'The Rural Life, Small-Town' thread (transplants, hoa, for sale)

[Nims]

With SunnyKayak's help (thanks!!), I'm asking if there are many who would like to have a place to discuss what it's like to live in an area that doesn't have a lot of apartment rentals, shopping malls, ethnic restaurants, trendy stores, and other accoutrements of Big City Life. Because we'll be moving to a really rural area in the next 3 months, I want to learn as much as I can to fit in. There must be lots of others who have similar questions and needs.

It would help if those who are interested would state their objectives and make some contributions!

I thank all!
Nims

[RuralCoastalGuy]

Originally Posted by Nims

With SunnyKayak's help (thanks!!), I'm asking if there are many who would like to have a place to discuss what it's like to live in an area that doesn't have a lot of apartment rentals, shopping malls, ethnic restaurants, trendy stores, and other accoutrements of Big City Life. Because we'll be moving to a really rural area in the next 3 months, I want to learn as much as I can to fit in. There must be lots of others who have similar questions and needs.

It would help if those who are interested would state their objectives and make some contributions!

I thank all!
Nims

OK, I for one am very interested (surprised?).

I live in an area that has a dollar store, general store, one traffic light 4 miles away and the closest city is 15 miles away.

Most of our neighbors here say "Moo", "oink" or "gobble gobble" and some don't speak as they are cotton, corn, beans and tobacco.

The air is clean, the noise is negligible and you can actually see the sun rise and set.

We are in Sampson County...how about you?.

What else would you like to know and what contributions are you suggesting?

[NCMommy2-4]

Hello from Willow Spring. Ok its not 100% rural.. Walmart is 7 minutes away but still its got cows and tobacco fields just down yonder LOL Do I qualify?

[RuralCoastalGuy]

Originally Posted by NCMommy2-4

Hello from Willow Spring. Ok its not 100% rural.. Walmart is 7 minutes away but still its got cows and tobacco fields just down yonder LOL Do I qualify?

Sure you qualify!!. Are y'all a country gal?

[NCMommy2-4]

Well I wouldn't say a total country gal. Born and raised in NJ (shhhh don't tell anyone) I did move out to NJ's best kept secret (Hunterdon County) and we lived on nearly 7 acres and had farms galore all over the place but not on our property. We had wild turkey come vist and familes of deer roaming the yard often. We left that wonderful home in Bloomsbury NJ and moved to Willow Spring NC. I love it here, living near a road called Bud Lipscomb can't get much more country if you ask me. We have cows mooing and tobacco growing across the way. We are in a subdiv. and its only .55 acre and not quite what we had back in NJ but its home for now. We are for sale and are seeking a home with 1 acre+ but can't do it until we sell. No way can we return to NJ .. too $$$$. So I am here in rural Willow Spring and we do love it. We don't like Target in our yard, its where it is and we can drive to it when we need it. I always enjoy cities but just for a visit.. never desire to live in them. I am not one for too many houses near me either. I like to know my neighbor but I don't wanna bless him when he sneezes.. ya know? So rural living is our desire even though we are sort of "there" but not to our standard. It'll do.. for now.. until they start building stupid things in the future too close to home.

NcMommy

[RuralCoastalGuy]

Originally Posted by NCMommy2-4

Well I wouldn't say a total country gal. Born and raised in NJ (shhhh don't tell anyone) I did move out to NJ's best kept secret (Hunterdon County) and we lived on nearly 7 acres and had farms galore all over the place but not on our property. We had wild turkey come vist and familes of deer roaming the yard often. We left that wonderful home in Bloomsbury NJ and moved to Willow Spring NC. I love it here, living near a road called Bud Lipscomb can't get much more country if you ask me. We have cows mooing and tobacco growing across the way. We are in a subdiv. and its only .55 acre and not quite what we had back in NJ but its home for now. We are for sale and are seeking a home with 1 acre+ but can't do it until we sell. No way can we return to NJ .. too $$$$. So I am here in rural Willow Spring and we do love it. We don't like Target in our yard, its where it is and we can drive to it when we need it. I always enjoy cities but just for a visit.. never desire to live in them. I am not one for too many houses near me either. I like to know my neighbor but I don't wanna bless him when he sneezes.. ya know? So rural living is our desire even though we are sort of "there" but not to our standard. It'll do.. for now.. until they start building stupid things in the future too close to home.

NcMommy

My Wife grew up on a farm in Massachusetts and hated every minute we had to spend in the city because of my work. We moved to the suburbs, which I as a city boy regarded as country, but it only made her happy for 7 years. When the neighbors started acting up we moved way out into the country and built a small home on almost 4 acres. We can barely hear our neighbors if they yell and scream and the house is set back over 200 feet from the road. We feel blessed that we can sit on our front deck and wave at the neighbors as they drive by and have our morning coffee out on our rear deck while the cows moo....

[NCMommy2-4]

I would love to do that (build on acreage) but right now we don't even know where to start. We don't have the time to build and the market so crappy we can't assume we will sell in time. Its skeery out there LOL

Luckily my area is so peaceful and the neighbors are not that close but they are quiet and nobody bothers anyone. Being in a culdesac I really can't see anyone from my left and right too well since its angled a bit. It all works out for now. We might be here a long time cuz the agents don't seem to think anyone will ever sell in NC again LOL (not my fault they picked that profession)

Anyhoo, I love rural living and I wouldn't trade it. I am not in to the beachy scene, the city scene... nope I love my cows.

NcMommy

[Nims]

okay, moooooo-ving right along....

What I meant by that phrase in the first post was 'what'll you need from this thread?' and 'what can you offer here?' I can envision this thread as being a great place for Ruralites to expound on their private paradises, but also somewhere where those who are seeking 'another Mayberry' or contemplating a move to a forgotten corner of NC can seek information.

I've been a country girl in past lives, and I guess forever in my heart. I like to see nothing but Nature as far as my eye can see.

Here are a few questions:
-- do you 'go to town' (wherever that might be) once a week or so and stock up, or do you find yourself going more frequently? I live 7 miles from my most frequent destination right now, and I do all my errands whenever I have to make that trip, even though that distance doesn't really make me rural now. Do the increasingly-high gas prices put a damper on your jaunts?

-- when you first moved to where you now are, did you have trouble finding good services (the best appliance repair, for example), and how did you manage that?

-- how have your leisure activities changed since you are now countrified?

-- besides the obvious peace and quiet and freedom to live not under others' eyes, what are the biggest benefits? Do you grown your own produce, raise chickens, etc?

-- what have you found to be the biggest drawbacks?

-- how were the neighbors who were already there? Any problems with encroaching on their turf?

-- how would you characterize 'the culture' of the nearest town and the county where you live?

-- what are you going to do today that you couldn't have done in the last place you lived (or if you are a native, some more populated spot)?


Nims

[Major Minor]

Count me in. I like to tell people that I didn't move to the city-the city moved to me. I spent most of my life in the country. Now, many housing developments later I find myself surrounded by urban sprawl and "Yankee Transplants" wanting to hunt, fish and ride their ATV's and horses on my property-with or without my permission.

They disregard my no tresspassing signs. Tear down my fences. Scare my livestock and trample my crops. In addition they complain about the odor when I spread manure and fertilizer on my fields. They complain when we run harvesting equipment at night.

Hey! I was here first! You moved into my neighborhood. Get used to it!

[Nims]

Hi, Major Minor,

I'd be frustrated, too! It's behavior like that that causes friction between the established residents and the newbies.

Have you sought help from your community's law and order people? Or the HOA of their subdivisions? Or written a letter to the editor of the local paper?

Just suggestions....