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Rural areas have their own problems. Some of them are similar to ones in urbs and burbs, and some of them are rare elsewhere.
I’ll skip mentioning the shared crap, such as drunken drivers, and list a few more likely in rural places:
- Dumping animals (pets, livestock, poached game) either dead or alive.
- Stealing from someone else’s water supply.
- Meth “homes.”
- Absentee owners allowing weeds to run rampant.
No place is safe from people doing stupid or illegal things. There are fewer people and more spread out; they also can hide more easily.
Change locations because you are going TO, not fleeing FROM.
I am in a small town of 8,000 or so people. But to go from my town to another you pass miles of rural areas. My town and the county enforce cutting the grass and maintaining properties so you don't see many unkept properties. In in this part of the country you don't really have weeds, just tall grass that grows. The police and sheriffs dept are active but well respected and meth homes don't happen much and do not last long. And people do not want that kind of stuff around here so it gets called out quickly. I have never seen dumped animals only obvious roadkill. I doubt people are dumping armadillos, raccoons or skunks. Because that is most of the dead animals I see. I have never heard here about stealing water. My town has a city water supply and most of the rural areas are huge farms and ranches. I don't know how someone would pull that off.
The biggest problem is having to go to the closest major city when you need something. Like Home Depot. My town has building supplies but its very expensive if you need more than a small amount.
But few virus cases, no protests or riots and the police are respected. No one in their right mind would want them disbanded. And friendly honest people who don't steal from each other. I grew up in Los Angeles. No way I would live there again for any reason.
I am in a small town of 8,000 or so people. But to go from my town to another you pass miles of rural areas. My town and the county enforce cutting the grass and maintaining properties so you don't see many unkept properties. In in this part of the country you don't really have weeds, just tall grass that grows. The police and sheriffs dept are active but well respected and meth homes don't happen much and do not last long. And people do not want that kind of stuff around here so it gets called out quickly. I have never seen dumped animals only obvious roadkill. I doubt people are dumping armadillos, raccoons or skunks. Because that is most of the dead animals I see. I have never heard here about stealing water. My town has a city water supply and most of the rural areas are huge farms and ranches. I don't know how someone would pull that off.
The biggest problem is having to go to the closest major city when you need something. Like Home Depot. My town has building supplies but its very expensive if you need more than a small amount.
But few virus cases, no protests or riots and the police are respected. No one in their right mind would want them disbanded. And friendly honest people who don't steal from each other. I grew up in Los Angeles. No way I would live there again for any reason.
Your area is very different in many ways. We get plenty of weeds in this region, dumping animals of various kinds is not a rare thing (some of these ARE big farm/ranch animals), and I won’t even open the complex topic of CO water laws. Stealing water happens, again not rarely. LOTS of water, not just a few bottles. There is municipal water in some parts but you don’t use that for irrigating large hay fields or cattle herds.
[quote=Nonesuch;58380536]OP used the term "urban area". TMK, there is no formal definition for "living in the country", and in many counties land area is annexed to a town or village, no matter how rural the area is.
So, because you said that, I know you live in the Eastern part of the country, like New Jersey, because those are the only states where they annex all the land around them. As far as I'm concerned, there is no rural areas anywhere within 500 miles of the Atlantic ocean, it's all suburban.
Towns here do not annex farm and ranch land. I live in a rural area 3 miles from a town of 1200, they have a police force of 3 and they have no jurisdiction over me. If I need law enforcement they have to come from the county seat, 35 miles from here and the sheriff's dept only has two deputy's on duty at any given time and if they are on the other end of the county then they are 70 miles away. The good news is I've never needed them in 35 years.
Rural areas have their own problems. Some of them are similar to ones in urbs and burbs, and some of them are rare elsewhere.
I’ll skip mentioning the shared crap, such as drunken drivers, and list a few more likely in rural places:
- Dumping animals (pets, livestock, poached game) either dead or alive.
- Stealing from someone else’s water supply.
- Meth “homes.”
- Absentee owners allowing weeds to run rampant.
No place is safe from people doing stupid or illegal things. There are fewer people and more spread out; they also can hide more easily.
Change locations because you are going TO, not fleeing FROM.
Animal abuse. stealing, meth and badly maintained properties are certainly part of life in cities also.
When I was younger, I really loved the energy and vibe of being in or near an urban area. I have been slowly changing my mind lately and this year had really clinched it for me. First Covid and now riots and calls to defund the police. That last part is what really clinched it for me. I'm grateful for the police and I don't blame an entire group of people for the actions of a few. The fact that this idea is even gaining traction in mostly urban areas was the last straw. Sorry for injecting politics into this just wanted to say you have reasons to feel grateful. The big, popular, touristy, high rent areas aren't all they are cracked up to be
That is a cycle that many of us have gone through.
I moved from boring small towN Mn life to near downtown Minneapolis when I was barely 19. I moved about in the city some during my years there, but spent most of my time living just of of Lake street on the south side. Yeah, that Lake street that just got torched recently.
Nope, no big cities for me either, ever again.
My wife likes bigger city life though, so we compromised by buying a home in a small city of about 40K people. Got an acre on a private lot on the edge of town, but it is big enough to have some nightlife, a range of eating out, a Lowes, a Home Depot, three Walmarts, a Costco. This all balanced by a good mix of private non chain business also. I get wild critters on my property, but am only 10 minutes from "downtown". I love it.
I am in a small town of 8,000 or so people. But to go from my town to another you pass miles of rural areas. My town and the county enforce cutting the grass and maintaining properties so you don't see many unkept properties. In in this part of the country you don't really have weeds, just tall grass that grows. The police and sheriffs dept are active but well respected and meth homes don't happen much and do not last long. And people do not want that kind of stuff around here so it gets called out quickly. I have never seen dumped animals only obvious roadkill. I doubt people are dumping armadillos, raccoons or skunks. Because that is most of the dead animals I see. I have never heard here about stealing water. My town has a city water supply and most of the rural areas are huge farms and ranches. I don't know how someone would pull that off.
The biggest problem is having to go to the closest major city when you need something. Like Home Depot. My town has building supplies but its very expensive if you need more than a small amount.
But few virus cases, no protests or riots and the police are respected. No one in their right mind would want them disbanded. And friendly honest people who don't steal from each other. I grew up in Los Angeles. No way I would live there again for any reason.
Your area is very different in many ways. We get plenty of weeds in this region, dumping animals of various kinds is not a rare thing (some of these ARE big farm/ranch animals), and I won’t even open the complex topic of CO water laws. Stealing water happens, again not rarely. LOTS of water, not just a few bottles. There is municipal water in some parts but you don’t use that for irrigating large hay fields or cattle herds.
I guess if you are in an area more prone to drought water is a bigger deal. I believe where I am rainwater is what waters the crops. But there are more ranches with cattle, etc than farmers with crops. I grew up in California where irrigation is required and I remember hearing stories about crops dying in the midwest when they did not get enough rain. I thought why don't they just water the crops? That is not how it works of course everywhere.
Luckily Garthur doesn't set the Federal standard for how "rural" is defined.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garthur
So, because you said that, I know you live in the Eastern part of the country, like New Jersey, because those are the only states where they annex all the land around them. As far as I'm concerned, there is no rural areas anywhere within 500 miles of the Atlantic ocean, it's all suburban.
New Jersey? Sir, you have impugned my honor!
When your closest neighbor is a Guernsey, I'd say that's plenty rural.
OP used the term "urban area". TMK, there is no formal definition for "living in the country", and in many counties land area is annexed to a town or village, no matter how rural the area is.
So, because you said that, I know you live in the Eastern part of the country, like New Jersey, because those are the only states where they annex all the land around them. As far as I'm concerned, there is no rural areas anywhere within 500 miles of the Atlantic ocean, it's all suburban.
Towns here do not annex farm and ranch land. I live in a rural area 3 miles from a town of 1200, they have a police force of 3 and they have no jurisdiction over me. If I need law enforcement they have to come from the county seat, 35 miles from here and the sheriff's dept only has two deputy's on duty at any given time and if they are on the other end of the county then they are 70 miles away. The good news is I've never needed them in 35 years.
This is related to governmental administrative patterns over time, strong MCD states compared to CCD states:
The county seat towns are certainly rural in farm and ranch country as they are mostly all small in population and not defined as metropolitan or micropolitan by census bureau definitions. So yes, if you live in a 2,000 population town you are classified as rural in these cases. And you have no familiarity with the eastern US or the Appalachian region I see. Any population density map shows densities declining rapidly as soon as you go northwest of the I-95 corridor. Hamilton County, NY has 2 people per square mile and Piscataquis County, ME has 4 people per square mile.
Last edited by GraniteStater; 06-15-2020 at 07:58 AM..
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Luckily Garthur doesn't set the Federal standard for how "rural" is defined.
New Jersey? Sir, you have impugned my honor!
