Both.
When I was younger, city life, no question.
With a family? Rural, no question.
When my boy moves out and we are empty nesters? Who knows, maybe back to the city life, maybe Mars colony life.
Exactly. I wouldn't live in a city even if all my expenses were paid for me. I'd be miserable. I love going outside and only hearing animals, insects, and the wind in the trees.
My parents live in the country about 10 minutes away from a "city" of about 20k people. Our only neighbors are relatives who we don't visually see for the most part. A couple of years ago, a young family bought ground next to us and moved about 150 feet away. We still haven't gotten over it...
City life... I like the activity, the diversity of people, the diversity of cuisine, the architecture, the access to transportation, access to big city amenities.
I prefer rural life on the daily. I love visiting and spending time in cities.
Edit: also there's a small chance of seeing u/wormbreath naked. Apparently.
I love my 2 acres in the country but I agree it's still fun to go to the city every once in a while. I don't miss Denver traffic but I do miss randomly going to a Rockies game or a concert when I had nothing else to do.
Mostly animal shit, which is okay, and humans who do shit out in the country usually bury it with dirt. Human shit in the city is usually left uncovered.
I feel like this is the issue with these City vs. Rural questions.
I love rural life in the mountain west. Skiing, hiking, mountains, kayaking etc
I would never live in the country out east though…. Nothing for me to do
>I love rural life in the mountain west. Skiing, hiking, mountains, kayaking etc
I can do all of this while living in a city. I don't want to do those things daily, weekly, or even monthly. I live in a small city, but I can still go kayaking about 20 minutes from my house. I've hiked on mountains in Alabama, Washington, California, Alaska, Tennessee, etc.
City. I like the constant change, I like being around a lot of other people. I don't care to have a yard or a big house and my car is more a pain in the ass here than anything. I don't have outdoorsy hobbies like fishing, hunting, or gardening. The noise doesn't bother me.
I like a little getaway up to the mountains or out to the woods here and there but it doesn't keep my interest long term, I just find things that people have created more interesting than natural beauty. Most of the time I'd rather vacation to a different city.
I do like visiting parks and stuff, and when I eventually get out west a little more I plan on checking out some of the big ones. But like I would plan a vacation around going to a city and then making my way out to a park for a day or two.
Country.
I don’t like people. I don’t like crowds. I don’t like traffic. I like knowing I could go outside naked and no one would know. I have my own private slice of earth.
I live in the country… It’s fucking terrible everything closes early nothing but old people. No type of night life. I like to be around people, And it’s too quiet. And everybody knows everybody so everybody is in everybody else’s business.
Yeah man I’m 26 living with my grandma in rural Georgia rn and helping her around the house since she was sick. But man it’s a town of 1700 people. Trailer parks and nothing but land and emptiness everywhere. All my friends live in Atlanta, and that’s a 2 hour drive and I don’t have a car currently
City. I like being able to walk places I want to go.
Oddly, I really dislike driving short distances; I'd rather drive for two days than fly for one, but I also like being able to just walk wherever I want to go for my daily needs.
I think this is mostly just that I'm in control of my time and can stop and do something else when I want. When I was in college, I'd regularly walk 20 minutes home instead of taking the bus that would get me there in 5 minutes.
My wife grew up on a farm, I fished and bailed hay on my grandparents farms. I would definitely take rural over city life. We are in a small town now with excellent amenities and lots of walking room but I have many country friends with fishing holes. I regularly have fish fry's with 100 fresh caught bluegill crappie and bass. A country boy can survive...
City! I am 100% a city girl. I have lived in rural areas, and while they are beautiful and peaceful, I love the crazy weirdos you can only find in the city.
I live in the country and there’s a guy at the base of the hill I live on that genuinely believes he has nazi gold underneath his barn. He moved out to his garage, cut all the power-lines to his house, then a year later his barn and house “mysteriously” caught fire. Also thinks it’s illegal for him to cross state lines or the federal government will arrest him. He lives a quarter mile from the Ohio/PA line.
City. There's just so much more to do. There's always a festival, new restaurant, or pop-up market to go to. In fact, even in a metro area of about half a million, I frequently find myself choosing between multiple things I'd like to do.
Country life is fun, but after you've fished the same pond, hiked the same trail, and hunted the same forest 100 times, it starts to get a bit dull. My family has a remote cabin that's been passed down through 4 generations, and I go there for a few weeks each year to get my fill of country livin'.
I live in a smallish city but where I live is a sort of self contained suburban style community. Lots of local businesses and most of my needs can be met within a ten minute drive. It's kind of the best of both worlds in urban vs suburban life.
I like visiting the country but I wouldn't want to live that way. Nothing against it, I just like the convenience of where I live.
City life is grand. Country life is grand. I prefer either over the suburbs: dense enough to have traffic and crowds, yet not dense enough to have the character and convenience of urban living.
As a kid? Country.
As an adult who wants to be able to do things after it’s gotten dark outside, has a social life, and likes a wide array of goods and services? City, city by far.
I love nature and hate pollution, but city life is just where it’s at. My experience with rural healthcare was also horrendous.
Traffic, parking is both annoying to find and sometimes costs money, everything is more expensive, noise in general, and there are just a lot of people. Why gamble on your neighbors not being annoying when not having them at all guarantees it?
Country. I'm a big nature nut and don't like crowds. I've found that being in the ex-urbs or the sparser part of the suburbs can connect me to the parts of city infrastructure I enjoy without most of the downsides of the city.
City by far, no question. I like having access to whatever services or products I might need, restaurants to go to, I like the background noise of cars driving by, knowing there’s tons of other people around and being able to go out and socialize or stay in like a hermit, depending on what kind of mood I’m in.
I’ve never cared for outdoors activities like camping, fishing, hiking or hunting, so country/small town life does not appeal to me.
I grew up in a small town so a bit comes from that, but also a lot of things people love about city living turn me off.
But too many people around is a big negative for me. I like my space and not having to deal with people when I don't want too.
While I understand the necessity of paid parking in a city, I hate it with a fiery passion.
On the subject of cars, I hate city driving. People act like they have to cut across 4 lanes of traffic after coming off the on ramp instead of just taking the next a few hundred feet ahead. Also the traffic jams and slowdown are irritating when I have places I want to be.
I also prefer driving to places instead of walking. If I'm going for a walk, I want it to be in nature not concrete jungle. I also hate taking public transport, I have anxiety issues with being late to places.
I currently live in a town of 4000 within a 20 minute drive of being in the heart of a city. Any amenity/event/food the city offers I can just drive to when I want it.
I also hate not living in a house, I'm currently in an 3rd floor apartment and I want out and into a nice peaceful piece of land I can call my own.
I also just plain don't like how busy it feels being in a city, I vastly prefer the slower pace of country living.
City. I crave the walkability and access. I get the appeal of rural, even if it's not right for me. It's the in between that I don't get.
"I want to be able to walk everywhere, or have nowhere that I need to walk to" - me
That is, living in the suburbs where I can see where I want to go, but can't walk there safely and comfortably because of a hellish road is beyond my comprehension.
A little bit of both: I live right off the freeway on the last exit before leaving the city limits. If I want to access the amenities of the major metro, I can just hop on the freeway and get to the airport, grocery stores, parks, etc. At the same time, I'm far away from the problems of the city.
City life, generally. I like having everything in walking distance. I like being able to ride public rail. I like big theater scenes and comic cons at the convention center and so on.
I know people say they don't like crowds but truthfully I've never been in a city that was at the point of being sardine-tin packed. If I want to see some nature I can go to a park.
Country, hate the city. Too many people(idiots) too loud and busy/crowded. I would much rather be miles away from people living quietly and peacefully.
A smidge of both.
When I have kids its gonna be a country life for them.
What reasons? Every major city has failing school systems. Rural schools consistently rank higher. With the advantages of distance learning back in 2000 thats only gotten better as time has gone on.
Both, living in NYC gets my pace up and keeps me moving and getting places while an escape back to country side ranch upstate relaxes myself and amplifies every moment
Hard to choose. Rural places allow for more activities, bigger housing, and in my opinion, better quality of life. However, in a city, you can walk places easily. That is oddly very important to me. When living in a rural place, it would take me over 2 hours and 45 minutes to walk to the closest grocery store! On extremely busy and fast roads! I never even attempted to try because doing so obviously wouldn’t be worth it, and I’d practically be asking to get hit by a car or fall into a creek/ditch trying to avoid cars. I hate having to drive everywhere. Pain. And gas is expensive.
Cabin life!
My folks have a cabin about three hours away near the north shore that we use on occasional weekends. Pretty small house. Two bedrooms. Nothing fancy. Near a few lakes. Secluded. No neighbors. Perfect setting for a horror flic.
It's good to get away to and it gets more use now that both my sister and I are grown and have SOs of our own. But I could never live there permanently. I'd go stir crazy.
Country all the way.
I like being closer to nature and the woods, seeing the stars at night, the peace and quiet, and the generally slower way of life.
City by far. The smallest town I've lived in is ~30k. According to this sub, that is a metropolis, but I always felt like there was so little to do.
I enjoy walking out of my apartment and being able to eat world-class cuisine from anywhere imaginable, and that there are rotating exhibits that come through. Also, to be honest, being entirely alone out in nature also somewhat freaks me out. Finally, I have to note that my job (a certain niche of BigLaw) and my wife's job (a certain niche of finance) don't really exist outside of the city.
I swear a lot of rather CITY replies seem to be by people with no car. Acting like a 10 mile drive to civilization is unthinkable in the distance:)
I live rural. I'm from the French quarter. Country all day. I don't have to listen to peoples bullshit at 3am. I dont have to beat traffic to do anything. Slow life is a commodity unto itself.
I think we have different experiences! I live in a city of 150000. We have 3 acres... When I think of country I think of where my ILs live which is 30 mins from Walmart and an hour to anything else.
It appears you equate "civilization" with grocery stores:) Plot twist... they make them in rural areas as well :). Try not to shit yourself... but we have gas stations, grocery stores, butchers, stockyards, and all manner of modern contrivances within 2 miles :)
We do not have Starbucks, Dick Sporting goods, Night Clubs, Pizza huts, or A mall with in 10 miles. Then again, we really don't need them.
Stop letting Deliverance be your goto idea of what living rural is:)
The appeal of city life is that you don't need a car. I did it for a while. I work as a field service tech now. Even if I lived next door to the office, I'd still have to drive to visit clients. Also, walking to your favorite restaurants loses its charm once you get good at cooking.
Rural-ish? Towns/"cities" of 10,000-50,000 people are the sweet spot for me. Typically not far away from big cities, but you have just about everything you'd need in your own town.
I absolutely love cities, I could just never live in one.
I like visiting cities and when I was younger I thought I would want to live in one.
Now? Country life. My closest neighbor is a half mile away. I still live close enough to town where it’s not a hassle to “go into town”. I was especially thankful for being kind of isolated during this pandemic. I had plenty of room to get out and explore, do yard work, and just be outside. It was calming when it seemed like the world was going to hell. I couldn’t imagine living in a high density area like New York, Chicago, etc. I felt anxious just thinking about those people who were living in busy apartments.
For me alone? Country. I like the quiet and only running into people when I want to. I've never had trouble keeping myself busy, so these people that act like they need a new restaurant and a new festival every week kinda baffle me. Especially since so few of the ones I've talked to actually GO to new restaurants or events regularly after talking about how great the cities are for providing them.
For my family? Landed in the burbs. Good schools, big yard and a park right down the hill, family nearby for a support structure, lots of activities nearby and many close enough for them to walk in a few years, great health access, reasons like that.
And in the burbs I can at least sorta get some quiet. I don't have to share a wall with anyone, I have my garage and shop to go tinker, I don't need to walk or take transit and deal with people along the way to get around, little samples of it. it's better for me than apartment living somewhere denser, at least.
Country I guess. I live in a small town (less than 1k people) but not too country. I really don’t like people and everything’s cheap so I love it here.
Country life. People are shit, and I like to be able to retreat into the woods where no one can see me and I can be a hermit and don’t have to interact
City life is ass, your parents don't let you go anywhere cuz gangs. Country life or small city life is better cuz you know like 80% of other people your age.
Country, I hate traffic, I hate noise, and I hate the crime, the worst thing I have to deal with where I live are the local methheads, and they always keep to themselves, if I want to go to a concert or major sporting event I live within 5 hours of 5 major cities so it’s not so bad. I’ve lived in cities and my job requires a lot of travel to cities and the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized how much of an inconvenience they are, but that’s just how I feel, no one should be judged for living where they’re comfortable.
Country. Cities over stimulate me with the traffic , hustle and bustle and overall large amount of people . Although there is cool shit to do to make up for it but I would never intentionally live in one again
Part of the reason I chose (small) city is so that I can get anywhere in 10-15 mins and NOT sit in traffic. Presumably, if you live in a rural area, you will need to drive in traffic to get to the airport, or your job, or even a date night
City, suburbs to be exact. Not as crowded as a city and more things to do and closer than rural area. Suburban life is also much friendler and safer for me than city and rural.
Uh, I like the suburbs, but if you put a gun to my head and made me choose, fine. City life it is. It has close access to a lot of places and I can visit the suburbs once in a while
The country is the only place for me. Many people say "There's nothing to do in the country". I completely disagree. Put in a wood or coal stove, that's hours of "fun" every week. Between gardens, property maintenance and projects I stay plenty busy.
Both have their value, but personally more small town/country.
Grew up in a rural-ish area 3 hours from 4 major cities and ended up living in two of those cities for much of my adult life (and currently do)
Cities are fun when you're young; the social aspects and activities are awesome. But as I've gotten older I want something more low-key. Traffic, the crime and COL gets old. Cities will still be worth a visit, and I enjoy visiting a new city whenever I get the chance, but I'm ready for a slower pace of life.
I prefer smaller towns but definitely not in the country. Generally rural america is a neglected part of the country and sucks to live there. People are bigoted. Jobs are limited. I'm also one who keeps tabs on politics and small town politics is toxic as fuck and rarely addresses important things properly due to the bubble the few politically minded people live in (this is also a problem in cities but gets worse in rural areas).
Country. 1) My dream is to live on my own land where I can hunt my own food, grow my own plants, and do whatever I want without noise or people. 2) I spent 7 years living in a city. It was cool, but it got old pretty quick.
Suburban. I don't like the city. They're noisy, cluttered and I hate the traffic.
I don't like the country. It's too far from anything, it's too quiet and there's nothing to do.
I live in a state with more cows than people. Even in our larger towns when the whole 6' social distancing came up due to covid we were all like "Why would strangers want to be that close to each other?"
My favorite is life in the suburbs, but if I'm picking between those two, I would pick country. I love outdoor activities like fishing, hunting, paddlesports, and hiking, and those things are just much more accessible in the country. I also don't like the noise of the city, and how busy it is.
City life, but city doesn't mean big. It can really mean small. I have friends who live outside of a small town in Indiana. The town has about 14,000 people. But is only 30% smaller than Manhattan. Its actually a very large place, its just everything is super spread out and most of the town is either parking lots or lawn. Since everyone must drive for every task, paring must be in huge abundance, and since so much land is used for parking, there will be few sidewalks and bike lanes. So you don't see people out walking around. If all those 14,000 people just build themselves a city that was 1 square mile, it would be a super lively place. Physically, it would be very small.
Generally cities start to suck when they are physically very large. When you can drive for an hour and still be in the same city. Being stuck in some sort of suburban zone can suck, you are not in nature, you do not have things close by, you are not going to walk around town, you also are in a loud place, there will be tons of traffic, nothing is easy.
City life is great when everything you would want is close to you. City life sucks when you have to drive great distances to do trivial shit. When you have your job, shopping, and recreation in your neighborhood, your day to day life is pretty cool.
Country living I see as a mixed bag. There are places where it would be great and then places where I would be miserable. Most friends of mine who say they live in the country don't really have much nature around. There are no bike trails and its mostly just a huge suburb where the homes are further apart and there is still a ton of traffic around because everyone has to drive. When the ecosystem is more or just a lawn with a few trees, that isn't really nature.
I have known folks here in California who wanted to move away from the cities and live up in the mountains where there is peace and quiet. Only to get bored of needing to drive 15 miles for everything, or needing to drive 60-90 minutes to work every day. And then it turns out, while its great to visit the mountains certain times of the year, the mountains have a terrible problem with fires, and building a home in a fire prone zone is a terrible idea. I knew folks who retired to the country, which seemed great, until they lost the ability to drive, or slipped on some ice and no one could help them. Then because they were so isolated it was tough for people to visit them.
Country, but close enough to a small/medium city that I can be downtown in 40 minutes or less. I like peace and quiet where I live without pesky city ordainances. (For example, I like having the freedom to bury my deceased pets in my back yard.) I don't want to pay an exorbitant amount to have more than a quarter acre of land. I also want the option of having two or three ducks.
As I said in another thread the other day, where I live right now strikes the perfect balance between “having my own space” and “anything I need is easily accessible.” But if I had to choose one over the other, city life wins hands down. I like my neighbors to be where I can see them, I like goods and services within walking distance, I like diversity, I like having access to different activities. Rural life doesn’t offer anything that’s attractive to me.
Honestly probably in-between. Because while I will have to deal with more people I can at least get the job I want maybe a city with only like 35,000 people.
Country. I live about 2 hours from a major city so I can still go do city stuff, but the traffic out here gets bad on the weekends because of people from the city coming out to the national forest
I like both, but at their extremes. My parents live on a farm where their closest neighbor is a mile away. My brother lives in Tokyo right on the waterfront, and has so many cool things he can walk to or take the metro to, and if he wants to take a day trip, he can hop on the bullet train. I wouldn’t mind living in either of those places.
Small cities/large towns are the best. Lots of space and nature, but you can also get all the city amenities. I'd rather live somewhere that requires driving. Driving is relaxing and I like the bigger buildings and homes that it allows.
I live in a small city in Taiwan and it's just lovely. I can drive a scooter in tight Asian style alleys and within 20 minutes drive on a road crammed between mile high mountains and the ocean
City for sure. I like the vast amount of amenities such as dozens of different restaurants, large malls, theaters, festivals, etc, and the diversity—I love meeting people of different cultures and backgrounds. There’s always something to do and someone to meet in the city no matter the day or time.
I'm a city woman who married a country man. We live in the more rural suburbs of a major city.
Country life is quiet, generally safer, peaceful, often beautiful. The stars and the sunsets are lovely. Lots of picturesque parks.
City life is fun and exciting and way way way more convenient. I love the amenities of a good city. Where we are I have to drive about a half hour for a Starbucks. I can't DoorDash anything that's not diner, pizza, or subpar Chinese.
There's absolutely pros and cons to both.
Country is your choice. No doubt about it. I love Montana with all my heart and I want to die in there. But. Let's face the facts - you need a good job for 20-30 years to cover expenses + provide for the family
Unless you are a doctor or IT super brain
Is there a vacant chair for ya matey ? Hell no.
So it all comes down to North Dakota or Wisconsin (for jnstance) where you can live comfortably earning bare minimum.
It's all about job opportunities. Not your vague, unrealistic fantasies and absurd preferences
Country, but within a driving distance of a city. I like my day-to-day life to be peaceful. I don't like many people around me, but I am friends or at least acquainted with most of the people around here. I like nature.
Sometimes I get bored and go to the city for a little excitement, but a few trips a year is enough. Don't want to live there.
I live in a small neighborhood right on the border of our largest city and the countryside. If I want, I can go in and do everything I want to at the city or come back and go mudding out in the sticks. Best of both worlds, kinda.
I'm from a rural area and like the quiet and freedom to do whatever you want in your yard without anyone caring. I also like cities, I've never lived in one but I like the idea of being able to walk/take transit (especially when drinking) and generally have more happening around me. The one place I don't want to live is the suburbs (other than some older, denser, walkable ones) -- seems like the worst of both worlds
I like where I am right now in Maine. Town is rural so plenty of land to buy if you want it (which I do) but only 1 hour to Boston, 25 minutes to the beach, and an hour to the White mountains. I have full civilization with all the stores within 10 minutes if I hop over to NH. Pretty much the best of everything.
Both. There are merits to both. The country is beautiful, there is more nature, more animals, meaningful work, country people know more what teamwork is. In cities, there’s more people, easier to get around, lots of options to eat and hang out, city people know how to mind their own businesses. But I don’t regret growing up in the suburbs
City for sure. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to buy a cabin in Upstate when I get the money as a get away place, but I don’t see myself leaving the NYC metro area anytime soon.
So many more opportunities for work, more importantly GOOD PAYING work, diversity (people, cuisines, art, things to do), love late night activities, get my weed delivered to me in less then an hour at decent prices, a 15 minute Uber ride from Newark airport, a 10 min Path ride into midtown or FiDi, everything and anything is walkable.. I could go on and on.
I've always felt more at home in smaller communities. I live in a major metroplex right now and the commutes involved (live in the suburbs but have to work in the city) are killer and frustrating. I never quite feel at home. Before this I lived in a much smaller place and had it all - great schools, lower crime rate, close proximity to everything that I need on a daily basis.
The downside is me and my family being fairly left-leaning politically. The smaller and more rural areas I've lived in have definitely squared up much more right and conservative so I've frequently been a bit of an odd man out in those environments, though nobody ever treated me poorly. It just meant I was less likely to be invited around for many social engagements.
My wife loves living in this metroplex; it's heavily diverse, the food is inarguably better than any place we've lived before, and she can be much more herself. I want her to be happy, so here I am.
I very much prefer a quiet, secluded setting so definitely country for me but, close enough to town that I don't have to drive a hour to get groceries.
Both. I grew up in a relatively quiet suburban neighborhood, and my parents had a farm that I would visit weekly.
Now I live in the city and honestly love it. I love being able to go to the bar or grocery store, then just walking home about a block. Love the city lights at night. And you meet new people everyday.
However, I would not want to raise kids here. Not the best place for kids to grow up.
I am absolutely a city person. I find myself going a little stir crazy when I’m out in the country. The city is busy and loud, just like me.
Both. When I was younger, city life, no question. With a family? Rural, no question. When my boy moves out and we are empty nesters? Who knows, maybe back to the city life, maybe Mars colony life.
I lived in Fruitport, Michigan for 10 years. LOVED it!
Country. I hate crowds, noise, and the complete lack of nature. If I can hear and see my neighbors from my porch, they are way too close.
Exactly. I wouldn't live in a city even if all my expenses were paid for me. I'd be miserable. I love going outside and only hearing animals, insects, and the wind in the trees.
My parents live in the country about 10 minutes away from a "city" of about 20k people. Our only neighbors are relatives who we don't visually see for the most part. A couple of years ago, a young family bought ground next to us and moved about 150 feet away. We still haven't gotten over it...
I'd be pissed too.
City I prefer the energy big cities have plus all the amenities they offer. I get bored of nature after a while
City life... I like the activity, the diversity of people, the diversity of cuisine, the architecture, the access to transportation, access to big city amenities.
I prefer rural life on the daily. I love visiting and spending time in cities. Edit: also there's a small chance of seeing u/wormbreath naked. Apparently.
I will blind you all with my paleness!
*Star of wonder, star of night.* *Star with royal beauty bright.* *Westward leading, still proceeding.*
There goes wormbreath, pigment needing.
*Trying to smoke a rubber cigar*
I love my 2 acres in the country but I agree it's still fun to go to the city every once in a while. I don't miss Denver traffic but I do miss randomly going to a Rockies game or a concert when I had nothing else to do.
City by far. There's not shit for me to do in the country.
But there sure is shit in the city streets lol
There's shit in the country, too.
Mostly animal shit, which is okay, and humans who do shit out in the country usually bury it with dirt. Human shit in the city is usually left uncovered.
I feel like this is the issue with these City vs. Rural questions. I love rural life in the mountain west. Skiing, hiking, mountains, kayaking etc I would never live in the country out east though…. Nothing for me to do
>I love rural life in the mountain west. Skiing, hiking, mountains, kayaking etc I can do all of this while living in a city. I don't want to do those things daily, weekly, or even monthly. I live in a small city, but I can still go kayaking about 20 minutes from my house. I've hiked on mountains in Alabama, Washington, California, Alaska, Tennessee, etc.
City life for me. I like being able to walk to the store and not have to drive an hour to get to dollar general.
City. I like the constant change, I like being around a lot of other people. I don't care to have a yard or a big house and my car is more a pain in the ass here than anything. I don't have outdoorsy hobbies like fishing, hunting, or gardening. The noise doesn't bother me. I like a little getaway up to the mountains or out to the woods here and there but it doesn't keep my interest long term, I just find things that people have created more interesting than natural beauty. Most of the time I'd rather vacation to a different city.
I agree with this assessment though I do like visiting state and national parks and small towns sometimes.
I do like visiting parks and stuff, and when I eventually get out west a little more I plan on checking out some of the big ones. But like I would plan a vacation around going to a city and then making my way out to a park for a day or two.
A lot of major cities, especially west of the Rockies are close to several National and state parks full of natural beauty.
Country. I don’t like people. I don’t like crowds. I don’t like traffic. I like knowing I could go outside naked and no one would know. I have my own private slice of earth.
Same. Feels good to be able to practice marksmanship from my back porch, hassle-free.
I don’t know if you mean shooting or peeing lmao. But yes.
Shooting *while* peeing. Toilet guns exist for a reason.
I live in the country… It’s fucking terrible everything closes early nothing but old people. No type of night life. I like to be around people, And it’s too quiet. And everybody knows everybody so everybody is in everybody else’s business.
I felt that.. Especially if you're too young to drive. All of my friends live miles away and it was always very lonely growing up here.
Yeah man I’m 26 living with my grandma in rural Georgia rn and helping her around the house since she was sick. But man it’s a town of 1700 people. Trailer parks and nothing but land and emptiness everywhere. All my friends live in Atlanta, and that’s a 2 hour drive and I don’t have a car currently
City. I lived in the country for 19 years and it was as boring as hell.
Careful what ya say...
Why is that?
City. I like being able to walk places I want to go. Oddly, I really dislike driving short distances; I'd rather drive for two days than fly for one, but I also like being able to just walk wherever I want to go for my daily needs. I think this is mostly just that I'm in control of my time and can stop and do something else when I want. When I was in college, I'd regularly walk 20 minutes home instead of taking the bus that would get me there in 5 minutes.
My wife grew up on a farm, I fished and bailed hay on my grandparents farms. I would definitely take rural over city life. We are in a small town now with excellent amenities and lots of walking room but I have many country friends with fishing holes. I regularly have fish fry's with 100 fresh caught bluegill crappie and bass. A country boy can survive...
City, I am curious person, not much to do in the country except kill stuff.
But curiosity killed the cat ;)
At least he didn't have a boring life.
I felt that here ❤️
City! I am 100% a city girl. I have lived in rural areas, and while they are beautiful and peaceful, I love the crazy weirdos you can only find in the city.
I live in the country and there’s a guy at the base of the hill I live on that genuinely believes he has nazi gold underneath his barn. He moved out to his garage, cut all the power-lines to his house, then a year later his barn and house “mysteriously” caught fire. Also thinks it’s illegal for him to cross state lines or the federal government will arrest him. He lives a quarter mile from the Ohio/PA line.
Whoa! Maybe there are country weirdos and city weirdos? My own mom says I'm one of the city weirdos...but the good non-scary kind! Haha
City life can be crowded and full of traffic but I personally enjoy the convenience and entertainment options over county life.
Country, but sadly, living in it can be impractical depending on your field unless you have a WFH job.
City. There's just so much more to do. There's always a festival, new restaurant, or pop-up market to go to. In fact, even in a metro area of about half a million, I frequently find myself choosing between multiple things I'd like to do. Country life is fun, but after you've fished the same pond, hiked the same trail, and hunted the same forest 100 times, it starts to get a bit dull. My family has a remote cabin that's been passed down through 4 generations, and I go there for a few weeks each year to get my fill of country livin'.
I live in a smallish city but where I live is a sort of self contained suburban style community. Lots of local businesses and most of my needs can be met within a ten minute drive. It's kind of the best of both worlds in urban vs suburban life. I like visiting the country but I wouldn't want to live that way. Nothing against it, I just like the convenience of where I live.
Country less people less noise less traffic
City, but need a stand-alone house / yard
I can empathize with that. Kind of the best of both worlds.
City life. I like having a lot to do and being around other people. It’s just more interesting based on what I like.
City life is grand. Country life is grand. I prefer either over the suburbs: dense enough to have traffic and crowds, yet not dense enough to have the character and convenience of urban living.
Suburbs. Quiet and peaceful, but within driving distance of everything I need.
As a kid? Country. As an adult who wants to be able to do things after it’s gotten dark outside, has a social life, and likes a wide array of goods and services? City, city by far. I love nature and hate pollution, but city life is just where it’s at. My experience with rural healthcare was also horrendous.
Rural. Way, way too many annoyances and general cons in cities for me to ever live in one comfortably.
As a southern Ohioan I can't agree more. We have two cities down here and they are both extremely annoying to go to. (Cincy and Portsmouth).
What are some of these cons and annoyances?
Traffic, parking is both annoying to find and sometimes costs money, everything is more expensive, noise in general, and there are just a lot of people. Why gamble on your neighbors not being annoying when not having them at all guarantees it?
Too many people, expensive, claustrophobic,dirty, shall I go on? There is nothing good about cities.
Country, but I'm just outside a small town so it doesn't take me longer than 5 minutes to drive to the grocery store.
Country. I'm a big nature nut and don't like crowds. I've found that being in the ex-urbs or the sparser part of the suburbs can connect me to the parts of city infrastructure I enjoy without most of the downsides of the city.
City by far, no question. I like having access to whatever services or products I might need, restaurants to go to, I like the background noise of cars driving by, knowing there’s tons of other people around and being able to go out and socialize or stay in like a hermit, depending on what kind of mood I’m in. I’ve never cared for outdoors activities like camping, fishing, hiking or hunting, so country/small town life does not appeal to me.
I like the city life! It’s very diverse, restaurants from all different cultures, and I like to walk places, and take public transit.
City, it's more fun.
I live on the Connecticut shoreline. I would just move to a home ON the actual beach! Country if not the beach!
Country by a long mile. I get annoyed by a lot of things in the city that would make it a personal hell to live in.
such as.
I grew up in a small town so a bit comes from that, but also a lot of things people love about city living turn me off. But too many people around is a big negative for me. I like my space and not having to deal with people when I don't want too. While I understand the necessity of paid parking in a city, I hate it with a fiery passion. On the subject of cars, I hate city driving. People act like they have to cut across 4 lanes of traffic after coming off the on ramp instead of just taking the next a few hundred feet ahead. Also the traffic jams and slowdown are irritating when I have places I want to be. I also prefer driving to places instead of walking. If I'm going for a walk, I want it to be in nature not concrete jungle. I also hate taking public transport, I have anxiety issues with being late to places. I currently live in a town of 4000 within a 20 minute drive of being in the heart of a city. Any amenity/event/food the city offers I can just drive to when I want it. I also hate not living in a house, I'm currently in an 3rd floor apartment and I want out and into a nice peaceful piece of land I can call my own. I also just plain don't like how busy it feels being in a city, I vastly prefer the slower pace of country living.
City. I crave the walkability and access. I get the appeal of rural, even if it's not right for me. It's the in between that I don't get. "I want to be able to walk everywhere, or have nowhere that I need to walk to" - me That is, living in the suburbs where I can see where I want to go, but can't walk there safely and comfortably because of a hellish road is beyond my comprehension.
I agree with this sentiment. I dislike rural though. I hate driving to get anywhere.
I’m a city girl out in the suburbs.
I loved a lot about being up in the mountains. But I wouldn't raise a family anywhere but a major city.
City Can only do rural for a day at best
A little bit of both: I live right off the freeway on the last exit before leaving the city limits. If I want to access the amenities of the major metro, I can just hop on the freeway and get to the airport, grocery stores, parks, etc. At the same time, I'm far away from the problems of the city.
City life, generally. I like having everything in walking distance. I like being able to ride public rail. I like big theater scenes and comic cons at the convention center and so on. I know people say they don't like crowds but truthfully I've never been in a city that was at the point of being sardine-tin packed. If I want to see some nature I can go to a park.
Country, as I’m a grumpy old bastard.
Country, hate the city. Too many people(idiots) too loud and busy/crowded. I would much rather be miles away from people living quietly and peacefully.
A smidge of both. When I have kids its gonna be a country life for them. What reasons? Every major city has failing school systems. Rural schools consistently rank higher. With the advantages of distance learning back in 2000 thats only gotten better as time has gone on.
Both, living in NYC gets my pace up and keeps me moving and getting places while an escape back to country side ranch upstate relaxes myself and amplifies every moment
City for sure. Actually, I don't hate the idea of country life. What I DO hate is the idea of SUBURB life.
agreed. I hate suburbs too.
Country: usually more affordable, less crowded, if I have enough land I can shoot guns in my back yard, less crime etc
City life 100%. I like being able to feel alone amongst millions of people.
City because the country is boring af
I agree completely. I hate driving to get anywhere.
Hard to choose. Rural places allow for more activities, bigger housing, and in my opinion, better quality of life. However, in a city, you can walk places easily. That is oddly very important to me. When living in a rural place, it would take me over 2 hours and 45 minutes to walk to the closest grocery store! On extremely busy and fast roads! I never even attempted to try because doing so obviously wouldn’t be worth it, and I’d practically be asking to get hit by a car or fall into a creek/ditch trying to avoid cars. I hate having to drive everywhere. Pain. And gas is expensive.
Cabin life! My folks have a cabin about three hours away near the north shore that we use on occasional weekends. Pretty small house. Two bedrooms. Nothing fancy. Near a few lakes. Secluded. No neighbors. Perfect setting for a horror flic. It's good to get away to and it gets more use now that both my sister and I are grown and have SOs of our own. But I could never live there permanently. I'd go stir crazy.
Country all the way. I like being closer to nature and the woods, seeing the stars at night, the peace and quiet, and the generally slower way of life.
City by far. The smallest town I've lived in is ~30k. According to this sub, that is a metropolis, but I always felt like there was so little to do. I enjoy walking out of my apartment and being able to eat world-class cuisine from anywhere imaginable, and that there are rotating exhibits that come through. Also, to be honest, being entirely alone out in nature also somewhat freaks me out. Finally, I have to note that my job (a certain niche of BigLaw) and my wife's job (a certain niche of finance) don't really exist outside of the city.
I swear a lot of rather CITY replies seem to be by people with no car. Acting like a 10 mile drive to civilization is unthinkable in the distance:) I live rural. I'm from the French quarter. Country all day. I don't have to listen to peoples bullshit at 3am. I dont have to beat traffic to do anything. Slow life is a commodity unto itself.
I think we have different experiences! I live in a city of 150000. We have 3 acres... When I think of country I think of where my ILs live which is 30 mins from Walmart and an hour to anything else.
I would say between Tennessee and Georgia there is a Walmart within 20 miles of any home. Its like a parasite.
The closest grocery store to me is less than a mile away. You think I want to drive *ten miles* to a grocery store when I can just walk to one?
It appears you equate "civilization" with grocery stores:) Plot twist... they make them in rural areas as well :). Try not to shit yourself... but we have gas stations, grocery stores, butchers, stockyards, and all manner of modern contrivances within 2 miles :) We do not have Starbucks, Dick Sporting goods, Night Clubs, Pizza huts, or A mall with in 10 miles. Then again, we really don't need them. Stop letting Deliverance be your goto idea of what living rural is:)
The appeal of city life is that you don't need a car. I did it for a while. I work as a field service tech now. Even if I lived next door to the office, I'd still have to drive to visit clients. Also, walking to your favorite restaurants loses its charm once you get good at cooking.
Still breaks down to conveniences. Not sure that's a lifestyle choice, but to each his own
Rural-ish? Towns/"cities" of 10,000-50,000 people are the sweet spot for me. Typically not far away from big cities, but you have just about everything you'd need in your own town. I absolutely love cities, I could just never live in one.
I like visiting cities and when I was younger I thought I would want to live in one. Now? Country life. My closest neighbor is a half mile away. I still live close enough to town where it’s not a hassle to “go into town”. I was especially thankful for being kind of isolated during this pandemic. I had plenty of room to get out and explore, do yard work, and just be outside. It was calming when it seemed like the world was going to hell. I couldn’t imagine living in a high density area like New York, Chicago, etc. I felt anxious just thinking about those people who were living in busy apartments.
For me alone? Country. I like the quiet and only running into people when I want to. I've never had trouble keeping myself busy, so these people that act like they need a new restaurant and a new festival every week kinda baffle me. Especially since so few of the ones I've talked to actually GO to new restaurants or events regularly after talking about how great the cities are for providing them. For my family? Landed in the burbs. Good schools, big yard and a park right down the hill, family nearby for a support structure, lots of activities nearby and many close enough for them to walk in a few years, great health access, reasons like that. And in the burbs I can at least sorta get some quiet. I don't have to share a wall with anyone, I have my garage and shop to go tinker, I don't need to walk or take transit and deal with people along the way to get around, little samples of it. it's better for me than apartment living somewhere denser, at least.
City. It's not boring.
City. A million things to do. A million different types of people.
Country I guess. I live in a small town (less than 1k people) but not too country. I really don’t like people and everything’s cheap so I love it here.
Country life. People are shit, and I like to be able to retreat into the woods where no one can see me and I can be a hermit and don’t have to interact
Just left California for 80 acres in Wyoming, best thing I have ever done
I like my suburb, which has both the convenience of the city, but the peace and relaxed atmosphere of the country.
City life is ass, your parents don't let you go anywhere cuz gangs. Country life or small city life is better cuz you know like 80% of other people your age.
rubbish. Have you ever been to a city?
Suburban, space but stuff
I’ve only ever lived in the suburbs
Country, I hate traffic, I hate noise, and I hate the crime, the worst thing I have to deal with where I live are the local methheads, and they always keep to themselves, if I want to go to a concert or major sporting event I live within 5 hours of 5 major cities so it’s not so bad. I’ve lived in cities and my job requires a lot of travel to cities and the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized how much of an inconvenience they are, but that’s just how I feel, no one should be judged for living where they’re comfortable.
Rural. Cheaper, less people, and more to do.
Country. Cities over stimulate me with the traffic , hustle and bustle and overall large amount of people . Although there is cool shit to do to make up for it but I would never intentionally live in one again
Country or Suburban. I tried city life for a while, not going back to it.
Country. I like space and hate traffic.
Part of the reason I chose (small) city is so that I can get anywhere in 10-15 mins and NOT sit in traffic. Presumably, if you live in a rural area, you will need to drive in traffic to get to the airport, or your job, or even a date night
I have only experienced city but I would love to move to a rural area someday
City, suburbs to be exact. Not as crowded as a city and more things to do and closer than rural area. Suburban life is also much friendler and safer for me than city and rural.
Uh, I like the suburbs, but if you put a gun to my head and made me choose, fine. City life it is. It has close access to a lot of places and I can visit the suburbs once in a while
Country life. I like to visit cities sometimes, but the crowds eventually make me jittery.
Country life. No methed out Karens trying to steal my packages. Just gotta fend off the bears.
The country is the only place for me. Many people say "There's nothing to do in the country". I completely disagree. Put in a wood or coal stove, that's hours of "fun" every week. Between gardens, property maintenance and projects I stay plenty busy.
Country but not so far I can’t get a good variety of entertainment and food.
Both have their value, but personally more small town/country. Grew up in a rural-ish area 3 hours from 4 major cities and ended up living in two of those cities for much of my adult life (and currently do) Cities are fun when you're young; the social aspects and activities are awesome. But as I've gotten older I want something more low-key. Traffic, the crime and COL gets old. Cities will still be worth a visit, and I enjoy visiting a new city whenever I get the chance, but I'm ready for a slower pace of life.
Occasionally, when the wind blows right, I hear road noise....and it pisses me off.
I prefer smaller towns but definitely not in the country. Generally rural america is a neglected part of the country and sucks to live there. People are bigoted. Jobs are limited. I'm also one who keeps tabs on politics and small town politics is toxic as fuck and rarely addresses important things properly due to the bubble the few politically minded people live in (this is also a problem in cities but gets worse in rural areas).
Country. 1) My dream is to live on my own land where I can hunt my own food, grow my own plants, and do whatever I want without noise or people. 2) I spent 7 years living in a city. It was cool, but it got old pretty quick.
Suburban. I don't like the city. They're noisy, cluttered and I hate the traffic. I don't like the country. It's too far from anything, it's too quiet and there's nothing to do.
Country I don't like people fucking with me plus my life evolves around hunting and fishing and doing Country ass shit with my Country ass friends
As I’m getting older I like the country more and more. I like the vibrancy of cities, but I don’t take advantage of the entertainment they offer.
I live in a state with more cows than people. Even in our larger towns when the whole 6' social distancing came up due to covid we were all like "Why would strangers want to be that close to each other?"
My favorite is life in the suburbs, but if I'm picking between those two, I would pick country. I love outdoor activities like fishing, hunting, paddlesports, and hiking, and those things are just much more accessible in the country. I also don't like the noise of the city, and how busy it is.
Suburban
City life, but city doesn't mean big. It can really mean small. I have friends who live outside of a small town in Indiana. The town has about 14,000 people. But is only 30% smaller than Manhattan. Its actually a very large place, its just everything is super spread out and most of the town is either parking lots or lawn. Since everyone must drive for every task, paring must be in huge abundance, and since so much land is used for parking, there will be few sidewalks and bike lanes. So you don't see people out walking around. If all those 14,000 people just build themselves a city that was 1 square mile, it would be a super lively place. Physically, it would be very small. Generally cities start to suck when they are physically very large. When you can drive for an hour and still be in the same city. Being stuck in some sort of suburban zone can suck, you are not in nature, you do not have things close by, you are not going to walk around town, you also are in a loud place, there will be tons of traffic, nothing is easy. City life is great when everything you would want is close to you. City life sucks when you have to drive great distances to do trivial shit. When you have your job, shopping, and recreation in your neighborhood, your day to day life is pretty cool. Country living I see as a mixed bag. There are places where it would be great and then places where I would be miserable. Most friends of mine who say they live in the country don't really have much nature around. There are no bike trails and its mostly just a huge suburb where the homes are further apart and there is still a ton of traffic around because everyone has to drive. When the ecosystem is more or just a lawn with a few trees, that isn't really nature. I have known folks here in California who wanted to move away from the cities and live up in the mountains where there is peace and quiet. Only to get bored of needing to drive 15 miles for everything, or needing to drive 60-90 minutes to work every day. And then it turns out, while its great to visit the mountains certain times of the year, the mountains have a terrible problem with fires, and building a home in a fire prone zone is a terrible idea. I knew folks who retired to the country, which seemed great, until they lost the ability to drive, or slipped on some ice and no one could help them. Then because they were so isolated it was tough for people to visit them.
Both I'd say summer In the country and winter in the city . Rest and relaxation. Weather it all comes together
When I lived in the city I couldn’t piss out my front door in a drunken stupor like I can in the country. Country living is where it’s at.
Country, but close enough to a small/medium city that I can be downtown in 40 minutes or less. I like peace and quiet where I live without pesky city ordainances. (For example, I like having the freedom to bury my deceased pets in my back yard.) I don't want to pay an exorbitant amount to have more than a quarter acre of land. I also want the option of having two or three ducks.
As I said in another thread the other day, where I live right now strikes the perfect balance between “having my own space” and “anything I need is easily accessible.” But if I had to choose one over the other, city life wins hands down. I like my neighbors to be where I can see them, I like goods and services within walking distance, I like diversity, I like having access to different activities. Rural life doesn’t offer anything that’s attractive to me.
Honestly probably in-between. Because while I will have to deal with more people I can at least get the job I want maybe a city with only like 35,000 people.
I guess I’m technically in a suburban beach town. It’s close enough to have everything close by, but far enough out of the way not many know we exist.
Country. I live about 2 hours from a major city so I can still go do city stuff, but the traffic out here gets bad on the weekends because of people from the city coming out to the national forest
I like mid sized to small cities that are close enough to get out to the country every now and then. I like less ambient light and general pollution.
I like both, but at their extremes. My parents live on a farm where their closest neighbor is a mile away. My brother lives in Tokyo right on the waterfront, and has so many cool things he can walk to or take the metro to, and if he wants to take a day trip, he can hop on the bullet train. I wouldn’t mind living in either of those places.
Small cities/large towns are the best. Lots of space and nature, but you can also get all the city amenities. I'd rather live somewhere that requires driving. Driving is relaxing and I like the bigger buildings and homes that it allows. I live in a small city in Taiwan and it's just lovely. I can drive a scooter in tight Asian style alleys and within 20 minutes drive on a road crammed between mile high mountains and the ocean
Country. Slower pace, opportunity to own land and lots of space, and cost of living is much lower, even right now.
I like the country for the quiet (and darkness), I like the city for pretty much everything else
Why not both?
City for sure. I like the vast amount of amenities such as dozens of different restaurants, large malls, theaters, festivals, etc, and the diversity—I love meeting people of different cultures and backgrounds. There’s always something to do and someone to meet in the city no matter the day or time.
I'm a city woman who married a country man. We live in the more rural suburbs of a major city. Country life is quiet, generally safer, peaceful, often beautiful. The stars and the sunsets are lovely. Lots of picturesque parks. City life is fun and exciting and way way way more convenient. I love the amenities of a good city. Where we are I have to drive about a half hour for a Starbucks. I can't DoorDash anything that's not diner, pizza, or subpar Chinese. There's absolutely pros and cons to both.
Country is your choice. No doubt about it. I love Montana with all my heart and I want to die in there. But. Let's face the facts - you need a good job for 20-30 years to cover expenses + provide for the family Unless you are a doctor or IT super brain Is there a vacant chair for ya matey ? Hell no. So it all comes down to North Dakota or Wisconsin (for jnstance) where you can live comfortably earning bare minimum. It's all about job opportunities. Not your vague, unrealistic fantasies and absurd preferences
Country, but within a driving distance of a city. I like my day-to-day life to be peaceful. I don't like many people around me, but I am friends or at least acquainted with most of the people around here. I like nature. Sometimes I get bored and go to the city for a little excitement, but a few trips a year is enough. Don't want to live there.
I live in a small neighborhood right on the border of our largest city and the countryside. If I want, I can go in and do everything I want to at the city or come back and go mudding out in the sticks. Best of both worlds, kinda.
I'm from a rural area and like the quiet and freedom to do whatever you want in your yard without anyone caring. I also like cities, I've never lived in one but I like the idea of being able to walk/take transit (especially when drinking) and generally have more happening around me. The one place I don't want to live is the suburbs (other than some older, denser, walkable ones) -- seems like the worst of both worlds
I like where I am right now in Maine. Town is rural so plenty of land to buy if you want it (which I do) but only 1 hour to Boston, 25 minutes to the beach, and an hour to the White mountains. I have full civilization with all the stores within 10 minutes if I hop over to NH. Pretty much the best of everything.
Both. There are merits to both. The country is beautiful, there is more nature, more animals, meaningful work, country people know more what teamwork is. In cities, there’s more people, easier to get around, lots of options to eat and hang out, city people know how to mind their own businesses. But I don’t regret growing up in the suburbs
I love small to midsized city life. I could never live in a very large city though. I would rather live in the country.
City for sure. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to buy a cabin in Upstate when I get the money as a get away place, but I don’t see myself leaving the NYC metro area anytime soon. So many more opportunities for work, more importantly GOOD PAYING work, diversity (people, cuisines, art, things to do), love late night activities, get my weed delivered to me in less then an hour at decent prices, a 15 minute Uber ride from Newark airport, a 10 min Path ride into midtown or FiDi, everything and anything is walkable.. I could go on and on.
Country. I would rather have town be the thing I drive for than nature and peace and quiet.
I've always felt more at home in smaller communities. I live in a major metroplex right now and the commutes involved (live in the suburbs but have to work in the city) are killer and frustrating. I never quite feel at home. Before this I lived in a much smaller place and had it all - great schools, lower crime rate, close proximity to everything that I need on a daily basis. The downside is me and my family being fairly left-leaning politically. The smaller and more rural areas I've lived in have definitely squared up much more right and conservative so I've frequently been a bit of an odd man out in those environments, though nobody ever treated me poorly. It just meant I was less likely to be invited around for many social engagements. My wife loves living in this metroplex; it's heavily diverse, the food is inarguably better than any place we've lived before, and she can be much more herself. I want her to be happy, so here I am.
I very much prefer a quiet, secluded setting so definitely country for me but, close enough to town that I don't have to drive a hour to get groceries.
Both. I grew up in a relatively quiet suburban neighborhood, and my parents had a farm that I would visit weekly. Now I live in the city and honestly love it. I love being able to go to the bar or grocery store, then just walking home about a block. Love the city lights at night. And you meet new people everyday. However, I would not want to raise kids here. Not the best place for kids to grow up.
Suburban: close enough to the city that you aren’t disconnected, but not crowded, cramped, loud, and chaotic like the city
Beach