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As a fellow who's spent much of his life living in ( for lack of a better term ) high density rural areas and is at the moment considering moving to a low density one , I'm quite interested in gaining some insight about how hard that sort of transition is , especially from people who have personally experienced it .
Of course the term " high density " and " low density " can be quite subjective , but to put things into context I'm talking about ( say/in my own personal case ) moving from a rural area in a county with more than 155,000 residents to a rural area in a county with less than 30,000 residents .
I'll also be adding a poll to this thread as another way of gaining insight FWIW .
I moved from the Los Angeles area to rural VT in 2003 and am still adjusting! LOL. But I would never live in a city again. Ever.
Culture is a huge factor. You can't come to a place where you know no one (if that is what you wind up doing, like us) and expect to be accepted, either readily or ever, for that matter. Where I live it's very closed off and people are frankly not very friendly, unfortunately. If you have children in school, that's the likely entre' ..... you'll have a ready made group to interact with. If not, depending on the state, people seem to have established relationships and no room to add new friends.
My town has a population of about 1800....
I also came from a professional work environment, which made me stand out like a sore thumb, because surprisingly, many places here are about 30 years behind the times (except for government type agencies/positions, and even those are very nepotistic, or, every family has multiple generations working there because they are the only good paying jobs). That's if you are working. That was my biggest adjustment.
Also, this state does nothing for seniors. There is no tax savings anywhere because, well, they tax anything that moves. We are trying to decide if we should leave and would have done some recon but for COVID. I have always wanted to move but I retired recently, and not having to interact at a workplace - although my last one was good - has really freed up my life We've had a glorious summer and were free to move around a lot so were outside and loving it. Of course, I couldn't eat at my favorite restaurants, but I'm hoping that will change.
All that said, we have fairly easy access to everything we need, and many things we want, so it's one more winter and we'll see.
As a fellow who's spent much of his life living in ( for lack of a better term ) high density rural areas and is at the moment considering moving to a low density one , I'm quite interested in gaining some insight about how hard that sort of transition is , especially from people who have personally experienced it .
Of course the term " high density " and " low density " can be quite subjective , but to put things into context I'm talking about ( say/in my own personal case ) moving from a rural area in a county with more than 155,000 residents to a rural area in a county with less than 30,000 residents .
I'll also be adding a poll to this thread as another way of gaining insight FWIW .
You're going from Franklin County to, say, Jefferson so the adjustment wouldn't be that great except the weather. Franklin isn't that dense and is still primarily rural, although it may be a bit more urbanized and has some DC/Baltimore influence.
No matter what rural area you go to the very last thing you do is say something on the order "Where I came from we did ______________ this way". You can get away with that sometimes if that way is better but many times that's rare. You also don't badmouth someone right away, the person you're talking to is probably related to the person you're criticizing (although what you're saying is probably true).
Also, don't complain that your new place doesn't have ____________, _______________, or ____________. There are good reasons for that and they're usually tied to market factors such as potential customers and local income.
Also, don't move someplace that's always been primarily one ethnic group and complain about the lack of diversity. Diversity in many rural areas is who's a Baptist, a Methodist, or a Catholic.
You're going from Franklin County to, say, Jefferson so the adjustment wouldn't be that great except the weather. Franklin isn't that dense and is still primarily rural, although it may be a bit more urbanized and has some DC/Baltimore influence.
No matter what rural area you go to the very last thing you do is say something on the order "Where I came from we did ______________ this way". You can get away with that sometimes if that way is better but many times that's rare. You also don't badmouth someone right away, the person you're talking to is probably related to the person you're criticizing (although what you're saying is probably true).
Also, don't complain that your new place doesn't have ____________, _______________, or ____________. There are good reasons for that and they're usually tied to market factors such as potential customers and local income.
Also, don't move someplace that's always been primarily one ethnic group and complain about the lack of diversity. Diversity in many rural areas is who's a Baptist, a Methodist, or a Catholic.
Would you say counties that have less than 30,000 residents present a completely different dynamic to a fellow like me though ?
In short that I could end up making many bumbling city slicker mistakes ( such as forgetting to put enough tools in the back of my truck in case of a remote road car breakdown ) even though I'm not a ( true blue ) bumbling city slicker ?
I moved from the Los Angeles area to rural VT in 2003 and am still adjusting! LOL. But I would never live in a city again. Ever.
Culture is a huge factor. You can't come to a place where you know no one (if that is what you wind up doing, like us) and expect to be accepted, either readily or ever, for that matter. Where I live it's very closed off and people are frankly not very friendly, unfortunately. If you have children in school, that's the likely entre' ..... you'll have a ready made group to interact with. If not, depending on the state, people seem to have established relationships and no room to add new friends.
My town has a population of about 1800....
I also came from a professional work environment, which made me stand out like a sore thumb, because surprisingly, many places here are about 30 years behind the times (except for government type agencies/positions, and even those are very nepotistic, or, every family has multiple generations working there because they are the only good paying jobs). That's if you are working. That was my biggest adjustment.
Also, this state does nothing for seniors. There is no tax savings anywhere because, well, they tax anything that moves. We are trying to decide if we should leave and would have done some recon but for COVID. I have always wanted to move but I retired recently, and not having to interact at a workplace - although my last one was good - has really freed up my life We've had a glorious summer and were free to move around a lot so were outside and loving it. Of course, I couldn't eat at my favorite restaurants, but I'm hoping that will change.
All that said, we have fairly easy access to everything we need, and many things we want, so it's one more winter and we'll see.
Interesting answers !
I'm not really all that concerned with the prospect of not having much of a social life , though moving to an area where far too many people give you the cold shoulder is not an enticing thought either .
The aspect of being a professional or a senior also doesn't apply to my situation , though the issue of taxes definitely interests me as well .
As a fellow who's spent much of his life living in ( for lack of a better term ) high density rural areas and is at the moment considering moving to a low density one , I'm quite interested in gaining some insight about how hard that sort of transition is , especially from people who have personally experienced it .
Of course the term " high density " and " low density " can be quite subjective , but to put things into context I'm talking about ( say/in my own personal case ) moving from a rural area in a county with more than 155,000 residents to a rural area in a county with less than 30,000 residents .
I'll also be adding a poll to this thread as another way of gaining insight FWIW .
Personally, I didn't have any problem at all. I moved from a fairly large Southern city to a very rural area where I knew absolutely no one for a new job. The local people were very nice, although a little insular. Many families had lived in the area for at least 4 or 5 generations. The best thing that happened to me was that 4 months after I moved to the area I lost my job. I went to rent another place that was attached to an antebellum mansion. When the owners asked me who "my people" were, I told them "no one", but I mentioned where I went to college. Well, it turned out that the husband and I went to the same alma mater. Since he was the county attorney, living on his property opened up all sorts of contacts for me. He and his neighbors were true Southerners and I made some very good friends while I lived in the area. I still miss the life I had there. That county still has less than 18,000 people and had less when I lived there. It is very beautiful and has lots of shoreline and pastureland. When I opened my front door there were cows 20 feet away. Going shopping was a big deal going over the river to the nearest town. It's a lifestyle that you either love or you don't. I grew up in a big city, but basically I'm a small town/rural gal at heart.
Would you say counties that have less than 30,000 residents present a completely different dynamic to a fellow like me though ?
In short that I could end up making many bumbling city slicker mistakes ( such as forgetting to put enough tools in the back of my truck in case of a remote road car breakdown ) even though I'm not a ( true blue ) bumbling city slicker ?
Thanks for your input by the way !
Any place has a dynamic. I don't know what you mean by "a fellow like me". Yes some place with 30K people has a different dynamic than somewhere that has a couple larger towns (Chambersburg/Waynesboro) and an overall population of 140K-more stores and doctors are two likely things. Where you are now also has had an influx from the I95 corridor and that has changed things. People from Maryland typically expect local government to do things, like pick up road kill, which isn't really done in Pennsylvania. They also have trouble with the County in PA having very little to do except run the jail, unlike in MD.
The "tools in the truck" is somewhat of a stereotype. Could you really fix a breakdown on the side of the road other that a flat tire? I can guarantee you that the vast amount of rural people can't fix anything newer than about a 1980 anything either, if they can even do that.
Any place has a dynamic. I don't know what you mean by "a fellow like me". Yes some place with 30K people has a different dynamic than somewhere that has a couple larger towns (Chambersburg/Waynesboro) and an overall population of 140K-more stores and doctors are two likely things. Where you are now also has had an influx from the I95 corridor and that has changed things. People from Maryland typically expect local government to do things, like pick up road kill, which isn't really done in Pennsylvania. They also have trouble with the County in PA having very little to do except run the jail, unlike in MD.
The "tools in the truck" is somewhat of a stereotype. Could you really fix a breakdown on the side of the road other that a flat tire? I can guarantee you that the vast amount of rural people can't fix anything newer than about a 1980 anything either, if they can even do that.
By fellow like me I mean someone who has never lived in a rural county with less than 30,000 residents .
As for being able to fix a broken down vehicle on the side of the road , I'm no mechanic either , but I could definitely fix a relatively simple mechanical malfunction as far as my own truck is concerned .
That said I rarely ever take anything with me other than some spark plugs and a tire iron , which is why I'm curious as to your experiences with breakdowns in places where it's reasonable to assume that you'll have to wait a long while for assistance .
I only had breakdowns a couple times and that was decades ago pre-cell phone. What I did was walk out to the nearest house and ask to use the phone, which was gladly offered. That's non-operative, though, if you're in Amish country.
Franklin County is rural, I don't care if it is in the Washington-Baltimore MSA. Your transition will be just less availability of things you may be used to like Trader Joe's and specialty coffee shoppes.
We moved from the 5th largest city in California, to a town of less than 2,000 in rural Wyoming. It's about as opposite as you can get from one place to the other. We didn't know anyone here and we moved because hubby found a great job.
There was a lot of transition when it comes to what's open and closed and when. Nearly everything in our valley is closed on Sunday. From restaurants to grocery stores, pharmacy's, hardware stores etc, it's closed Sunday. So you have to learn to plan in advance and have things you need on hand. That's a big change from pretty much everything open on Sunday. Also things close very early here. Even on the weekends all restaurants are closed by 9 p.m., most by 8 p.m. The week days it's even earlier. Also we have mostly mom and pop businesses so they can choose to close early whenever they want to regardless of what their sign says. If it's hunting season and they don't want to be open on Saturday, they'll just stay closed and tough luck if you needed your oil changed that day. There isn't as much competition for your business so they are not be doing over backwards to keep you happy.
As for tools in the vehicle, that isn't a big thing here. However we get nasty weather, so you better believe driving with a winter emergency kit is a thing. You need a snow shovel, scraper, chains, snow tires on your vehicle, or at least all weather tires, tow rope, extra gloves, hats, jackets, food, drinks etc. You will go off the road at some point and into the ditch, be prepared for that. Most times people are nice and will tow you out, which is why you need the tow rope, if not you can always call the tow truck to come and get you. This was all new to us.
As for the people, they are nicer here and friendlier than they were back in California. Everyone gets to know everyone because it's such a small community. We know our UPS guy by first name, the grocery clerks, librarians etc. You really feel part of a community that helps one another out.
Between the two places I would never go back to the big city. Rural life is the life for me. There's just too much hustle and bustle elsewhere. Slow living is happy living for us.
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