Rural or Urban?

[trinacriabob]

I definitely need to be close to a big city even though LA and NY are now overwhelming for me. I have adjusted nicely to the second tier cities. However, I like the suburbs. To me, living in the suburbs means you are NO less hip or sophisticated. (I tend to hate in-town bohemian neighborhoods). In Atlanta, I moved straight to Dunwoody. While in Seattle, I lived in Kirkland for over 3 years. I will always prefer suburban living and this has been the case since I graduated from college (the first time)

[Robert Hall]

I definitely prefer urban.....I live in downtown Denver currently. I like suburban also, though. I've done rural--my parents loved it--I hated it...lived 5 miles from the nearest town (and it was a dreadful podunk Ohio town of 250). As a child, it was great, as an adult, I'm bored to death there...(imagine places where driving 20 min. to McDonalds constitutes dining out). My mom and my older brother still live there and love it. It doesn't work for me...(no decent job opportunities for me within 100 miles is a big part of it). I've lived in a small Florida resort town also, which was nicer (Marathon, about 3000 people), but still too small for my tastes... I've also lived in a few smallish (10,000-30000) Ohio towns, a Michigan college town (Ann Arbor), bigger cities (Columbus & Cleveland, Ohio), a really big city (Chicago), suburbia (Phoenix, Colorado Springs) .. I loved living in Chicago, though the climate seriously sucked. There are just so many things about living in a major metro area that I like that I wouldn't want to do without....the shopping opportunities, dining choices (I love to experiment a lot with ethnic cuisine like Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, etc), good bookstores, an international airport, entertainment--going to an occasional NFL/NHL/NBA/pro baseball game, local bands, big-name bands, movies, coffee shops, local brewpubs, a good independent BMW mechanic, etc. I don't want to have to drive 20-40 minutes to get to them either... I'm not sure where my next move will be, though..getting restless..thinking either the Denver suburbs (trade my 1200 sq ft loft up on a nice 3500 sq ft house--both about the same money) or maybe Portland (in the city or a suburb like Beaverton). I wouldn't mind owning a weekend getaway someplace semi-rural, though..I've thought about buying a condo up in the mountains. Edited December 28, 2005 by moltar

[razoredge]

I had a taste of all three and see many benefits of all. Im always a facinated "watcher" or "looker" so urban areas really spark my interest, I had a gas on my own at 17 for a summer in Boston. Grew up in a small town surburban environment. Now I have been a hardcore hillbilly (except for that destructive shotgun business) for 25 years. 40 minutes gets us into the "city" but thats rare. No money here for entertainment lifestyle. I did enjoy my time working in city and living here, it made me appreaciate the country more then when I never left, I forgot why I loved it in the first place. Work and physical/skill challenges has always been my sick form of entertainment. How about winter camping in Adirondac wilderness with a dog team ? Twilight silent sliding through the wooded trails behind a team you raised and trained, wanna talk about majic. How about building your own house from the tree to the house ? No lumber here has traveled over 20 miles nor has been touched by other hands. Theres little I can think of I have not done. Nothing typical here. We will see the "country" fade drastically in the next 20 years. As the cityites with all their money move into the country and drive up real estate, promote subdivision and drive up property tax's they also bring their city ideas and next thing you know they are on the town boards making zoning laws to rid the country of the country........go figure ? :unsure:

[LosAngeles]

Are the winters milder in Denver vs. Chicago, moltar?

[Robert Hall]

Are the winters milder in Denver vs. Chicago, moltar?

Much, much, much milder...very sunny here, very little snow (except for a big blizzard once a year, usually in March or April), and very dry.... it was in upper 60s with about 20% humidity and sun last week. It's normally sunny and dry at least 6 days out of every week here.. the cold dampness is what I don't miss about Midwestern winters. Edited December 28, 2005 by moltar

[Nick]

I'm in a suburban area, but I'm in SoCal so everything is close enough to everything else. Suburban is the best of both worlds.

[The O.C.]

I love urban!  Los Angeles is amazing IMO 9million and counting!

[post="37666"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Yeah....I agree.....even though I live in the O.C....I love all the energy and excitement of living in the L.A. area....17million-plus if you count L.A., Orange, Ventura, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.....

There's more traffic on the freeways here at 2am then most cities during the middle of the day....there's always somethin' going on......

I voted urban....but love suburban also. I would live right in the city....IF I could afford to live the same lifestyle I do out in the suburbs....

The nice thing about living suburban in the O.C., is that there's plenty of nightlife, culture, restaurants, and bars without having to go up to L.A., etc. That's not what I found living in the suburbs of most other cities I've lived in (Detroit, Philadephia, even San Francisco, Dallas, etc.) In those cities, if you were in the suburbs, you HAD to go into the city to find anything to do...or find a restaurant that's actually NOT a chain....etc.....

[The O.C.]

I like rural areas in small doses. I get bored in a totally rural place. I prefer the (relative) excitement of urban living. I'd like to live in a place with rural attributes (woodsy backyard with a creek/river) but still be in a urban setting.

[post="37675"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Believe it or not, L.A. is one of those cities.....

For example.....you can be in the middle of urban Hollywood, West Hollywood, or Beverly Hills then drive 5 minutes up into the massive expanse of the Hollywood Hills and you are on windy two-lane roads in the middle of trees with houses perched on or atop hills or down in hidden valleys.

In fact, because L.A. is surrounded by mountains, and even has numerous smaller ranges of hills WITHIN the cities and suburbs, you can live right in the middle of the L.A. basin and be minutes from a more rural-type setting.....or you can be an hour or so from REAL mountain living...up near Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead at 6,500-feet-plus up in the San Bernardino moutains.

I live in Aliso Viejo, in the O.C., and our city has 51% of it's land area as wilderness or parks. Our city is on the hills that separate the ocean and Laguna Beach from the rest of south Orange County and MANY times we have problems with wild foxes and coyotes roaming our subdivisions. Right in the middle of a county with over 3million population, I can drive and be in a HUGE wilderness area hiking, jogging, or biking in 5 minutes.

It makes the craziness of living in the southern California urban jungle alot easier to manage.

[SoCalCTS]

I love urban!  Los Angeles is amazing IMO 9million and counting!

[post="37666"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I voted suburban because I always considered everything from LA to San Diego to be one big suburb looking for a city.

[Robert Hall]

17 million? Holy cow! I the biggest city I have ever been to has been either Minneapolis/St. Paul or Nashville. I can't even imagine what a place with 17 million people looks like.

The metro area is so spread out, it doesn't feel that big...it's not like New York City which looks and feels huge because of the high population density (i.e. compact and vertical)... LA (outside of downtown) feels like endless suburbia...pretty easy to get around. LA alone is about 3.5 mil, LA county 9.5 mil, and the multi-county area with 17 mil or whatever is about 100 miles east-west and 65 miles north-south (just guessing, a local will have more accurate numbers).

I'm looking forward to being back in the LA area for a few days..flying there later today to visit my g/f's folks (Redondo Beach), friends of mine in Irvine and Newport Beach, friends of hers in Manhattan Beach and Venice, and then down to San Diego for New Years. Edited December 28, 2005 by moltar

[frogger]

I live in a big suburb (700,000 poeple in the suburb) and like it. I'd love to live right downtown but I think I'd go broke if I could walk 3 minutes to a different nice restaurant every day. Edited December 28, 2005 by frogger

[sciguy_0504]

I'd like to live in O.C. for one reason: just watch "Laguna Beach" to find out. How is the crime rate out there in L.A.? For some reason, the thought of a high crime rate pops into my head. I've only been at LAX (stop over on a flight to Sydney) so I really don't have a grasp on life there. Walking from the international terminal to the domestic one made me realize how beautiful clean air really is, though, no offense.

[trinacriabob]

I'd like to live in O.C. for one reason:  just watch "Laguna Beach" to find out.

How is the crime rate out there in L.A.?  For some reason, the thought of a high crime rate pops into my head.  I've only been at LAX (stop over on a flight to Sydney) so I really don't have a grasp on life there.  Walking from the international terminal to the domestic one made me realize how beautiful clean air really is, though, no offense.

[post="64377"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Sci:

I grew up 6 miles north of the airport. The reason why the air is clean is because the coastal basin does not have mountains/foothills that hem in the smog. That's why the real estate on the West Side is so pricey...clean air and no real need for A/C. It is "the valleys" (San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, etc) that harbor the smog and are about 10 to 15 degrees warmer.

Crime rate depends on the neighborhood. It is the "bad neighborhoods" of LA that have the high crime rates. Most of the decent neighborhoods in LA are very liveable with crime rates that, I would guesstimate, are low. Most of Orange Country is very suburban, professional and Republican that you hardly need to worry about crime.

How was Sydney Australia by the way? Been thinking about it and NZ in 2007. Edited December 29, 2005 by trinacriabob

[MyerShift]

Rural. That way there aren't those other people to bother me. Sure, I might be more likely to die should something happen, but oh well. And, it's actually dark at night. And you can see the stars. how about that?

[sciguy_0504]

Sci:

I grew up 6 miles north of the airport.  The reason why the air is clean is because the coastal basin does not have mountains/foothills that hem in the smog.  That's why the real estate on the West Side is so pricey...clean air and no real need for A/C.  It is "the valleys" (San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, etc) that harbor the smog and are about 10 to 15 degrees warmer.

Crime rate depends on the neighborhood.  It is the "bad neighborhoods" of LA that have the high crime rates.  Most of the decent neighborhoods in LA are very liveable with crime rates that, I would guesstimate, are low.  Most of Orange Country is very suburban, professional and Republican that you hardly need to worry about crime.

How was Sydney Australia by the way?  Been thinking about it and NZ in 2007.

[post="64416"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I always wondered about the cost of living out there, too, because of the pollution. Thanks for letting me know.

Sydney = amazing. It's the most beautiful city in the world, hands down. So clean and fresh. I remember walking out of the airport and being surprised at how crisp the air was. Of course, it is on a harbor and just a few miles from the ocean. I travelled from Sydney - Cairns (up the east coast) for about three weeks and would love to do it again. Living there for a period of time would be awesome, too. Add in NZ and you'd have the trip of a lifetime, definately worth every penny.

[The O.C.]

I always wondered about the cost of living out there, too, because of the pollution.  Thanks for letting me know.

Sydney = amazing.  It's the most beautiful city in the world, hands down.  So clean and fresh.  I remember walking out of the airport and being surprised at how crisp the air was.  Of course, it is on a harbor and just a few miles from the ocean.  I travelled from Sydney - Cairns (up the east coast) for about three weeks and would love to do it again.  Living there for a period of time would be awesome, too.  Add in NZ and you'd have the trip of a lifetime, definately worth every penny.

[post="64528"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

The smog is not really as bad as the media makes it out to be....as long as you are anywhere near the coast.

The only time it's really bad, is if you are way inland....up close to the base of the mountains that ring the L.A. basin.....because the smog gets blown inland and hits the mountains and can't go anywhere....

Plus, BECAUSE we have the mountains, it makes the smog stand out more in the background....many cities like Houston for example have real serious smog problems and many years is rated worse than L.A....but you never hear about it in the news, etc. Phoenix and Denver are real bad too.....

[deftonesfan867]

Who knew that I would get sick of the urban life? I can't wait till I'm living in rural PA soon.

[daves87rs]

Who knew that I would get sick of the urban life? I can't wait till I'm living in rural PA soon.

How come?

[Paolino]

Suburbs. I hate the city. I hate the country. I need grass, quiet, and gardens, but I want to be able to access stores without driving an hour.

[Robert Hall]

Suburban in a large metro area for me...I like being able to go downtown when I want to, and I like the convenience of having things that are important to me close by (Target, Starbucks, a wide variety of restaurants, airport, tech company jobs, etc).

I couldn't handle the isolation and lack of access to stores, a wide variety of restaurants, etc in a rural area or small town.

[Blake Noble]

This question depends on my mood, really.

[frogger]

After being there earlier this month/taking this pic, if I could get this for a backyard I'd choose country as long as I wasn't more than 2 hours from a major city... Not happening though so I'll stick to urban living.

Edited June 23, 2008 by frogger

[Robert Hall]

After being there earlier this month/taking this pic, if I could get this for a backyard I'd choose country as long as I wasn't more than 2 hours from a major city... Not happening though so I'll stick to urban living.

There are views like this less than two hours from Denver....a couple of friends of mine have moved to Summit County (Breckenridge, Dillon) full time....the downside being the cost of living there, and that they work from home or travel for work (2+ hr drive to the airport).

One thing I've thought about if I go back to Denver full time is to buy a weekend getaway cabin or condo in the mountains...I do love it up there, even if I suck at winter sports...

[frogger]

There are views like this less than two hours from Denver....a couple of friends of mine have moved to Summit County (Breckenridge, Dillon) full time....the downside being the cost of living there, and that they work from home or travel for work (2+ hr drive to the airport).

One thing I've thought about if I go back to Denver full time is to buy a weekend getaway cabin or condo in the mountains...I do love it up there, even if I suck at winter sports...

The pic is of Vermilion lakes area of Banff, AB, an hour and 15 minutes from Calgary. There were two bull elk 50 feet from me feeding when I took that pic.
Its just that I didn't find much to like about Calgary other than the vicinity to the rockies during my stay.
There is a town just outside of the national park called Canmore that has a few full size grocery stores and other amenities and is in the rockies, but no I.T. work for myself there. Great outdoor living area as I'm sure Denver is (skiing, hiking, mtn biking etc).

[Satty]

I'm pretty much in a suburban area, and its getting old. Rural living is way overrated, I have a friend who is literally 30 miles from anywhere. Getting to his house requires driving a maze of narrow, twisty gravel roads, and his house is surrounded by trees. No way I'd ever be able to live there. I'd love to sell my house and get a loft someplace closer to work and fun stuff. If I want to go see a baseball game, or live theater, or a comedy club, or fine dining, I have to drive about 14 miles, which takes over half an hour with traffic, then try to find a parking spot. I usually park on campus and walk a few blocks, but it would be far easier if all these things were within walking distance of my front door. Realistically, if we sold the house and moved into a loft, I'd be able to bike just about everywhere I go, so we'd only need one car.

[Camino LS6]

Urban areas are for visiting, not living in.

In fact, I'm getting mighty sick of the suburbs.

I want to go "far from the madding crowd" - and stay there.

[Croc]

I'm far too social not to live in an urban area...I need people and lots of culturally-varied things to do.

[DetroitNut90]

I'm happiest in a suburban setting, somewhere far removed from the Baltimore-DC area.

I liked what I saw of the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley region.

[Camino LS6]

I'm happiest in a suburban setting, somewhere far removed from the Baltimore-DC area.

I liked what I saw of the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley region.

I've lived in the Delaware Valley all of my life, and it is a beautiful and historic region.

However, it is also way too full of people now.

[knightfan26917]

Who knew that I would get sick of the urban life? I can't wait till I'm living in rural PA soon.

Forth Worth TX to rural PA? That'll be a bit of a culture switch ... along with a climate change.

Where in rural PA will you be?



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[deftonesfan867]

Forth Worth TX to rural PA? That'll be a bit of a culture switch ... along with a climate change.

Where in rural PA will you be?

Henryville...near the Pocono's, and why am I doing it? For Kelsey.