We don't want no highfalutin' city-folk comin' here (farm, house, quiet)
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Though I grew up in more urban setting, I never failed to appreciate our farmer/rancher "next door." My father grew up on a farm and was more agriculturally oriented and had the dream of having his own place, but mom never did. My dad attempted to get mom on board and we rented 50 acres for a couple years in a organic farming area, whom the owner was willing to do a "rent to own" type contract, but mom never succumbed to the charms of rural life. Some of us kids took after my father's mindset and some after my mom (large family).
Though I will say, I would never buy/rent in a farming community that did conventional spraying. Like my father, I'm organic farming oriented and, like the brochure in a previous post says, "if you don't like it, don't move in next to it, don't complain about it."
Not too long ago, I and my family lived in a more hunting oriented community, I wasn't bothered by gun shots. In fact, we also set up targets on the 40 acres we rented, with the hill on the property as a back set so as to not have stray bullets going across property lines (not rocket science here). I saw the property owners surrounding us did the same, they would use the lay of the land as a buffer. I never felt threatened by "stray bullets."
We currently rent in a more urban setting nearby a recreational area where ATVs are a common encounter. I don't like the urban setting, but it's what we can afford right now. Though I'm not an afficianado (sp?) of off road vehicles, I do not mind them. I just trained my horses to accept them as part of the land. The trade off is there are unlimited miles and miles of trails out here for us to ride AND I don't have to get a permit to do so like the off road vehicles do
Well, I have lived in suburbs surrounded by woods where people hunted, and just going into our backyard during hunting season could prove dangerous. Laws? there were laws against it, but those people had a 'runnin lease' anyway - "If the law or owner shows up, start a-runnin'!"
Now I live in an area where they are chary of new folks, especially "city folks" - because city folks seem to think that any property that looks unoccupied is free to hunt, fish, drive down, cut didoes, have beer parties, etc. The locals ASK before they cross a fence or go onto anyone else's property. So many times my friends who ranch on the river nearby have to take their 4WD or even their tractor out and haul some damfool carload of city boys out of a ditch, or out of the river they tried to cross in their roller skate-car. The ones that call themselves 'hunters' shoot at anything that moves, and leave the dead cow or horse in the grass when they sneak away. City folk are pretty much disapproved of, if not disliked outright and to their faces. We have had the ones move here and try to live off of the (scarce) social services here, too, but the locals do their level best to shun them until they leave.
They were chary of us too of course - but we were quite comfortable with Don shooting the danged rabbits out of his (and our!) garden, the Homecoming parade complete with horses lining up in front of our house, etc. When our future-son-in-law brought out his brand-new AR-15 to play with, we took him into our back 40 (with hills so steep you can use them as backstops) - and told our neighbors beforehand that he'd be using it that weekend, not to be alarmed by the gunfire. We respect other peoples' fences and driveways, and respect what they do... we even told our ranch neighbors when we brought in our bull so that they'd know there was one over here. We clean and lime our corrals and chicken coop/yard, keep up our yard, share what we have when we butcher meat or collect eggs, and don't infringe on our neighbors' properties at all. Even though we still have some 'city ways' - part of our annual Christmas display involves lights that blink to Christmas music! - everything shuts down at 8 PM so our neighbors aren't disturbed, and we ask if it's too loud when it is playing. So far, our neighbors insist that we add to the area; they can hear the rooster crow and the chickens cluck and the cows moo, and they like the sounds; plus this used to be a town that was heavily into Christmas decorating, and they tell us that they are glad we bring it back.
I think it all depends on the attitude; no one wants a neighbor that resents what everyone else does/has always done, or who constantly complains or sues, but one who tries to fit in.
It all goes back to research; if you are looking for an estate in the middle of nowhere, or a comfortable farm or ranch, or a place of quiet and solitude, or a place to ride your horses or ATVs, or a place to hunt or fish; look for places that match your criteria, don't buy a pig in a poke, and then expect the locals to conform to your way of thinking. Unless, of course, you enjoy being whiny and miserable; then by all means just buy anywhere and expect the locals to cater to you.
I moved here from an urban area, but I'm not originally a city dweller. I was raised in a rural turned suburban area, and DH and I lived way out in the sticks for the first five years of our marriage before moving to a city townhouse (shudder). After 16 years, I fit in better than I did the city. It's as though I never left. Nobody could ever describe me as highfalutin', though, not by a long shot.
I've encountered this attitude many times reading about rural areas, and in real life (being a resident of a "rural" area).
The simple fact is this divide exists. Urbanites, especially wealthy urbanites, are often portrayed as having a much different attitude than life-long residents of rural areas. Urbanites often establish a retirement or vacation or permanent home in rural areas seeking "peace" and "tranquility", only to find that they cannot take their nature hike on their newly-purchased acreage because it's hunting season and the risk of stray bullets hitting them is worse than in the toughest urban ghetto, or to discover on their weekend retreat that the "serene" and "ecologically precious" trails running through their wooded country estate have ruts in them from youth on ATVs and dirt bikes.
What do you think of this? City-people who have moved or established a home country-side, what was your perception of the natives, and was there any culture shock? Did you bridge it, and if you did, what did your "peace offering" consist of?
I have friends from NYC who purchased land in rural Pennsylvania and ran into this problem. They pretty much wanted their land for themselves to be used as they wanted. To them this meant no hunting, no dirt bikes, etc. It was a fairly large acreage, and the previous owners had finally become only part-time residents, which meant that much of what went on they were unaware of.
They made friends with the store owners in the nearest small town, and they worked at this. They were also willing to volunteer for activities in the town. And the hunting problem was solved by putting up no hunting signs, but making an agreement with a few local hunters that they could hunt on the land every two or three years. This latter move seem to have been a clincher, and the dirt bikers vanished and other trespassers vanished. They have been there five or six years.
They are both pleasant, low-keyed people and they feel that they have probably reached the limit of acceptance and no longer feel uncomfortable in that respect. What they do miss, and why they will move within a year or two, is the company of people like themselves.
I moved to a rural subdivision back in 1996. 5-10 acre lots and ag was allowed (with restrictions). All of us had our various farm animals, etc. and lived in peace with each other. We knew what we were buying into.
Fast forward 10 years...the boom in housing brought the city limit right up to us and subdivisions sprung up all around the existing farms. It was a transition period as the farms were bought out for yet more subdivisions.
This was just outside of Austin where sprawl was rampant.
During this transition period:
The police were called about animal abuse because the cows were left out in the pasture in the rain.
People approached the city council to ask the rural folks to keep their animals quiet during the night.
People wanted to ban hunting on rural property outside the city limits because they could hear gunfire and someone could get hurt.
People wanted sidewalks and street lights beyond the city limit because it was too dark out there.
People complained because rural owners weren't keeping up their property..grass was growing near 6 inches and should be mowed.
Those were just some of the complaints. My own subdivision slowly morphed from ag type acreage to "estate" type acreage where people had room to put their RVs and boats rather than fence in and have some livestock.
It was really sad to watch the change take hold. I have since sold and moved further away from big cities and major highways, back out to the country where a rooster can be a rooster
Do something about the marsh smell.
Stop the watermen from crabbing.
The request to ban company vehicles from parking on the street.
After TS Isabel wiped out a bunch of houses some residents of the impacted area wanted everyone to build the exact same style of house.
The new thing is for the Town to buy trash cans for residents so they all look alike.
How to be unwelcome:
1) brag about how much money you have
2) brag about your education
3) call everyone inbreds, racists, etc.
4) complain about the slower pace
5) complain about the lack of shopping or other amenities all the while bragging about how much better where you left is (which will get you the question, "Then why did you leave?"
6) complain about the lack of culture, foreign cuisine and diversity (there's a reason minorities don't move to rural areas, it's called lack of jobs)
7) tell people how closed minded they are
8) tell people how "this wouldn't be tolerated where I'm from" (see #5)
9) complain about the houses (one of which you bought)
I moved to a rural subdivision back in 1996. 5-10 acre lots and ag was allowed (with restrictions). All of us had our various farm animals, etc. and lived in peace with each other. We knew what we were buying into.
Fast forward 10 years...the boom in housing brought the city limit right up to us and subdivisions sprung up all around the existing farms. It was a transition period as the farms were bought out for yet more subdivisions.
This was just outside of Austin where sprawl was rampant.
During this transition period:
The police were called about animal abuse because the cows were left out in the pasture in the rain.
People approached the city council to ask the rural folks to keep their animals quiet during the night.
People wanted to ban hunting on rural property outside the city limits because they could hear gunfire and someone could get hurt.
People wanted sidewalks and street lights beyond the city limit because it was too dark out there.
People complained because rural owners weren't keeping up their property..grass was growing near 6 inches and should be mowed.
Those were just some of the complaints. My own subdivision slowly morphed from ag type acreage to "estate" type acreage where people had room to put their RVs and boats rather than fence in and have some livestock.
It was really sad to watch the change take hold. I have since sold and moved further away from big cities and major highways, back out to the country where a rooster can be a rooster
Yep, you see this all over the place. Funny thing is you can run into it also in the middle of nowhere where a "trophy home" subdivision has sprung up.
Sometimes though things happen. My neighbor has 75 acres and has had stray bullets hit her house on a few occasions. Unfortunately, what we are discussing is a problem deeper than just rural folk vs city folk. It is moron vs common sense. Unfortunately the former seems to be more frequent nowadays.
Finally, there are plenty of morons in the city but also plenty of them living rural.
That is some funny reading, much of my child hood was spend being pulled behind a John Deere. Our church has a "sister church" on the West side of Chicago, and every spring we have the Chicago kids come up to West Michigan and spend an extended weekend visiting farms, I don't think 90% of these kids have ever left the city let alone seen a cow. I always found their reactions to how vastly different small town/ farm living vs. living in Chicago is.
Hi -i just went and visited a small town on vacation, and i was remembering this topic. well i was hoping i would not come across as one of these crazy city people. so what i did was - i remembered to have good manners and say please and thank you a lot! i think that helped get me thru worrying about manners
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