option or 2 and lots of vegan options available in the grocery stores.

I moved here because this is where my partner lives. When he split with his ex-wife several years ago, she took the children from Melbourne to this state, so that she could be closer to her family. My partner just couldn't keep flying backwards and forwards between states every 2nd weekend, so eventually he moved over here too. We met on one of his many business trips to Melbourne, had a long-distance relationship for quite awhile and then we decided that the only way for us to really be together was if I moved here to be with him. I don't have kids of my own, he needed to live near his kids, so it was the sensible option.

I have found it very socially isolating here, and very difficult to fit in. Being regional or "country" South Australia, most people are either aged (I work in aged care and there is no shortage of work for me here), or they are younger and like to drink a lot of alcohol on a regular basis. You may think I'm using some broad strokes here, but I'm not. The drinking culture here is BIG, and I'm honestly not one to get wasted and spend my nights gossiping about other people in the town. Because I haven't wanted to do this, I've become known as "stand-offish".

We are hoping to move closer to the city soon. I'm looking forward to moving from here. I feel like a "blow-in" and it's been really difficult to connect socially. I've joined a yoga class twice per week, an have found a friendly church, but I've been here for a year and a half and haven't developed one meaningful friendship.

I really do miss my friends in Melbourne and my family in other states, and I try to get back there as often as possible to catch up with them in person.

There's definitely a lot more social opportunities in cities.

Some things I do like about where we live, is that we are right near a beach, and sometimes you can walk the beach and have miles and miles of it to yourself, pretty much. I like the lack of traffic, I like the fact that we can live on a big block and grow all of our own vegetables, and I like the clean, fresh air.