Did you move from city to rural area and hate it? Why? (village, friendly)
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The annoying thing with the private companies being in charge of driver's licenses when we were in rural TN were the inconvenient hours. I want to say it was something like 'Go to the Woodmen of the World office in Dresden between 9am and noon on a Tuesday or Thursday, and there will probably be someone there to help you unless the office clerk has been called out to handle insurance company business.'
I grew up in a very small town south of St Louis, the DMV was only open every other Monday.
My 16th birthday fell right before Lincoln's and Washingtons Birthdays, (on Mondays, of course) so it took me an extra month to get my drivers license.....thought I was gonna die!
BTW, cant wait to move back to that same small town, even if the DMV is still operated by a private company!
I've spent the past 6 years living in big (well, by my province's standards) cities while I attended university. I've recently moved back to my hometown of 10,000.
Pros:
It's a quiet, safe place where people are friendly. The town itself is very pretty. I live close to my family again and appreciate being able to spend time with them. The cost of living is lower. I also appreciate little things like not having to pay for parking and being able to get everywhere in a reasonable amount of time. My impression is that life in a smaller town is more laid back and relaxed. Having grown up here, I know it's a great place to raise a family. The town is a reasonable distance from bigger cities.
Cons:
My social life here is virtually nonexistent. It's difficult to meet people here because there isn't much to do. It can get boring and lonely. I also value my privacy a lot, and I hate that everyone knows everyone's business. I miss just being a face in the crowd. It's also quite a conservative town and while that generally doesn't present problems in day-to-day life, just the principle of it irks me!
I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate it here. I think it's a trade-off. I'm not sure if I'll stay here in the long term or not.
Are you sure there's not much to do? Because I moved from thousands of people to barely 1,000 people and there aren't even buses here. There are two stores, like five restaurants one park and a tiny library. I'm straight up dying. Can't move for another couple years probably. It's relaxing if you have some family or some friends or SOMETHING. A movie theater to go to even by yourself is so great. Here the next real city is an hour away. During the winter with all the snow and ice it's just not something to do too often, especially since the roads aren't always properly plowed and there can be a lot of accidents.
My advice would be to find a book club, make a routine of going to the movies once a week, the library, anything you can get into in your town. That's how you'll make friends.
Are you sure there's not much to do? Because I moved from thousands of people to barely 1,000 people and there aren't even buses here. There are two stores, like five restaurants one park and a tiny library. I'm straight up dying. Can't move for another couple years probably. It's relaxing if you have some family or some friends or SOMETHING. A movie theater to go to even by yourself is so great. Here the next real city is an hour away. During the winter with all the snow and ice it's just not something to do too often, especially since the roads aren't always properly plowed and there can be a lot of accidents.
My advice would be to find a book club, make a routine of going to the movies once a week, the library, anything you can get into in your town. That's how you'll make friends.
This topic is 10 yrs old but still of interest I guess.
to small towners:
Walking, gardening, even just porch sitting are not considered doing nothing.
Exchanging chitchat at the post office or grocery store are social events.
Driving 10 miles to go someplace isn't an inconvenience-it's an enjoyment.
I didn't move from a big city to rural exactly but from central New Jersey to Greater Portland Maine so that fits.
I was never into NYC, Philly or the beach, always liked mountains, snow and ocean and had extended family throughout New England. I loved it there, the people in Maine had a bitter disdain for people from away. I made friends, it was their friends and family that had it in for me and the would choose their own over me.
I found the common thread in all rural communities across the country is " don't move here to change anything" don't assume all people that are moving there are, most like it just the way it is. Don't start a conversation bashing the state the people are from, that only puts the person on the defense to start a back and forth argument for nothing.
So i don't regret moving to Maine they drive out the people that wanted to contribute a preserve the lifestyle. Now they are hungry for people to move there because of the aging population.
I look at Portland ME now and the growth of High Rises that destroyed the character of the city, wasn't my fault. It's the big developers with an army of lawyers buying everything up and dangling some cash in front of them to do whatever they want, not the average person that moved there to get away from all that.
If someone moves to a rural area and hates it, use it as a learning curve. My instinct to move from an overcrowded suburb in Phoenix to a much more rural area was the right one, just the wrong spot. Raising chickens has been so much fun, the amount of work required to keep the place up, not so much.
Living far from city amenities and major airports doesn’t work. I’ve used the time here to enjoy the good things and also understand what needs to change. Going forward, I’m better prepared to keep parts of the rural lifestyle while decreasing drive time to a major city. If you hate rural life completely, this won’t work, but it’s possible to have the best of both worlds. My spouse has to drive over two hours for a specialist, he hates that.
One morning in Phoenix, I was waiting at a traffic light, it was early, quiet and peaceful, I was enjoying watching a quail and her cute little fluff balls cross the street. Suddenly, a huge truck with jacked up tires appeared in the next lane, scattering the quail and her young under it’s wheels. The jerk never noticed or didn’t care, but living in a less populated, quieter area is a good thing, makes you appreciate a rural setting.
One morning in Phoenix, I was waiting at a traffic light, it was early, quiet and peaceful, I was enjoying watching a quail and her cute little fluff balls cross the street. Suddenly, a huge truck with jacked up tires appeared in the next lane, scattering the quail and her young under it’s wheels. The jerk never noticed or didn’t care, but living in a less populated, quieter area is a good thing, makes you appreciate a rural setting.
This topic is 10 yrs old but still of interest I guess.
to small towners:
Walking, gardening, even just porch sitting are not considered doing nothing.
Exchanging chitchat at the post office or grocery store are social events.
Driving 10 miles to go someplace isn't an inconvenience-it's an enjoyment.
I agree. I moved from a big city to a medium sized city, and from there to a rural area. When I opened my front door there were cows in my front yard. It was heaven for me. I had no family anywhere close but made friends with my landlord and wonderful neighbors very quickly. A trip to the stores across the river was a treat and going to the nearest city, which was almost 60 miles away, was an all day trip. I still remember going to that city once when it began to snow when I arrived and by the time I arrived home it was a full-fledged blizzard. I sweated the entire drive hone in my old '71 Nova. Good times! If it weren't for my wonky old heart I'd still live down in the country though; it was and is still a beautiful area and close to lots of rivers. Of course, I'm only a mile from a major river here in the same city I used to travel to, but it's not the same as being away from any stoplights at all for the entire county.
I've spent the past 6 years living in big (well, by my province's standards) cities while I attended university. I've recently moved back to my hometown of 10,000.
Pros:
It's a quiet, safe place where people are friendly. The town itself is very pretty. I live close to my family again and appreciate being able to spend time with them. The cost of living is lower. I also appreciate little things like not having to pay for parking and being able to get everywhere in a reasonable amount of time. My impression is that life in a smaller town is more laid back and relaxed. Having grown up here, I know it's a great place to raise a family. The town is a reasonable distance from bigger cities.
Cons:
My social life here is virtually nonexistent. It's difficult to meet people here because there isn't much to do. It can get boring and lonely. I also value my privacy a lot, and I hate that everyone knows everyone's business. I miss just being a face in the crowd. It's also quite a conservative town and while that generally doesn't present problems in day-to-day life, just the principle of it irks me!
I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate it here. I think it's a trade-off. I'm not sure if I'll stay here in the long term or not.
Sounds good like peace n quiet.
Slower pace of life generally means low stress and long life.
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