What's your living preference - Urban, Suburban or Rural?

[eyoungren]

What do you prefer?

I prefer urban.

Here is my prejudiced viewpoint on the matter.

My parents moved from an urban city (Houston) when I was 9. From the age of 5 to 9 Houston is where I grew up.

In 1980 we lived in the suburbs for two 2.5 years but ultimately ended up in a rural town of less than 3000 people.

At that point I'm 12, my school friends are 30 minutes away by frewway and we're living on the side of a mountain where the closest chain grocery store is 10 minutes away. There are no sidewalks and the street is dirt.

By 1984 we move southeast but still in the same backwards town. I didn't get out of that town until 2000 when my wife and I moved to Phoenix.

So for all of my teenage years going to the mall was an endeavor. Hanging out with friends was a planned event. Want a snack? Ride your bike to the convenience store (10-15 minutes) and pay jacked up prices.

Lots of people have told me over the years, my wife included, that rural is great. Few people, great scenery, good air/water, etc.

I hate it! I hate rural. Nowhere to go, nothing to do (I don't count hiking or trekking over hill and valley as something to do). I want my conveniences and I want them close. And I'm perfectly willing to settle for confined spaces and lots of people in them in order to get it.

I go to coffee shops a lot. My kids and I take a table and browse the internet. Way back when, that was a 30-45 minute trip! One way!

My car has less miles and I have less maintenance issues. I pay less in gas. I have central air. No big deal to a lot of people but the uninsulated 1960s house I spent my teen years in didn't. I froze in the winter and sweated in the summer.

The scenery you get in a rural setting is not enough. After a year or so living in that area with me, my wife agreed. The 'novelty' of living rural wore off.

The irony of leaving that area in 2000 in order to move to an urban center is that AFTER we left, EVERYTHING I wanted as a teen showed up in that sleepy town and it's surroundings because of a boom in housing construction.

Guess I should have left earlier!!!

Anyway, had a discussion on this elsewhere this morning so wanted to post it here to see what others thoughts are on this.

EDIT 8/4/2017: Where I spent my time from age 12 to age 27. Looking east from I-10, Cherry Valley, CA.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Urban, and preferably in the very centre of an old, historic, atmospheric, city.

I spent the first three years of my life in a top floor flat of a four storey Georgian house - on a square in the city centre - that my parents had rented at the time while they were waiting for the home they subsequently moved into to be built. I suspect that it imprinted on me the way balloons are said to imprint on baby ducks - if they are deprived of their mothers and offered balloons instead - but I love old houses, sash windows, high ceilings, city centres, and - by preference - would not choose to live anywhere else.

In cities, I like to be within walking distance of work. And pubs, museums, coffee shops, galleries.....book stores.....

 

[Stefan johansson]

I prefer rural areas,where I can do what I do. Of course a city is ok for some,but I prefer to live where I can hunt or fish.

 

[willmtaylor]

Rural with access to urban.

I prefer nature, but I appreciate the conveniences of the city. I don’t want to live shoulder to shoulder with folks and don’t like paying more for less.

However, I do like being within an hour or so to a metropolitan area with various niceties.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Personally, I like the feel of asphalt or cobblestones beneath my feet, whereas, if I am to visit someplace rural - even if it is stunning from a physical perspective - I like to know in advance exactly when I can escape back to civilisation.

 

[mmomega]

I prefer where I am now which is a decent mixture of all 3.

I grew up in a sub 1,000 people populated town in nowhere'sville South Carolina from conception to 10. Then to Orlando, Fl where my middle school had more kids than my old towns 4 neighboring cities combined. Back to teeny town SC from 14 - 16, off to deep south Georgia. Back to same SC town until 20 when I met Texas for the first time headed to basic training.
Those next 8 years would be traveling the world via cargo planes to settle in Charleston, SC to finally decide I missed Texas more than any of the places I spend my first 28 years.

I transplanted just south of the DFW Metroplex 10 years ago and can't see myself going anywhere else.

We still, for now, have a somewhat small town vibe but growing very rapidly and I'm 20-25 minutes from Ft. Worth or 25-30 minutes to Dallas. Which for two large cities being so close are so completely different from each other.

I just simply enjoy the conveniences I have here and if and when I do need or want a getaway, pretty much anywhere else in the country I can get too in just about a 3hr flight or less.

 

[eyoungren]

Urban, and preferably in the very centre of an old, historic, atmospheric, city.

I spent the first three years of my life in a top floor flat of a four storey Georgian house - on a square in the city centre - that my parents had rented at the time while they were waiting for the home they subsequently moved into to be built. I suspect that it imprinted on me the way balloons are said to imprint on baby ducks - but I love old houses, sash windows, high ceilings, city centres, and - by preference - would not choose to live anywhere else.

In cities, I like to be within walking distance of work. And pubs, museums, coffee shops, galleries.....book stores.....

You would probably enjoy the Willo neighborhood in Phoenix. Lots of very nice old homes there.

http://willohistoricdistrict.com/

There's a restaurant we go to frequently there and EVERY time my wife tells me she wants to live there.

Still meets the convenience requirements for me so it'd be nice. Just need a hefty financial transfusion to my bank account for it though.

 

[rhett7660]

Urban / suburbs.... I like having everything I need or want to do within 5-15 minutes or so. Of course with traffic in my neck of the woods (hahah) that is usually just being able to drive down the street!

 

[ThisBougieLife]

I consider where I grew up to be just about perfect. Woodside is a very rural-feeling Silicon Valley suburb. Here houses have acres of land, oak forest abounds, and many people own horses. Yet we're just a few minutes away from Stanford University, Redwood City, and the rest of the Bay Area. Not to mention this part of the Bay Area is not far from San Francisco, so I was always able to visit "the city" and see the opera, or the symphony, and experience some high culture. Yet our home always remained a "retreat" that was extremely accessible from the suburban and urban parts of the Bay. This is my ideal situation: something that feels rural, but is still in the thick of "civilization".

Many of my friends who recently graduated college want nothing more than to live in San Francisco; that's considered the pinnacle of achievement for people in their early 20s around here. Although I love to visit SF and will hopefully always do so regularly, I don't think I'd want to live there. The cost of living is outrageous, the traffic is horrendous, it's crowded, noisy, and while it's clean for a city, it's nothing compared to where I grew up.

Likewise, to live in a truly small rural town away from it all doesn't interest me either. I wouldn't mind having a vacation home in a place like this, but I couldn't live full-time in a place so far from the diverse culture and conveniences of a more urbanized area. Not to mention small towns are no longer the escape from the problems of the city--with the opioid epidemic ravishing America's small towns, many of them I'd want to steer clear of in this day and age.

 

[eyoungren]

I consider where I grew up to be just about perfect. Woodside is a very rural-feeling Silicon Valley suburb. Here houses have acres of land, oak forest abounds, and many people own horses. Yet we're just a few minutes away from Stanford University, Redwood City, and the rest of the Bay Area. Not to mention this part of the Bay Area is not far from San Francisco, so I was always able to visit "the city" and see the opera, or the symphony, and experience some high culture. Yet our home always remained a "retreat" that was extremely accessible from the suburban and urban parts of the Bay. This is my ideal situation: something that feels rural, but is still in the thick of "civilization".

Many of my friends who recently graduated college want nothing more than to live in San Francisco; that's considered the pinnacle of achievement for people in their early 20s around here. Although I love to visit SF and will hopefully always do so regularly, I don't think I'd want to live there. The cost of living is outrageous, the traffic is horrendous, it's crowded, noisy, and while it's clean for a city, it's nothing compared to where I grew up.

Likewise, to live in a truly small rural town away from it all doesn't interest me either. I wouldn't mind having a vacation home in a place like this, but I couldn't live full-time in a place so far from the diverse culture and conveniences of a more urbanized area. Not to mention small towns are no longer the escape from the problems of the city--with the opioid epidemic ravishing America's small towns, many of them I'd want to steer clear of in this day and age.

I have always wanted to live in Concord, CA.

My cousins used to live there and for a few years I used to visit them every summer. For me, the city was perfect.

I used to have a friend who was born in and raised in the area I spent my teen years in. His mother comes from Oregon and her family has a house in the middle of freaking nowhere up there so I guess where I lived was perfect for them.

This used-to-be friend always seemed to be attached to this place. No matter what place school or vacation put him he loved the area. Even after all the housing went in there he's still attached to it.

I could never understand why, but I have never been a nature lover or a lover of the outdoors so that probably explains it. My idea of perfection is concrete and glass and well laid out/clean streets.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

.......

I could never understand why, but I have never been a nature lover or a lover of the outdoors so that probably explains it. My idea of perfection is concrete and glass and well laid out/clean streets.

Yes, I understand that sentiment completely, although I would express it somewhat differently; my idea of perfection is 17th century, 18th century and 19th century city centres, medieval cathedrals, and atmospheric medieval town centres, and perhaps some of the architecture from the early 20th century as well.

I love well laid out - clean, safe, elegant, - public spaces in an urban setting, universities, libraries, book shops, coffee shops, parks, and so on.

While I like the idea of the outdoors and nature, it is not what I dream of or desire; I can take it in small doses, and admire it from a discreet distance.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

^ As far as a place to live goes, that sounds pretty wonderful to me too. Can never have to me places to look at and buy books! That said, I never feel more at peace than when I'm out on my mountain bike hitting the trails. A balance of both seems to be ideal for me

 

[eyoungren]

Yes, I understand that sentiment completely, although I would express it somewhat differently; my idea of perfection is 17th century, 18th century and 19th century city centres, medieval cathedrals, and atmospheric medieval town centres, and perhaps some of the architecture form the early 20th century as well.

I love well laid out - clean, safe, elegant, - public spaces in an urban setting, universities, libraries, book shops, coffee shops, parks, and so on.

While I like the idea of the outdoors and nature, it is not what I dream of or desire; I can take it in small doses, and admire it from a discreet distance.

Yeah, pretty much this exactly!

My wife is attending ASU right now and I've visited the library at her campus (West Valley, not Tempe). Of course ASU is not an Ivy League school in the sense of prestige or the amount of money it receives but it's a very nice library. Two floors with a Starbucks and media center.

My son will be attending a school for the next four years that as a teen I would have killed to be a student at.

All opportunities I never would have found where I grew up.

 

[Lioness~]

I like urban but don't have to be the exact center of big cities, and definitely with close access to the ocean. That's where I can breath. ☺️

Neither rural or suburban. Have tried very shortly so I know it definitely bores me to death.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I like urban but don't have to be the exact center of big cities, and definitely with close access to the ocean. That's where I can breath. ☺️

Neither rural or suburban. Have tried very shortly so I know it definitely bores me to death.

Actually, I grew up beside the ocean, and - at the moment - I am living so close to an ocean that spray needs to be wiped from my glasses at times.

 

[jbarley]

I spent the very best years of my life here, I suppose you could call it "Urban" since it was the only town available.
Notice I lived right in the center of town.
No roads in or out, either fly in or use the commercial steamship (a 24hr ride)
No malls just a company store, 1 employer, 1 eatery, 1 theater, 1 school and 1 very busy indoor swimming pool, which turned out many world class swimmers, some whose records still stand today.
Did I mention the annual rainfall avg of 300" a year.
The town today is a ghost town but does a steady business of past residents now deceased having their remains returned for a final resting place.

 

[skinsone]

I was with friends the other day discussing just this. They came down to visit from where I use to live and see why I moved here.

I grew up in a rural area and moved in my teens to the DC area. We didn't have the luxury of riding a school bus to school, we walked or rode our bikes 2 miles each way. In high school, you could only drive if you were a senior and got a parking pass.

Raised all our kids in Northern VA while my husband was stationed in the Pentagon. I worked there for a few years too. Then we moved to a urban area but I wasn't thrilled. I missed having "space" but my husband took a job back in Fairfax so we moved again.

All the conveniences were within 2 miles. Food, shopping, schools, our church family and FIOS internet.

I decided years ago I would go back to my roots and moved to a very rural area. More cows than people in my county. But I now have five plus acres below the Blue Ridge Mountans and close to where my grandkids live.

Yup, I have to drive 45 minutes to get to my drs or hospital, 12 miles to get to the one grocery store our town has; no cable either. I definitely have to plan my errand running days. I have a WISP, ATT wireless and directv. Electric is expensive here so I have a wood stove I use in the winter. My property taxes went down $4k after moving.

Where I live, I am 911. I've got great neighbors who's homes I can't see but live on the same road.

Nothing can be better than going out late at night and viewing the sky, seeing the milky way without city lights, hearing nature instead of airplanes flying overhead.

 

[Clix Pix]

As I type, I am sitting out on my condominium unit's deck overlooking a small lake and enjoying the weather and fresh air. What I love about this is that I have a touch of being close to nature while actually in one of the close-in suburbs of Washington, DC. I can get in the car and go to the library, the gas station, the grocery store within a mile or so, and when I want more, only a few miles away are two very large malls, one of which houses an Apple Store. The only problem is that while everything is in close proximity, actually getting there can be an exercise in frustration as traffic congestion increases on a daily basis.

I rarely go downtown to DC, but when I do, it's usually easier to take Metro, the subway system, than it is to drive into town and worry about finding parking or having to pay ridiculously inflated rates in a parking garage.

Every time I think about the possibility of moving, I really cannot find anywhere as appealing and as well suited to me as where I am living right now and have lived for many years.

 

[eyoungren]

Nothing can be better than going out late at night and viewing the sky, seeing the milky way without city lights, hearing nature instead of airplanes flying overhead.

When I was dating my wife we used to take long trips up the 10 freeway after work (Ontario, Calif) past where I live and on into Indio and then back. We got out of work between 1am and 2am so the desert night sky and moon was awesome.

That said, I now live in the flight path for Sky Harbour. Every night flights come over our house shortly before they turn left for final into the airport.

When my aunt and uncle were alive we would visit them in Inglewood and you always got a sight seeing 747s with gear down landing at LAX.

I LOVE watching aircraft in flight so this is always a thrill to go outside at night and see all the airplanes with their landing lights on coming in to Sky Harbor.

If I could, I'd move closer to the airport. The sound of jet engines spooling up is got to be the greatest music in the world. To me at least.

 

[skinsone]

As I type, I am sitting out on my condominium unit's deck overlooking a small lake and enjoying the weather and fresh air. What I love about this is that I have a touch of being close to nature while actually in one of the close-in suburbs of Washington, DC. I can get in the car and go to the library, the gas station, the grocery store within a mile or so, and when I want more, only a few miles away are two very large malls, one of which houses an Apple Store. The only problem is that while everything is in close proximity, actually getting there can be an exercise in frustration as traffic congestion increases on a daily basis.

I rarely go downtown to DC, but when I do, it's usually easier to take Metro, the subway system, than it is to drive into town and worry about finding parking or having to pay ridiculously inflated rates in a parking garage.

Every time I think about the possibility of moving, I really cannot find anywhere as appealing and as well suited to me as where I am living right now and have lived for many years.

I probably lived 10-15 minutes from you. I shopped at both the Reston and Tysons Apple stores. Only time we went into D.C. was to a Nats game and used metro.

I certainly don't miss the traffic there lol. I remember when route 7, 66 and 495 were only 4 lanes and Dulles access wasn't even built. People said Reston would never turn into a major area and Dulles airport was the white elephant of airports, people wouldn't drive there to catch a flight. Boy were they wrong.

In my 60s now, I don't need all that I left behind. I enjoy and relish the life I have now. Slow and steady.
[doublepost=1499810866][/doublepost]

When I was dating my wife we used to take long trips up the 10 freeway after work (Ontario, Calif) past where I live and on into Indio and then back. We got out of work between 1am and 2am so the desert night sky and moon was awesome.

That said, I now live in the flight path for Sky Harbour. Every night flights come over our house shortly before they turn left for final into the airport.

When my aunt and uncle were alive we would visit them in Inglewood and you always got a sight seeing 747s with gear down landing at LAX.

I LOVE watching aircraft in flight so this is always a thrill to go outside at night and see all the airplanes with their landing lights on coming in to Sky Harbor.

If I could, I'd move closer to the airport. The sound of jet engines spooling up is got to be the greatest music in the world. To me at least.

Now your post made me laugh. Because I lived in the south flight path of Dulles Airport. You could tell time with the international flights coming in. Some were so low you could see the rivet bolts sometimes. We hated when the Concord took off, the sound would just shake the china off the cabinet shelves. Seeing the Shuttle flying on top of a 747 low over our home was exciting. Watching flight 77 fly over to eventually and intentionally crash into the Pentagon was one the only one single day I truly hated seeing a plane.

After I moved here it did take a good month or more to adjust to not hearing those sounds after 20 plus years.

 

[eyoungren]

Now your post made me laugh. Because I lived in the south flight path of Dulles Airport. You could tell time with the international flights coming in. Some were so low you could see the rivet bolts sometimes. We hated when the Concord took off, the sound would just shake the china off the cabinet shelves. Seeing the Shuttle flying on top of a 747 low over our home was exciting. Watching flight 77 fly over to eventually and intentionally crash into the Pentagon was one the only one single day I truly hated seeing a plane.

After I moved here it did take a good month or more to adjust to not hearing those sounds after 20 plus years.

I will say this.

When the power goes out during the summer and you walk outside the silence is very obvious. The single most common sound outside during the summer is the sound of everyones A/C.

Of course we average 100º to 116º from May to October so no big surprise.

 

[skinsone]

As I type, I am sitting out on my condominium unit's deck overlooking a small lake and enjoying the weather and fresh air.

I rarely go downtown to DC, but when I do, it's usually easier to take Metro, the subway system, than it is to drive into town and worry about finding parking or having to pay ridiculously inflated rates in a parking garage.

Every time I think about the possibility of moving, I really cannot find anywhere as appealing and as well suited to me as where I am living right now and have lived for many years.

I forgot to mention this. If you or anyone else reading this and is in the area, the one spot no one should miss visiting is the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. We took the grandkids when it first opened and then again before we moved. It's rich with history and the guide volunteers there flew many of the types of planes on exhibit. One only has to pay a $15.00 parking fee, museum is free.

Second point is, you must love the humidity to be sitting on your deck lol. I walk the dogs around my property and need a shower when I come back in even being surrounded by mountains. Gotta love the heat and humidity (currently 88 and 69 dew point) of July and August to live around here.

 

[LizKat]

Urban or rural always my choice. Suburbs, ugh, no way and because I lived in that ambience as a teenager. If rural, I like being near a village, within 100 miles of a fairly cosmopolitan city and closer than that to small cities, say 15-20k popoulation so there are places to shop, dine out (or take out), libraries, a college, newspaper, etc. But I also don't get cabin fever when I get snowed in once in awhile in winter. The life of the mind can be pretty rich and it's fun to be left to it in peace and quiet.

That said, I spent about 35 years in NYC and loved it. The energy, diversity, hustle, neighborhoods, the smell of rivers, the parks, early spring, all that great food, special places like The Cloisters and The Natural History Museum, Lincoln Center. Half of that time I was commuting 160 miles to here, loved the trip since it was scenic, sometimes made the trip twice in a week and just stayed overnight, maybe tweak the gardens a little before heading into the job (which was obviously flexible on arrival times).

Now I've been here in the sticks more than 15 years and love that too since I was used to rural life as a child. I miss the city's ethnic foods but do half-decent imitations of some of it. I cried for an hour after deciding to give up my rent controlled apartment but it let me quit working and spend quality time on my avocations. So, no regrets when I crossed the George Washington Bridge with that last load of miscellaneous items I was too foolish to throw out. Must say I don't miss August in NYC one little bit.

 

[jeyf]

just moved back to Denver and like it.
-rural or city the property taxes are the same but the the city provides more services, trash, re cycling, rec center...
-i can walk to a local Safeway, doctor, dentist or the city has lite rail and bus service
-Denver has street snow removal, i dont have to do it myself
-takes me 10 minutes to mow the lawn instead of all day
-i have real utilities; natural gas, city water, sewer, fast internet (relying on well water is bad)
-no guns going off, Denver is strict on that
-i was able to sell off my 4x4 tractor, one less mouth to feed
-Denver has its 100F summer days but the evaporative cooler takes care of these
-less bugs, mice and republicans

gods bless the the City County of Denver

 

[Clix Pix]

I forgot to mention this. If you or anyone else reading this and is in the area, the one spot no one should miss visiting is the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. We took the grandkids when it first opened and then again before we moved. It's rich with history and the guide volunteers there flew many of the types of planes on exhibit. One only has to pay a $15.00 parking fee, museum is free.

Second point is, you must love the humidity to be sitting on your deck lol. I walk the dogs around my property and need a shower when I come back in even being surrounded by mountains. Gotta love the heat and humidity (currently 88 and 69 dew point) of July and August to live around here.

HI, former neighbor! It does sound as though you did live not far from where I am. I'm closer to Fairfax/Vienna/Falls Church/Arlington than I am the Reston or Herndon area. I tend to shop at the Tysons Apple store most of the time, but there have been times when I've gotten items that were in stock at either Fair Oaks or Reston. Yes, the traffic around here now is horrible, really congested and about the only time one has pretty clear sailing is on a major holiday such as Christmas, when people are already gathered with their family and/or friends and the roads are almost free of traffic. LOL, I remember when Dulles was finally ready to open and people were saying that no one would want to fly out of there -- it was too far out "in the country"!!! Now both Dulles and National are busy-busy-busy all the time.

Yeah, the humidity can be really bad here in the summers. We had a pretty good spring as far as that was concerned and even some really pleasant days in June and the early part of July, but now the yuckiness is settling in, making everything feel three times as hot as it actually is. I sat out on the deck for a while until the humidity began increasing and really getting to me -- back inside to the A/C!

I absolutely agree with you about Udvar-Hazy -- the branch of the Air & Space Museum that is in Chantilly. It's wonderful, just fascinating. One time I went with a guy who was a former Navy pilot and another guy who was into flying as a civilian, and it was fascinating listening to the two of them talking about the planes as we walked around and gazed at them. The Navy pilot had flown several of the models we saw, so described his experiences with some of them in detail. This museum is a great place to take kids, especially if they're interested in flying and in aircraft.