I'd rather be a country man then a town man

[Alobar]

I wanna live on my own planet......with 2 house cats and a cheetah.

Ah the dreams of a trucker, I've been there!

 

[olson_jr]

And relating every post on AK to a tune...

I'd rather trust a countryman than a townsman,
You can judge by his eyes, take a look if you can,
He'll smile through his guard,
Survival trains hard.
I'd rather trust a man who works with his hands,
He looks at you once, you know he understands,
Don't need any shield,
When you're out in the field.

 

[Alobar]

As you get older the number one priority will be medical services. And try to get an EM out of town 30 miles at 2:30 am in a snowstorm.

Our town is very small and remote, with just one doctor and a nurse practitioner on call at the local clinic. However that doesn't stop people from retiring here, in fact we are now statistically the oldest town in Alaska based on average age at around 50 years old. I see people still going strong in their 90's and even a few passed the 100 year barrier here. Many in their 80's are actively involved in the town, and many are in the local hiking group and other such activities. Most people have air ambulance insurance which is as low as $49 a year and they can have you in a hospital in Seattle in a few hours..
http://guardianflight.com/AK/about-us/
http://www.lifemedalaska.com/

 

[bluesky]

Born a city man ...

Which, in turn, led me to: underwater man, war man, Sansui man, back-pack traveling man, then college man, Deep Sea mariner international man, jungle man, country man, & international beach bumb man, man.

Then retired South Fla man. Been a lot of different mans... it's all good & it's been a ton of FUN.

 

[motorstereo]

Raised on a small farm 4 miles down a dirt road and sadly I didn't have the common sense to stay there.

 

[MannyE]

I was born in Manhattan and I grew up in Queens where I could step on the train after school and in twenty minutes walk out onto East 14th street in the village.

I remember one day watching Keith Harring draw one of his baby paintings in the subway (if only I had known!).

I had friends from every corner of the globe and I could tell you to **** off in at least 10 different languages.

I dated girls from India, Egypt, Poland, Russia, Ireland, China and Japan.

I don't think there is a world cuisine I haven't tried at least once.

I went to CBGB to see The Ramones and The Talking Heads (while way too young to be in there) and countless other bands in countless other clubs.

I got to see Yul Brenner in the King and I on Broadway and I've been able to casually meet and talk to celebrities like Kevin Bacon, who I didn't even realize I was talking to because we were both looking at a Pink Floyd album in a store's window and he commented to me how it was good and I should get it.

I sold beer at Shea Stadium in 1985-86 (couldn't have picked a better year to do that). I was always amazed that an 18 year old could sell something he could not legally buy.

I'm sure the big wide open spaces are nice and all, but I wouldn't trade growing up in New York City for all the tea in China.

 

[Quadman2]

As you get older the number one priority will be medical services. And try to get an EM out of town 30 miles at 2:30 am in a snowstorm.
I grew up and lived in Chi. until I turned 40. Then it was an outlying sub. for 20 years. Now retired in a small N.M. town and love it. The most common phrase is "manana". But a major hosp. is only 4 miles away with full facilities for an open heart procedure. And if you think you're not going to get a heart bug sometime, just ask me.

That medical factor does seem to play a larger role as only certain procedures are available in larger urban areas.

Also, as the boomer types become older, they tend to gravitate to townhouse/condo living abodes, as living in rural areas requires a certain degree of physical ability.

Then the relative variable comes into play, but not as it was in the past as mobility has effected this to a large degree in being close to one's kids/siblings/friends.

Finally, there's the financial aspect that often dictates where one lives as some regions/areas are much higher due to climatic needs, water concerns, high crime areas, high rents and wanting to be close to some geo (mtns/ocean/desert/forest) preference.

As you l look over some of the above, some play more into the life's scheme, while others are just overlooked and dealt with.


Q

 

[blhagstrom]

Farm boy here.
Stuck in Cities the last 25 years.
I am in the sticks by Seattle but it still sucks.

The peace and quiet of country cannot be beat.

The pace of the city just cannot be good for anyone.

Give me small town USA.
Soon.
Please.

 

[mhardy6647]

Chance favors the prepared mind - as Louis "Louie" Pasteur put it

We're 15 minutes from world-class healthcare (Dartmouth Hitchcock)
We're even got plenty of room for them to land their Medevac helicopter, the Death Moth -- as it's colloquially known.

 

[Chris Brown]

Would you rather be a country man or a town man.

I'm not really sure how these categories are defined. I grew up in the suburbs, somewhat of a comprise relative to both ends of the spectrum. I could never see myself in a big city where small apartments are considered big, most people have roommates just to afford the rent, and you have to take a taxi just to get across town since there isn't enough parking space for people to own a car. On the other side of the coin, I couldn't possibly be any less of a farmer. I can barely get crabgrass and clovers to grow in my yard. Overall I probably lean more toward the "country man" side than the "town man" side, but I still can't be too far away from reality. Thankfully with internet in most locations it's not as bad as it was ~20 years ago.

 

[mfrench]

So, lets see how country/city you are,....
We're north and east of Fallbrook (middle of map picture), closer to Rainbow, and, we're in the Rainbow Creek tributary to the Santa Margarita River.
If you look at the map, find Dana Point as coastal north. Oceanside as coastal south. Aqua Tibia Wilderness area to the southeast, and Lake Elsinore to the north east; that is roughly 625sq. miles of wilderness area in SoCal.
We are surrounded by many miles of wild lands, yet, still have essential services in Fallbrook for daily items, and Temecula as the nearest "big city" services. There are numerous Native American lands around us, which are wide open tracts, and, the Cleveland Nat'l Forest.
Prior to the Rainbow area, we lived in Laguna Niguel, just north of the San Clemente marker, which is pretty much the essence of the OC (Orange County). Life in northern San Diego county is much slower.

 

[Jack Lord]

So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road

 

[FONSguy]

I've always lived near Washington DC. I work there. I HATE IT!! Traffic, bad roads, tons of bad drivers, expensive unimpressive food, and politicians! I LIVE in northern VA about 27 miles to the west. I'm 2 miles from Great Falls and the Potomac river. I currently live in a single family dwelling with too many hobbies. Stores are close by. I have trees all around, and wild life like Skinks, Falcons and Hawks and even Cicada Killer wasps. I get to work about 6:30am so going in to work I may see 40 cars total. Lots more hideous going home at 3PM. I've lived in Vienna, but it was too crowded for me. Centreville was OK, but I only bought that place to be near the RC airplane field. Now I'm 15 minutes to Leesburg, VA, and 30 minutes to small towns and the Blue Ridge mountains. I can experience it all.

 

[mfrench]

It's a lot more work and expense living in the country than it is in the city. Country living entails at least twice as much to do.

Yep!
City folks have gutters when it rains. I had to build a dry creek system with hundreds of tons of granite to handle the same.
In fact,... we're in a deep drought. And, over the last week, I'm out digging in flow checks, and drainage channels, and lining them with riprap, to keep the runoff going where I want it to go, rather than where it wants to go. Today, I'm shopping out local rock suppliers for large crushed rock (-3"), to line my flow checks with, and hoping the local quarry guys will allow me as a small timer to buy from them, rather than the ridiculous retail rock outlets.

 

[Alobar]

Overall I probably lean more toward the "country man" side than the "town man" side, but I still can't be too far away from reality.

So "reality" is really all about a metropolis then? Keeping in mind that until about 150 years ago, reality was anything but, the world's population having exploded nearly 10 fold in that time. I put it back to you that what is actually real, could be anything but this brief sudden flair up of human population that is not at all time tested as sustainable.

 

[Dave_1962]

Yep!
City folks have gutters when it rains. I had to build a dry creek system with hundreds of tons of granite to handle the same.
In fact,... we're in a deep drought. And, over the last week, I'm out digging in flow checks, and drainage channels, and lining them with riprap, to keep the runoff going where I want it to go, rather than where it wants to go. Today, I'm shopping out local rock suppliers for large crushed rock (-3"), to line my flow checks with, and hoping the local quarry guys will allow me as a small timer to buy from them, rather than the ridiculous retail rock outlets.

On top of the workload - us bumpkins have to learn and know a lot more to make country life pleasant. In exchange for our efforts we are rewarded with a sense of accomplishment,
independence and confidence that no city boy could ever buy. Once we learn to do something and have the tools we can turn our experience into income if need be by doing our thing for others.

 

[Chris Brown]

So "reality" is really all about a metropolis then? Keeping in mind that until about 150 years ago, reality was anything but, the world's population having exploded nearly 10 fold in that time. I put it back to you that what is actually real, could be anything but this brief sudden flair up of human population that is not at all time tested as sustainable.

What I meant with my comment was stuff like how far I have to drive to get to a major airport, how far I have to drive to get to various big stores, how far away is the nearest major freeway, how far away is the nearest Craigslist For Sale section that people actually use, etc. There are plenty of places that are very remote, yet the answers to all of those questions is less than 2 hours. Just the same there are places where the answer is much longer... That is a big difference for me. Other factors that matter are, are there reasonable broadband internet options, do all package delivery companies deliver to that address without extra fees, are the roads actually driveable in the winter, etc. Living far from the city doesn't have to mean you are totally disconnected from the world, but sometimes it does, and that can be a pain.

 

[mfrench]

Here is a word that should put fear into the Country folk,... Septic

 

[Tom Brennan]

On top of the workload - us bumpkins have to learn and know a lot more to make country life pleasant. In exchange for our efforts we are rewarded with a sense of accomplishment,
independence and confidence that no city boy could ever buy.

How would you know that?

 

[Tom Brennan]

It's a lot more work and expense living in the country than it is in the city. Country living entails at least twice as much to do.

What things to do are those? I see many country folk who seem hardly enterprising enough to get out of bed in the morning, living in run down trailers and with a yard full of junk. The new breed of middle class country folk who work online have no more to do in the boonies than they did in burbs, except maybe more lawn to cut. Most other tasks they take on are voluntary, for their amusement.

Big cities are often pretty expensive places to live. Indeed, some are so expensive they’re in danger of becoming boutique cities; places people move to but few grow up in.