Anyone from the city moved to a RURAL small town and loved it? (quiet, the wild)

[nightbird47]

I was born and raised in socal, and lived there all my life. About 20 years ago it struck me that I just couldn't STAND the wall to wall people anymore after returning from a vacation. We tried to move to nocal but it didn't work out and I finally got out of surburia three years ago.

I'm not sure this qualifies as fully rural, though we are small by any standards I'd understand. But I love that a block away from my house is open space, and my lot is twice as big as the ones in socal (though not in lawnmower season) We have a walmart and assorted small stores and some nice restraunts. But its calm and more or less quiet and the people are so much different. I've even got used to the defination of 'soon' being sometime this month, if your lucky.

I'd like to live further out, but without my own car it would be a problem. But I'll never go back to surburbia and don't even want to go through 'cities'.

I bet more people would like it if they dared try.

[dhanu86]

You can see the stars not far outside the city and smell fresh air not far outside the city and feel at peace, but the homes are still costly and the way people think and live are still not "small-town".

I drove to a small town far away and pulled up at the one major intersection redlight and rolled down my window. I didn't hear a single thing. Not even wind blowing or traffic or a machine or a bird, or anyone talking. My g/f was freaked out by that because on her street you constantly hear sirens or traffic or airplanes and stray cats. She even sleeps with her t/v on which I can't stand. I liked it though. I told her that there's more noise in the summer, though I wasn't sure.

That movie "what's eating Gilbert Grape" is what I think of when I hear "small town". Greenbow Alabama in "Forrest Gump" not so much, but I'd take that house by the lake he lived in.

[GregW]

I think I have found a small (8,000 or so) city with a great university to retire to. Compared to living in a over trafficed suburb and working in Boston it should finally let me decompress. I expect to sit in on classes just to learn and ride my motorcycle for fun.

[hueyeats]

Born and raised in the city while spouse is born & raised in the country...
Lived in urban, suburban & rural... we still decided that rural is the best for our family.

Our country zip is less than 5000, less than 100 people per sq mile... pretty darn zen quiet if you ask me.

[SCGranny]

Originally Posted by dhanu86

Greenbow Alabama in "Forrest Gump" not so much, but I'd take that house by the lake he lived in.

That "house by the lake" is actually in Beaufort, SC. Go past the chicken farm and head down the road another half-mile.

Most of "Forrest Gump" was filmed in Beaufort SC - including the 'war scenes' which were filmed on an island there. The park bench where he sits and talks to people, and the apartment where he meets his son - all filmed in Savannah, GA, across the river from Beaufort.

That house was for sale the last time I looked - but it is also in the millions, because of the film! You wouldn't really be rural, though - in 15 minutes you can be in downtown Beaufort.

Fantasy is fun, but the reality of real country living is hard, sweaty, endless work. Fortunately the nighttime silences, the good and decent people, the wildlife, and the wide open spaces more than make up for it!

[Swingblade]

I have lived in big and mid size cities most of my life but 4 years ago myself and the old bird decided to move out in the country. Most of our reasoning is we expect hard times ahead and civil un rest and would have better chance of survival in the sticks. Another factor is both of us are very interested in sustainable living and learning and putting into practice.

We started looking just before the housing collapse and decided that we could get a house with some acreage on the cheap by buying it from HUD. We put in a bid on a house sitting on 5 acres that was appraised at 96,000, it was accepted and with the required repairs we bought it for 62,000. We are living proof of why the gvt has no business in the housing market.

We live in a small town that is part of Amish country with one of the best bass lakes in Ohio that is just around the corner about a half mile walk.So needless to say we will always have fish as part of our sustainable living plan. We raise our own chickens for eggs and meat and this year will have a large garden.

One of the things we both love and admire is the Amish people, some are not so friendly but we have talked to some and gained some knowledge. Who else better to learn from about sustainable living? We give the Amish a lot of our business, they run a dent and bent store { the can is bent ....} and the savings are substantial. One example I like to make burritos and a can of pinto beans at Kroger is a buck at the Amish store 45c.

Another of our great resources is the Amish auction in the summer. One auction you can make bids on animals, tools. building materials, farm equipment, etc etc. It works out good we take stuff there to get rid of and at the same time getting stuff we need. The other auction is strictly produce, baked goods, and plants. We have saved huge amounts of money, example you can bid 4 to 6 bucks on a bushel of green peppers that contains some where around 40 peppers. Go to the store and you are paying 70c to a buck for 1 pepper.

The auctions are also helping us become more sustainable by buying trees and plants{ on the cheap}, we have planted grapes, strawberries, blue berries, apple, and peach trees so far.

I can go on and on but our motto is if you are going to be poor do it in the country where you have resources. The other one is the best resources we have are each other. We are extremely happy here in our small town and would never consider moving back in the city.

[dhanu86]

I would never guess it was filmed there but I suppose those areas are the same anyway. That big tree that they sat in looked like something exoticly found in Mississippi. That town bubba was from was right off the gulf so they're both near salt water.

I've never lived anyway like that but I know I've had enough "city life" and living half my life in the cyber world. My best 4 months were living away from that and roaming the early morning hills until the sun rose and I was eager to start my day, even when a 12 hour shift was on the agenda.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Although I grew up on a small farm, I left as a teenager. Seeking a salary, I worked in the French Quarter of New Orleans, inside the Beltway of D.C. and in the downtown areas of a couple of smaller cities in Texas and New Mexico. Three years ago I bought a small farm near a town of about 1200 people in the same state where I started out.

Cities offer a place for those who are more comfortable with mediocrity and security than they are with individualism and freedom. I won't be going back.

[Curmudgeon]

Spent 20 years living in or near a city of 470,000 - the last 11 in the heart of the downtown area. It made walking to work and most other amenities very convenient but in the end it was decidedly urban living with the noise, crowds and crime that unfortunately all too often go with it.

Retired and moved 2,000 away to a decidedly rural area. The town with our post office is nine miles away and has a population of under 200, no grocery store and not much of anything else. The closest store is a gas station/convenience store seven miles away and shopping, groceries, doctors offices, hospital, pharmacies, etc. are 20 or more miles away. Not exactly what many would consider convenient.

However, what we do have is clean air, no light pollution, peace, quiet and serenity, custom lakeside homes on large lots without walls or privacy fences which provides for lots of open space. The scenery is gorgeous and the wildlife (deer, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, foxes, coyotes, chipmunks, the occasional black bear, American eagles, turkeys, bluebirds, cardinals and more) prolific. There are four distinct yet not harsh seasons, good neighbors, a caring community and plenty to see and do.

For those who love/need cities, enjoy. It's a personal choice. As for us, we'll remain delightfully rural for as long as our health and mobility permit.

[tigre79]

I grew up in the last little "suburban" neighborhood on the way to the country, and spent most of my childhood wandering around the creeks, ponds, and pastures on friends' land. We moved closer in to the city when I was a teenager and it took a while to adjust to a place with traffic and real crime. Bounced around between a couple of small cities and the edges of a couple larger ones for 15 years, but it wasn't for me. I don't really care about having all that stuff around me, and hated how long it took to get anywhere.

Now I think I have the best of all worlds: a town of 4,000 surrounded by nothing but Alaskan wilderness, with amazing wildlife and the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. And I still live two blocks from the grocery store and within walking distance to everything else in town. In half an hour or less I can be hiking in temperate rainforest, walking on the beach, or standing on a glacier. We drive the 300+ miles to the city every couple of months to see friends or get things we can't get in town, but I'm always happy to be heading back here.