Current Events > I've lived rural and in big cities

(+) Yeah! (+)

Rural American fucking sucks.

Ill take the crime and noise of the city any day.

Well

I disagree completely

Agree.

ya me too. I like a middle ground...

Njolk posted...

Well

I disagree completely

Who in there right mind would say something like "i'll take the crime"

And to clarify I grew up in nowhere Iowa, literally one stoplight.

Ive spent years in Chicago, houston and Seattle.

I've been out to parts of rural American on the job and on roadtrips and there's miles of nothingness in some of these places. I've seen houses that are like 30+ minutes away from the nearest store or strip mall.

No wonder all kids do out there is hunt or smoke meth >_> There isn't much else to do lol

cities have only 2 things of value.

jobs
restaurants

Norman_Smiley posted...

cities have only 2 things of value.

jobs
restaurants

Pussy, cities are flowing with it

I'll take a peaceful, quiet part of a rural town over...
A large city, angry people shouting at each other, bad drivers who have no regard for public safety and helicopters hovering over buildings all night long...

ANY FUCKING DAY

Norman_Smiley posted...

cities have only 2 things of value.

jobs
restaurants

You forgot an important one

Things to actually do

I live in a cosmopolitan suburb-y type of place but it's right by the highway in an apartment complex. Really great dining out and entertainment options everywhere.

Living in the city brings too many annoying experiences alongside it to make it worth it.

Couldn't imagine doing the rural thing, tbh. But for people w/ families, I can get it.

Ving_Rhames posted...

You forgot an important one

Things to actually do

you're probably just a boring person if you need a city to have things to do.

Ving_Rhames posted...

You forgot an important one

Things to actually do

I dunno I climb mountains, run, spend time walking around my community with my friends, help my community, kayak, camp...

In the city you can... Go to Starbucks? Cool I guess

I disagree.

I prefer my provincial experiences to the big city. I've lived in both too. I'm in my thirties. I'm a professional. I've lived in the middle of nowhere and in Northern VA in the capital sprawl. I'm from the country, and I hated it at many points. Yet, I've really come to appreciate after a few years in a mega city. I will move back to the country eventually I think.

Rural life has its own set of headaches much like living the city. Yet my rural life I could get peace and quite around the house. I could do what I wanted on the property and so on. Traffic had a different set of annoyances but it wasn't screaming morons on a the six lane. It was following old people to town or hitting a deer.

I recognize the economic and cultural limitations of the rural life. It's a great gig if you have one of the few decent or high paying jobs though. You can bank money and easily travel to cities or hop a plane ticket with the cash you save to large destinations.

My biggest critique of rural life is it can be tough to find companionship or camaraderie if your different. Not always a great place to be if you're young either since rural areas skew older.

Yet, I find city life grinding. No peace. Crush of people always and everywhere. Cars and traffic, asinine cost of living. I honest see the appeal though. Cultural vivacity and high-culture available with ease. Yet, the cost of everything drags is annoying.

If feel like the ideal is 20 or 30 minutes away from a mid-size city where costs are still reasonable but the homestead is out in the hills or a real small town.

That's my take though. Your opinions may vary and I respect them because they're not wrong. Unless your view is the country offers nothing of value.

Suburbs are the best of both worlds.

Lonestar2000 posted...

Suburbs are the best of both worlds.

This, depending on the suburb. Ones with good public transportation options into the city are the best.

My hot-take is suburbs seem like the worst. Carbon copy developments with houses too big for their yards. HOAs and weird community dynamics. You don't get the cosmopolitan perks of living in the city or the perks of rural/small town life. The only plus I see is you own the house and you're on real-estate sales ladder.

I was a teen in the late 90s and early 2000s. So much of the youth culture was about the ennui of the suburbs and kids coping with it. It always seemed sort of lame to me. That's my bias though so I don't think preferring the suburbs is inherently wrong. I just have a hard time seeing the upsides I guess.

Norman_Smiley posted...

cities have only 2 things of value.

jobs
restaurants

And wired Internet access that isn't 20 years out of date.

CaptainStrong posted...

And wired Internet access that isn't 20 years out of date.

HAHA yep

I was staying with my parents last week. They have 1.5 mb/s DSL. Same speed it was a decade ago. No cell service either!

That sort of thing is super annoying. But that's America's odd infrastructure. A mere 5 miles away and everything is virutally modern. Cell and normal internet. Not like fiber speeds but decent internet and fast wireless.

Rural has a bunch of meth heads to worry about too.

furb posted...

HAHA yep

I was staying with my parents last week. They have 1.5 mb/s DSL. Same speed it was a decade ago. No cell service either!

That sort of thing is super annoying. But that's America's odd infrastructure. A mere 5 miles away and everything is virutally modern. Cell and normal internet. Not like fiber speeds but decent internet and fast wireless.

That's what happens when you live in flyover states. If you live anywhere near a metropolis then this isn't an issue. I live about ten miles give or take outside a major city in the suburbs and have gig speed internet. It's available pretty much everywhere around here, even further away then I am.

CaptainStrong posted...

And wired Internet access that isn't 20 years out of date.

Ok fair, 3 things of value.

My rural community of preference (where my parents and some other family lives) does have decent internet now, but yeah, real crap shoot out there if you can get something decent.

However there are a lot better wifi options now, where you basically get a tower on your land.

Do we need to pretend like theres no spectrum inbetween

Cities are great... Costly I guess

As someone who has lived in all except really big cities, I like the rural life. It's where I live now.

Key thing people itt are forgetting is rural life is not doable for a person of color. There are some rural communities where there are native populations or Mexican populations but otherwise it is largely white and with no ethnic diversity. Ive been to many rural communities for work and have always felt like an alien there. People stare at me like I am some anomaly and there is no sense of comfort for someone like me there. So yeah, as a person of color who is a minority, rural living would be terrible.

AdrianBeterson posted...

Key thing people itt are forgetting is rural life is not doable for a person of color. There are some rural communities where there are native populations or Mexican populations but otherwise it is largely white and with no ethnic diversity. Ive been to many rural communities for work and have always felt like an alien there. People stare at me like I am some anomaly and there is no sense of comfort for someone like me there. So yeah, as a person of color who is a minority, rural living would be terrible.

Dude not every rural town is inherently more racist than big cities. Thats nonsense.

Maybe its true for certain parts of America, I wouldn't know about that, but as a general statement its pretty ridiculous.

CanuckCowboy posted...

Dude not every rural town is inherently more racist than big cities. Thats nonsense.

Maybe its true for certain parts of America, I wouldn't know about that, but as a general statement its pretty ridiculous.

Im speaking from my experiences. As I said above, Ive worked at various rural communities.

And Im not just talking about racism, Im also talking about feeling included. Its difficult to live in a community where there isnt any diversity, or one where youre the only person of your background. That is the case of rural living for non-whites, and precisely why you dont see them in rural communities unless they have to be there or theyre migrant workers.

Im not downplaying any racism, but people in small towns watch anyone they dont know like a hawk.

Theyll even talk about cars they dont recognize driving around. Its a completely different mindset if you arent used to it.