Would you live in a rural area?

Grew up in the middle of nowhere. No bus. No shop. No pub. It was hell. Left home for the city at the first opportunity and will never go back. I don't want to be dependent on a car ever again.

Honestly I feel like I'm going in your direction just want from middle of nowhere Vermont to Florida for college and man its nice not having to pack water and food to bike 30 miles up and down mountains I'm still amazed by my determination as a kid to get anywhere on bike fr I continued doing that even after I got a car

I'm torn between affordable land and going to ideological war with rural neighbors.

If you're rural enough, there are no neighbors.
That was my thought too. I'm guessing you're American. Rural Americans are especially bigoted for some reason. I've been to rural areas in other countries and they're not this bad. People openly stare at you in rural America if you're not white.
- Not quite, but it's very similar. I have an old friend that lived for a couple decades in a VERY progressive, urban area, recently moved closer to me in a smaller town, so I went to see him and, while we are definitely still friends, there were some very dangerous conversation topics covered (carbon climate, EVs which are easy to get me going on). It's like a conservative brain worm infected him sometime in the past few months, very strange.

I grew up rural, lived in a few cities as an adult, and currently live in the biggest town near the area I grew up. I can get to most anything I need within 10 minutes, with more options an hour away, and three major cities within two hours.

I was able to buy a three story (7 bedroom) house for less than 100k.

The biggest downside is that most people in my area are racist homophobic Christian Republicans. I can blend in well enough as a white man, but I can definitely see why many people would not feel welcome here.

I would and do. It's quiet and peaceful, I have forest all around me, no traffic, cost of living is lower.

Rural meaning wilderness, yes.

Rural meaning farming communities, no.

I currently live in a small city surrounded by wilderness. Transit could be better, but there's tons of culture I can walk to and I can escape to solitude in 15 minutes and it's divine.

This weekend I'm going to PAX. Last week I saw Japanese Breakfast. Next week I'm seeing John Oliver do standup. Went to a Mariners game last week too. Got Sounders tix coming up, and hockey starts soon.

Rural is nice for a weekend. Urban is where the action is.

Sounds like urban is where the money's spent 😋

Absolutely. The beauty of nature is incredible, and being able to enjoy it is important to me. Not to mention there’s not as many people around to mess things up, make things loud/dirty, or be crowded by.

Moving to a rural/secluded area has been the best thing ever for my mental health. My commute is gorgeous and there’s nothing better than waltzing around outside naked in the sunshine.
- there’s nothing better than waltzing around outside naked in the sunshine.
  Oh my goose. It's been so long since I did this but this brought back memories.
- I just did the naked bike ride through a major American city.

I do and have for most of my life. I lived on an island where my SO and I were the only permanent residents for 8 years.

I have lived in the suburbs of a couple of large towns/small cities for some years too - and in the centre of an all-but-city and although there is some convenience in those, I'd choose rural any day. The peace, proximity to nature and the ease of getting out for enjoyable walks beats convenience every time for me.

I feel like "Would you move to a rural area?" and "Would you live on a private island?" are completely different questions. 😂
- A) - it wasn't private - it was a nature reserve and I was the warden and B) - I kinda intended this in an "...and I EVEN lived on an island..." way.

Just to clarify, I'm from a European country

Nah, I'd rather just live in towns that are well connected to cities (like bus stops going to that city) while also having rural areas not too far from there

In the US these would be suburbs that are shit holes of land management and zoning.
- agree, the problem with the US equivalent how is much less walkable is, everything planned far appart, without sidewalks or bicycle lanes

I live in a town of about 2000 people. It has a grocery, a liquor store, and a hardware store. It's rural enough. I would never live anywhere I can't walk to get a bag of chips. Rural sounds good until the power goes out in a snow storm and your lane way is 7 miles long and the plow guy ain't coming.

If you have a 7 mile driveway, and the plow guy isn't you, you fucked up.

What does traffic have to do with living in the city? You don’t drive when you live in the city, the traffic is from people in the suburbs coming into the city - you’re already here there’s no reason to drive.
- Traffic has a lot to do with living in the city. I'm about 6 miles away from major destinations downtown. I mostly work remote, but when I go into the office, it's about 7 miles away in one of the suburbs.
  "What about the bus?" you might ask. Well, around here that's kind of a sick joke. It works OK for commuting -- but it turns my 15 minute drive into an hour on the bus with at least one transfer. And what if I'm trying to go to a party that a friend is hosting in the suburbs? In many cases, I'd have to arrange to stay overnight because bus service to that area just stops until morning.
- That very much depends on the city. I live in Los Angeles. It's giant, and most people have to do quite a bit of driving. My personal commute is only 15 minutes by surface streets, but almost everyone I know has to take the freeways. My doctor is 15 miles, and traffic can change that from 20 minutes into an hour and a half.
- So much walking, but in a good way. I used to work for the city doing IT work and would walk between most city buildings blocks apart, would put in like 7 miles a day.
The city has too much traffic but you like walking..

There are a lot of aspects of it that really appeal to me, but I'd miss the shit out of using a bicycle as my primary means of transportation and having everything relatively close.

To be fair, this largely depends on the country you're in. Appreciate that the bike is going to be pretty useless in somewhere as car-centric as the US, but I've lived in rural areas in the EU where the bike was quite enough.
- I live in the US and my bike is my primary means of transportation, not rural though: When you get more remote, everything of significant distance is highways and it'd be super dangerous trying to ride a bike or even an ebike. You'd need a motorcycle at minimum.

Contingent on fiber internet and having a four-wheeel-drive vehicle, yes.

Snow's a bitch and so is DSL. Other than that, the solitude would be rad.

The DSL thing is a bit of a myth nowadays. The rural area around where I live has better internet than the city.
- Then you live in a pretty recently upgraded area. https://www.npr.org/2023/06/28/1184726217/rural-states-likely-to-benefit-the-most-from-funds-to-improve-broadband-access
I have starlink. Better internet than I ever had in town. We should be getting fiber any day now too.

No, I've done it before. It's awful being dependent on a car to go anywhere, there's less to do.

I grew up in what was a rural area that suburbanized as I got older. Even then, it would still be around 15-20 minutes to get anywhere by car, including the grocery store. There wasn't much to do that didn't involve church, so if I wanted to do something like go to the movies it would be about a 30 minute drive with good traffic. Where I'm at now is in the middle of a moderate size city, where I can walk to restaurants and bars, and I can get to several grocery stores or movies or the mall within 10 minutes. I like living in the city better, I don't want to live far away from stuff anymore.

I currently do, I can't stand larger cities. Too much traffic and pollution. Too many people and crime.

I live where people go to vacation, to get away and relax. Nothing better than this.

Prior to her posting at Fort Knox, my wife was stationed in Queens, NY. We spent 3.5 long years living in Long Island. We now live in a town of about 3K people, and it's lovely and rural and I live it.

If money isn't an issues I will leave the city and bought a nice house in a rural area somewhere because I hate everyone

I already do, I live on a back road that sees maybe 20 cars a day. I have a beautiful view. I’m an hour away from a large town with everything in it, so I’m close enough to any of that when I want it, yet I’m far enough that my cost of living is low. The town with a school, grocery store, hardware store, bars, clinic, etc is less than 10 minutes. 4 bigger towns with more jobs and more store options are 30-35 minutes with hospitals as well.

I can walk out of my house and be in nature almost instantly. I don’t have to drive anywhere.

Yeah I can’t call and have food delivered and I can’t walk to any shops but I consider myself in the perfect balance of remote and having access to what I want/need. Unless I go to a nursing home, my only move from my current house will be from it to six feet under.

Same boat here. It's absolutely amazing.

Give me good public transport and good internet on the country side and I'm all for it.

In a lot of places the internet is there, but realistically the public transport never will be. It would cost so much to provide a service in every rural area that 3 people use that its totally infeasible. I think this is the situation where cars make sense, for people where public transport isn't a realistic option.
- Cars make sense because the public transport hasn't been built out. Trams could be used without the need to employ drivers until self-driving cars come around.
  There's a lot that can be done if the will were there.
good public transport
HA! Good one!
- Rural public transport: Paved road^[1] and two feet!
  [1]: Paved road optional

If I was a straight white men, married to a straight white woman with stra white children, I would definitely consider it.

You don't know shit then, we have people of all walks of life in my rural area. Stop living your life based on what you hear on tv or social media.
- Does this.... does this include you, as well?
- Thanks, that means a lot, coming from the Poisoner of Doma!

Only if its in a blue state. I dont want desantis or some other nutbar trying to turn the state into a shithole.

If you're rural enough the state isn't doing shit for you either way.
- I dont want to live in a state that harasses my friends for the crime of existing or trying to dictate what women do with their own bodies. It isnt just about me. And its not like I am never going to leave my hypothetical ultra rural property. Itd be nice if the areas around weren't essentially a third would country because of wrong headed/malicious policies

I live there now and want to go back to the city but also the nature is gorgeous around where I live.

I have the same mental struggle! It'd be hard to give up my beautiful yard across from a beautiful park, but I also miss being able to get to the grocery store in a timely fashion.

Hell no! I wouldn't survive there.

Only if I can get fiber internet.

Yeah I love rural areas but only with internet. TV, gaming, and work all depend on it.
My city of 15k has 10G Fibre. The collective communities just outside all enjoy 1.5G.

I live in a small city (40k population). It's the worst of both worlds. The grocery stores are shit, there's nothing to do, and it's built up just enough to be ugly as sin with no good nature access. As long as I can get reliable internet, I'm open to rural.

For me, I recently moved from a busy city to a rural-ish town to help take care of my grandparents. Since they’ve now passed, I’m taking care of their house/land. I love learning new things and being independent. I really enjoy mowing the lawn, splitting wood and running a wood stove!

I’m about 45 minutes from a huge city/trauma hospital/ big Mall… but I’m only 10 minutes from my kid’s school, the grocery store, and primary care physicians, and 7 minutes to my job (which is actually on my road too).

What I don’t miss from the city is the noise. My goodness, sirens and people and horn honking traffic, jackhammering construction etc. It was never actually dark outside. Couldn’t really see the stars in the sky and had to keep my blinds/curtains closed most of the time for privacy.

I’m close enough to emergency help if my family needs it, but far enough from the bustle of the city. I’m content.

Nope. I won’t even live in suburbia, which I consider a rural area, let alone somewhere even more remote.

People talk about the peace and quiet, but...

My grandparents used to live out in the country. Simple little house on a lake. When I'd visit, it wasn't actually quiet -- I'd always hear at least one neighbor across the lake mowing lawn, running a weed whipper, etc.

Maybe you'd get some true quiet in a more isolated part of the country? I'm not sure anymore. Motor sound carries.

I'd love to. Just need to find a rural area with decent weather and internet. Not having neighbors in line of sight is an amazing thing.

That last line chef's kiss
If you can't step out your front door and take a leak without the police being called, what's the point?

I do and I don't regret it.

Absolutely. I can't stand having people constantly on top of me. Sure shopping is more convenient and the restaurants are great, but give me 5 acres to homestead and you'll barely see me again.

Nope, I was very happy to move to the city, not planing on ever going back.

I've lived in a city all my life. I dream about the day i can retire/ find a remote job that allows me to work in a place surrounded by nature, in a house with a basement and my own backyard and ample space.

Absolutely not, I love living in the city. I walk everywhere or take public transport. Maybe if I had a train station near my house in a rural area, I would consider it.

I think so. I used to live in a rural area, with no neighbours for miles. It was lovely.

On the other hand I think I might've grown used to the comforts of small-town living. I'm moving to a town with a population of about 15k, and it's really well balanced. It's nice and sleepy, with modern amenities and services like grocery deliveries and whatnot. Plus the cost of living is super low.

I work from home so it doesn't really matter where I am so long as I have an internet connection.

Yes i love being in the countryside

I actually like rural areas, but, in the US, I would never consider living in a rural area for political reasons. Sole exception would be some rural parts of New England.

I already do, it might be a bit more challenging to make new friends, but also many upsides like less noisy and more relaxed living environment, usually more nature

Over a city? Easy.

I prefer some population, but as far as I'm concerned cities are unlivable. I have to have space.

Yep it's nice to be able to afford to buy a house and land, and have room to do whatever you want. No crackheads wandering by looking at what we have sitting out available to steal. No noisy neighbors waking me up with parties or drums or other loud noise. No city pollution and summertime garbage dumpster stenches. No traffic congestion on my road, ever. 5 minutes from the grocery store and liquor stores and a local dispensary. It really can't be beat, unless you're wealthy and can afford an even better spot.

My ultimate goal is to live in the middle of nowhere with nobody else around, cut off from most everything.

I’m over dealing with how this world has developed. I want to live out the rest of my life in the quiet as far away from other people as possible.

Agreed. I want internet, but beyond that I don't want to be near anything. My mom was telling me to prioritize a place with good medical services, but it seems like by the time I am old and in constant need, the unsustainability will have come home to roost.
- I’m not even sure I want internet anymore. The damage it’s done to my mental health probably isn’t worth it, and I think it’d be a huge positive in my life to cut it out entirely.
  Agree on the unsustainability part. Im expecting the world to collapse before I reach retirement age.

I have family who live in a rural area. It's very nice to visit because the landscape is beautiful. The locals are also quite nice and helpful if you ever need it. But I don't want to regularly spend an hour each way to the nearest supermarket or pharmacy. I don't like driving that much. It seems to me a lot of the money you save on real estate you spend in time and convenience. I see the appeal, but it's not for me.

Ideally I'd have access to both- i.e., a 'home base' in the city, plus a small place to stay out in the woods somewhere, preferably less than 20 mins on foot from a commuter train. Continuing to avoid driving would be great

I grew up in one and am currently trapped there. It's my personal hell.

I grew up rural (largest town I lived in by far was ~15K) and probably not tbh. I've been living in big cities abt 10 years now, basically my whole adult life.

I fucking hate driving
I have finally basically entirely escaped small town gossip, I'm not going back, I love my privacy too much
It's hard enough to make friends with a big pool of options, let alone like 1000 people who already know your whole family lol

On the plus side, the sense of community can be good in some small towns. It's nice when most of the town shows up to community events - what else are they gonna do, stay home alone on the rare day somethings happening? It felt easier to form community groups like bands etc in that way.

I would consider moving to a smaller city, but probably nothing under 100K, and it would need transit too.

If the internet is good, and I’m not too far from town (like within 30 minutes driving) then hell yeah I’d live in a rural area. I’m more of a homebody so apart from buying groceries and going out on weekends I wouldn’t have to drive too much. The only thing is I’d need a home gym to avoid going back and forth every day

It's bliss - at night with the windows open it's dead silent. No cars zooming down the highway, no dogs barking at all hours of the night. No annoying lights from your neighbors shining into your house, and you can actually see the stars at night. All you hear are the sounds of nature.
Plus there's no HOA and enough land to have a small orchard with a flock of chickens (both for eggs and meat production) to produce fertilizer/compost for the gardens/orchard.
Luckily the grocery store is a 15 minute bicycle ride away (so the car stays at home most of the time). But you're absolutely right - the home gym necessity. I'm constantly adding equipment (since a home gym is never "finished" lol). I like using my Fitbod app since I can tell it what gear I have at home to play with so it'll generate routines using only that equipment.

Yes, happily. I grew up in a rural area and would much prefer to go back.

I would if given the chance, I really don't like people.

No.

Public transit is ass compared to anything less rural.
A bus at the morning/evening vs a bus every 20min and a great connection to downtown.
Yeah no, fuck that as a trading argument. It has to be a very good and big property/house and cheap car for me to trade that.

I dislike driving.

I've lived in towns with populations from 2000 to 6500 that aren't quite the middle of nowhere but you can see it from there. I now live ina city of 750k people and I hate it. I would move back to a small town in a heartbeat.

I’ve been living in Paris for 3 years, I do enjoy the city life and activities. But I come from the south of France (coast of le Var, french riviera) and even though it’s not that rural, I wasn’t living in a city either. Best is a mix of the two : sometimes I work in Paris, sometimes I go back down south for a few days/weeks.

No. I grew up on a farming area (not as a farmer just in the area) and it was boring as hell.

It might have actually been ok if we had any land to farm because then we'd have had something to do but it was just a farmhouse on a farm that we otherwise didn't own.

Very picturesque, but the internet was terrible, it was like a 2-hour drive to the nearest town, and that was hardly a metropolis, all the shops used to close at about 2:00 p.m. on a Sunday. No nightlife. The local newspaper once ran a major story because somebody had thrown a firework in a lake, the coverage was as if world War 3 had been declared, it was the most interesting thing that had happened in decades.

I don't need to live in a major city but I like to live somewhere where if you want to get some corn flakes it doesn't become a great expedition.

I would rather taste the sweet release of death

It depends on how rural. I certainly wouldn't want to live like Courage the cowardly dog.

Well, tbf, creepy stuff does happen in nowhere.

Don't particularly like bars where the main topic of conversation is who the patrons would like to shoot/put in camps. Granted I live in a small town now, but it's a bit different vibe when it's a resort town.

As a foodie, no way. I couldn’t stand having my choice of foods to be “the Chinese place” or some random diner. Besides, diversity is the spice of life!

Depends on the area. We live pretty rural... Lots of vineyards around. With some of the best restaurants in the state within 15 mins.
I'll admit it's the exception to the rule though.

Yes, if they didn't catch fire all the time.

I grew up rural, and I'm watching both of my parents get repeatedly hit with increasing demands from their insurance companies. First it was 30 feet of fire clearance, this year it went up to 100.

I get it. It's necessary. I'm just not interested in spending my retirement clearing brush.

I'd rather live in a suburban area. It's the best of both worlds - you got selective access to what you want from the city, but you're still far enough from that demographic fuckery. Property is cheap enough to get an actual garden, where I could plant my peppers and lemon tree.

Hmm, probably not. I enjoy things close-by. Just not too close.

No, my wife came from there and won't go back. We live in a small town near big towns. When my kids were growing up the neighbors knew them and they couldn't get away with anything.

We do struggle with the Trump flags but have almost as many pride flags and when my youngest hosted our towns first ever pride parade we only received one piece of hate mail which included an anti trans book.

Rural rural yes. Suburb masquerading as a village/town? Hell no.

I tried for 2 years, but with long work hours I didn't have much time to meet new people and since I'd just moved there for work, I didn't know anybody. Cost of living was great and I loved the friendly people and pace of life. I just couldn't handle the loneliness and isolation. I would do it again, but with a better work life balance and a stronger intention to meet people and make new friends.

Yeah I'd be fine with it. My biggest obstacle would be getting to work. I order most of my stuff online these days and internet is easier to come by

I kinda already do. Drive 5 minutes in any direction and it's farmland.... Maybe not as rural as some, but I'm kinda out there compared to every other place I've lived. I'd go more rural.

The only real down side I'd have is that the internet would suck donkey balls, and I like having good internet.... Assuming I can overcome that, then 100% I'd go further rural than I am.

I'm not living in the brush or anything, I'm in a tiny suburb type area, in-between large farmlands. About ~5k people in my little township, and I happen to be in those suburbs. Internet here is pretty decent, no fiber, but it's decent. We have "city water" and sewer, natural gas and electricity from the grid.... Given enough money, I'd live further out with well water, septic, and off-grid power.... No hesitation. Only the internet (or rather, lack of any internet) would give me pause.

I used to live in a rural part of the UK and I hated it. It's so boring. I like having things to do.

I did for 8 years. The land in the area was beautiful. Lots of wonderful hiking and mountain biking trails. People were nice. It was hard seeing family, since it was an eight hour drive. Real estate prices were lower. I'm really into music, and I went without seeing bands play for most of the time we lived there. I'm back in a city and happy. See concerts multiple times a month now. Living in a rural area was a nice experience, but I don't think I'd want to do it again.

I live in a small tourist town (Ashland, OR), so I'm kinda in a mix where everything is compact and in one place, and services are common and very handy, whilst also having a lot of that beauty that living rural comes with, my only real issue here being the expense of everything.

My father lives in a "country roads" kind of environment as of recently, and I can personally confirm that I prefer being in a population of people in general, it's beautiful there, but I definitely felt "isolated" of sorts.

I do. It means peace and quiet. It means a reasonable price for housing. It means learning some skills to maintain your place yourself. It means being more self-sufficient. It means you have to plan ahead because shopping is a 1x a week event, not a daily thing.

It also means people visit less and either are amazed at how much you have "out here," or are astounded you can live "out here."

I grew up rural and I'm glad to be a city boy now. I don't want to move back. Maybe if I get older and can't stand the bustling city life anymore?

I moved away from a rural area and I would really prefer to go back.

I went from living in a small city to a very big city and the change was so drastic. Restaurants downstairs. Grocery store in the same building I'm in. I can walk from my door to a subway station in less than 3 minutes. My doctor's office is 10 minutes walk. I can't imagine needing to use a car to just do regular things like going to a mall.

Yeah, I used to, then moved to the city... Kinda miss it now, despite all the urban services

I don't really want to, but the cost of things is going to eventually drive me out there. I don't like being away from great dining choices, decent coffee roasters, good transit options, and most importantly, nearby hospitals for emergencies. I also really hate the red / right political bent of the rural areas.

Given your taste for amenities, and you are probably working for (someone else), this will require a car. The rural life will take more of your time commuting, it will put more miles on the odometer of any car, and of course you'll need to fuel & change oil more often.
Living in the country isn't necessarily cheaper.
- Luckily I do get to work from home, and being in a well established city level suburb of a major city gives me a mostly decent middle ground. We have a decent close by hospital, the food choices I'm usually wanting, and so on. Yet I can still pretty easily head 'in to town' to the major city for the large garden parks, shows, museum, and extra shops. But I can tell within 5 years, I'll have to move another hour out to a cross between it being a distant suburb / farming town... and they are already in the news often enough for their right wing movement and racist happenings. I'm being vague on purpose, but that's how it is. Then I wouldn't make it into the city nearly as often, and the various cuisine choices I and my wife like are almost non-existent. Not to mention that entire town would mask to save a baby seal. sigh And yeah, transit there is the scarcely seen busses. No commuter trains... and I hate busses. Obligatory asdf movie quote, "I like trains..."

Yes, less assholes around.

Yep! Rather rural now and shopping for land in the middle of nowhere as we speak!

I grew up in a major Midwest city with over 1 million people in the metro area and if I've learned 1 thing it's that random people suck. Now I know half the people I see on any given day. My daily commute is 4 minutes. I can drive 5 minutes the other way to hunt deer and elk.