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.
Oh, yes they are. Poverty, drugs and guns. They all go hand in hand. Only the locations differ.
Cities are incredibly safe these days. Like I mentioned in a previous post, gentrification is pushing the undesirable elements out of the area. Areas that may have warzones in the 70s and 80s are now home to programmers, doctors, lawyers, etc.
Sounds like there will be a "huuuge" jobs boom for rural Americans who want to clean houses and pick grapes.
And leave a similar legacy for their children.
I think that both cities and rural ares have their pros and cons.
But the OP's post is not an indictment of rural America. It is just a data driven view of the problems that face rural citizens (per the article cited).
If I were a rural denizen, I'd welcome the discussion and hope that it led to attention and maybe improvement. Personally, I live halfway between one of America's biggest cities and farm country. The view ain't half bad from here. Very low crime, excellent job opportunities, well informed neighbors and anything you want less than an hour away.
The majority of tiny towns in rural areas has far lower crime than even the "lower crime" big cities. Look it up yourselves on citydata right here. So while there are problems, they are safer still overall than many nice urban neighborhoods. Even a nice urban neighborhood is often within very easy walking distance from a terrible neighborhood. Gangs and whatnot are not however going to bother driving 100 miles away into the "boonies" without a great reason.
Also, in order to make rural life "worth it", you better have at least a little bit of living off the land skills. If you treat a cabin in the woods like it's a highrise condo, staying inside on your computer until you need to go to the store, then it perhaps makes little sense to live there. You need to grow some food, can, hunt, fish, do home improvement etc to truly live country. You can get by with less income if you utilize the advantages of a bountiful land.
I drove through the rural Midwest once. Talk about a cesspool. Entire towns where the residents collectively had fewer than 10 teeth, rusted out junk wagons, stray dogs roaming the street, boarded up storefronts with broken out windows, heroin addicts sprawled out on the cracked sidewalks spilling into the rain gutters - and these were some of the nicer parts.
That is not unlike the drive I took from Punta Gorda to Orlando. Even with the windows up and A/C on, I needed a shower when I got to my destination. Not that Orlando is anything to brag about!
I drove through the rural Midwest once. Talk about a cesspool. Entire towns where the residents collectively had fewer than 10 teeth, rusted out junk wagons, stray dogs roaming the street, boarded up storefronts with broken out windows, heroin addicts sprawled out on the cracked sidewalks spilling into the rain gutters - and these were some of the nicer parts.
I've been to some big coastal cities before. Man what a dump. Whole neighborhoods with graffiti every 5 feet and overgrown lawns choked with weeds and litter. Bums aggressively panhandling at every street corner wearing pee and sweat soaked rags. Gunshots, police and ambulence sirens sounding off at all hours of the night. Old brick buildings crumbling apart with strung out looking hookers and the stench of dumpster juice everywhere. And I was told that this was supposed to be the hip trendy part.
All of you describing your life in the country is like hearing a horror story for me.
I bet you are all happy. That is great!!!! I'm happy you enjoy your lifestyle. I know you are happy for me too and wouldn't ever make a personal attack because I choose to live differently. Nah -- especially you people in the country -- you all are so warm and friendly and neighborly.
I do not understand why anyone cares where someone else lives. Why can't people just leave other people alone?
I do not understand why anyone cares where someone else lives. Why can't people just leave other people alone?
I think people that live in large cities and find the need to constantly bring attention to how they have it all are also people that secretly or subconsciously wish they lived somewhere in a rural area. That's what you do when you're jealous of someone else, talk down to them and pretend you're better than they are.
I think people that live in large cities and find the need to constantly bring attention to how they have it all are also people that secretly or subconsciously wish they lived somewhere in a rural area. That's what you do when you're jealous of someone else, talk down to them and pretend you're better than they are.
People who live in the country say the same kind of things about people who live in big cities.
Sounds just like where I live. My closest neighbors are an elderly couple. I call him older brother and his wife is Mom. We have keys to each other's houses and I take care of the snow and take the trash out for them.
My best friend from the service lives in the city. He doesn't know the people who lives across the street let alone trust anyone with a key to his house. LOL
I contrast this to one of my brothers who lived in a suburban setting in another State where the houses are on fairly small lots. He died unattended in his sleep and was discovered a couple days later when a friend asked the police for a wellness check being he didn't answer his phone or door and his car was in the driveway. Unattended deaths means lots of police checking things, the coroner coming etc, and eventually the body being removed. The day after the funeral when I was securing the house I went to the neighbors to give them my contact info, vehicle identification, and to say that nobody except my nephew and I should be at the house. None of them even knew my brother had died despite all the activity the day his body was discovered. He had lived there for several years.
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.
