Ready to give city living up and go back home (houses, water)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Has anyone else been so fed up with the City (any City, really) and opted for a lower paying job in a small town?
I have been living in Newport News, VA for over 11years now.. I have a high paced, full time job that keeps me on call and working overtime more often than not. My kids are more familiar with McDonalds and the pizza guy than anything else.. I can't let them out to play w/o my constant supervision, we don't take walks at night for safety resons... When I go home to visit my family in Ohio I find their doors unlocked, cell phones left in cars (and still there when they come back!), people out walking and NO TRAFFIC JAMS!!
I think I am ready to give up this face paced city life to show my kids whats really important... It's not about how much money I can make, or where we go for dinner on the weekends... Breating fresh air and knowing who your neighbors are might be a good change.
Has anyone else been so fed up with the City (any City, really) and opted for a lower paying job in a small town?
I have been living in Newport News, VA for over 11years now.. I have a high paced, full time job that keeps me on call and working overtime more often than not. My kids are more familiar with McDonalds and the pizza guy than anything else.. I can't let them out to play w/o my constant supervision, we don't take walks at night for safety resons... When I go home to visit my family in Ohio I find their doors unlocked, cell phones left in cars (and still there when they come back!), people out walking and NO TRAFFIC JAMS!!
I think I am ready to give up this face paced city life to show my kids whats really important... It's not about how much money I can make, or where we go for dinner on the weekends... Breating fresh air and knowing who your neighbors are might be a good change.
I am a Native Clevelander. What part of Ohio are you wanting to return to? If you have family there for support that's a good thing since Ohio has been hit bad by unemployment as I'm sure you already know. Even though you probably will take a pay cut as long as you can survive is what's important for you and your children.
Has anyone else been so fed up with the City (any City, really) and opted for a lower paying job in a small town?
I have been living in Newport News, VA for over 11years now.. I have a high paced, full time job that keeps me on call and working overtime more often than not. My kids are more familiar with McDonalds and the pizza guy than anything else.. I can't let them out to play w/o my constant supervision, we don't take walks at night for safety resons... When I go home to visit my family in Ohio I find their doors unlocked, cell phones left in cars (and still there when they come back!), people out walking and NO TRAFFIC JAMS!!
I think I am ready to give up this face paced city life to show my kids whats really important... It's not about how much money I can make, or where we go for dinner on the weekends... Breating fresh air and knowing who your neighbors are might be a good change.
Newport News and all of Hampton Roads is just one big mass of ill planned suburbs, hemmed in by water. I would not call it city living; in fact most of the city - downtown was leveled years ago to make room for parking lots - the reverse of any sane urban planning design. There is no culture, no soul to the area. Anything, well almost, anything is better than living there.
Yep, we did that and are glad we did (left high stress city job for small town and quality of life).
I must say that the kids in our small town seem more like kids than the city kids did. Kids in our town seem happier, don't whine or create scenes in grocery stores or restaurants, and even smile and say hi to me, someone they don't know. In the city, they were more likely to run me off the sidewalk and into the street.
I'm not trying to dissuade you, but the stress of city life will be replaced by stress of where you move to. You had mentioned that the pay is lower and that is true. The opportunities are way fewer and far between.
I have been living in Newport News, VA for over 11years now...
Just before we got married, my wife and I lived in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, respectively, and we both worked in downtown Norfolk -- which is the only real "city" section in the South Hampton Roads area. Everything else, as another poster alluded to, is the massive mess of suburbs, traffic and no real unified pulse.
Once I moved to the western, mountainous part of the state, just outside Roanoke, my new job actually did right by me money-wise, especially when factoring cost of living. Of course, I got horses, a tiller, a riding mower, apple trees and all kinds of other things, so I'm not swimming in disposable income. Things are definitely tighter now, but I'm lots less stressed and feel I get to do things more on my own desires and on my own time than I ever did in the city.
I hope that you decide to make the move away from Newport News. There's lots of other better places to live out there!
Well, I got so fed up with the City that I moved to the Country with NO JOB. I'm not rich sitting on a bunch of investments or savings either, just have enough to get a self-sufficient plan started and pray it works out (I can always go back to the City and get a Job if I have to).
So, yeah, I'd totally jettison the City and take a lower paying job in the Country or Small Town... gotta factor in that a little goes a long way when you're not in the hustle and bustle of the expensive City anymore. (We ran the numbers and it actually cost us more to stay in the City with our high-paying jobs that it would to live in the Boonies with no job... go figure!).
No, I am fed up with small town living and can't wait to move back to a city, any city!
Same here. I prefer culture and good food vs stagnant landscapes that never change. But to each's own. I can see how some people like rural living, I just don't care for it or understand how being so far from cities that have so much to offer can be attractive to anyone.
JC - I can agree with that. Some people are more adapted to live in the boonies, and some people are more adapted to living in the city. For me, no amount of culture and food could make a city any less oppressive... in fact, their continuous "novelty" started to feel rather stagnant and superficial. I prefer watching the land change every season, putting my hands in the earth and growing things, having silence except for nature, etc.... But I know a lot of folks think that is BORING I always have good food, because I grow it myself and I know how to cook, so restaurants have very little appeal... although multi-ethnic grocers would be really handy since it's hard to get some ingredients up here! Most of my "culture and entertainment" comes from books, CD/DVD, or the Internet... I don't have to go anywhere to get those. But I can totally see how someone who's a little more active on the social scene would truly appreciate coffeehouses, theaters, and night clubs and miss them horribly stuck out in the boonies.
I think people really need to stop and do a little internal inventory, a little soul-searching, to determine whether they are country or city before making a big move and lifestyle change. If you're unhappy where you're at, it might not have anything to do with where you're at but more about what you're doing or something of that nature... so moving to a completely different lifestyle that's counter to your temperament will just make you even more miserable. Once the novelty wears off, you'll just be right back unhappy again. Moving doesn't solve all your problems, cuz where ever you go, there you are
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I always have good food, because I grow it myself and I know how to cook, so restaurants have very little appeal... although multi-ethnic grocers would be really handy since it's hard to get some ingredients up here! Most of my "culture and entertainment" comes from books, CD/DVD, or the Internet... I don't have to go anywhere to get those. But I can totally see how someone who's a little more active on the social scene would truly appreciate coffeehouses, theaters, and night clubs and miss them horribly stuck out in the boonies.
