City Folks Drool, Country Folks Rule

[TXDuck]

I didn't miss the point. I'm speaking from experience, so not overgeneralizing at all.

Ok, but I had close to the opposite experience as you. So clearly, country folks are cold, judgmental, and suspicious. While city dwellers are polite (we have to be, there's so many of us *righthereontopofeachother*), open, and embracing. So ... yeah, a person's experience very much depends on their personal preference. Attempting to dress it up any other way is pointless and a little disingenuous.

[reds]

The presence of police and crowds is a factor when looking at safety. I felt safe walking around downtown Toronto (Bay & Gerrard) at all hours because it was well-lit and never deserted.

I use to start at the Eaton Center and walk up Yonge just for something to do.

[clibbyjo]

Hey,my neighborhood crime made the papers again. Our trouble making bear is back with a cub in tow! I haven't seen them yet,but 8 people called the police and they gave their usual"a bear is like a deer" speech. They loves the farms and eat everyone's berries.They have a trap out to catch and move them farther out.

[Lady]

Maybe it's because of the city that you live in, but I've spent my entire life living in the NYC suburbs and as soon as I have the means to get the hell out of here and buy a house in the country, you will have to watch my dust.

Nothing in NY is cheap or free. Sunnichick hit it on the head when she mentions things like parking and transportation - all of which add up nicely. Everything is more expensive - from entertainment to food to just plain living. NYers have also earned their reputation for being rude. They are truly self-centered and both neglectful and mistrustful of others. Never stop looking where you're going on a city street because people will think nothing of running you down (although to be fair I see this in most major cities - except for Chicago where people are so nice it's almost creepy). My husband is a refugee from Queens and he still carries that mistrust and paranoia and judgmental attitude even though he has come to hate the city too.

I hate the whole superiority act that these people have. They truly think they're better than everyone else because they choose to pay $2500 a month for a 400SF apartment that they have to barricade themselves into to avoid inevitable crimes against them. The contempt they feel for the "B&Ts" is incredibly insulting. Your neighborhood doesn't make you any better than the rest of us!

Now again, my perspective is skewed because NY is the only city I was exposed to for much of my life. If it's typical of city life and city people though, then count me out!

It's fun to say where I'm from when I'm pissing off fundies though. NY is nicely "godless". :)

I've found there are people everywhere with superiority complexes, it's just a matter of whether they are country proud or city proud.

[darkplumaged]

People I know who've grown up in the suburbs (I'm talking BIG houses, BIG yards) have serious problems adjusting to the spacial limitations of apartments and small city homes. I think that personal space, and what that means to us as individuals, is ingrained in us at a pretty young age (I don't want too much - need the noise and hustle and bustle - while others need a LOT).

I grew up in a very typical suburban development, on a 0.25-acre lot, and I do indeed have major, life-affecting space and noise issues. I live in a condo and absolutely despise it--can't stand the inconsiderate neighbors, lack of space, no yard, etc. I think that has more to do with my own preferences and proclivities than the area I grew up in, but the idea is interesting.

[Maggie Mae]

[snip] As for the "snobbish" country folk, it's all in how you approach them. Move to rural area and being obviously suspicious (yeah we can tell you think we're ass backwards ignorant hicks no matter how hard you try to be nice and polite) and set out trying to change things to promote a more cosmopolitan, big city-like area will cause country folk to to distrust you.

That's exactly why I've had baaaad experiences with "country folk." I understand the concept of "when in Rome" but I don't think that being laughed at for not understanding "country ways" is polite at all. I don't think having food choices and clothing choices mocked is polite. I don't think being polite should be met with distrust. I'm unclear what you mean by "trying to change things to promote a more cosmopolitan, big city-like area" - it's my experience that this tends to refer to politics. Such as asking why we don't plow the roads and instead asking everyone to buy snow tires. Or pointing out that book-banning is bad or trying to promote equal rights.

Personally, I find country folk more polite than city folk on any given day. But I supposed hearing m'am, sir, having doors opened for you (by both sexes), and being call "hun" is the equivalent of being called "old bitty/old fart", and being sexist instead of genuine politeness.

I'm sorry that you feel that way. You sound kind of like a nasty person to me. I personally do not get offended when anyone holds a door for me, I dislike being called ma'am because it's weird and old fashioned and it reminds me of people who held slaves, I find being called "hun" to be inappropriate but I don't take offense to it.

Whatever. I'm not giving up my country home and 2 acres only to be bullied by homeowner's associations, nasty suburban neighbors fighting over a damn tree crossing a property line, a dog taking a dump in a neighbors yard, and reports of rowdy or loud, partying neighbors and their kids.

No one said you had to. BTW I've had WAY more bad experiences with partying kids in the country than in the city or suburbs. Project X was not actually a documentary. Just FYI.

[Maggie Mae]

I like the country, but I also like the city.

I think I like the city because I can blend in. I can go to dinner by myself and not feel weird and judged, I can go to movies, I can go to a museum and I don't have to wait for friends or schedule around other people. I can go to a concert and there's usually more than one choice, and I can walk places. I hate driving so much. It's expensive and wasteful and make everything take so much longer. I like going to parks to jog and be outside but not have to worry about bears and wildlife. I can eat in restaurants that don't suck. I can garden just as well as in a rural area. There are multiple choices for doctors and healthcare. Education levels are better. There are more people with my interests and ideology.

I like the country because I can do stuff outdoors, I can ski and run free without anyone judging my stride. I can go horseback riding and take photographs of wildlife. I can grow plants and kayak and build a fire. Right now I' living in kind of a city/suburb area that is very accessible to the wilderness and has a little bit city and is built like a suburb. It's annoying but really like that I can do outdoors stuff and indoors stuff. Also my love is here. So that makes u p for all the other bad things, like missing food that I like and wearing impractical shoes.

[geniebelle6901]

I'm just telling it like it is, and I don't really mean to be rude about it. I guess it is a culture shock if you've never lived in the country before. Just like it was a culture shock for me when I moved to the city. As for the M'am/sir thing, this was used by white people when talking to other white people even in the Colonial/Antebellum period. To each their own I guess.

[formergothardite]

There are good points and bad points to both places and neither is better than the other. People should live where they are happy. Some people love HOA others don't. I like the country and put up with goats and chickens getting into my yard from a farm near by. People in the suburbs might have to put up with a dog pooping in their yard but they like it anyway.

[CedarTree]

I had to laugh at this quote from the article:

"Somehow coupled with all this nonsense pop culture fashion, it didn't surprise me to stumble upon this horrifying article about a Toddlers & Tiaras mother who modeled a G-string in front of her two-year-old daughter to help her become "culturally diverse.'"

The mother she is referring to is someone I of... My kids play with her kids. We live close to her, by rural standards. Well, we did until her divorce last year. But that "Horrifying mother" lived in a VERY rural area for much of her life. I mean, we are way out in the middle of nowhere. Ironic, I guess.

[JesusFightClub]

I do not at all think "country folk" distrust someone because they feel that person is trying to convert them to cosmopolitan ways, whatever that may mean. They distrust people because their faces don't fit.

I could take you, geniebelle, to any number of small towns where you would be mistrusted on sight. Indifferent service in shops, people staring at you on the street, and you *could* go into a pub but I would advise against it. It makes no sense to say all rural people are nice. We aren't automatically, and I speak as one myself.

[geniebelle6901]

Woke up & can't get back to sleep. Anyway, JFC, I can only speak of the area in which I live. But, to some extent your right about faces that aren't recognized. Since I moved back to the area I was raised in, there wasn't any mistrust, because my family was known in the community. So I do see your point.

[TXDuck]

Woke up & can't get back to sleep. Anyway, JFC, I can only speak of the area in which I live. But, to some extent your right about faces that aren't recognized. Since I moved back to the area I was raised in, there wasn't any mistrust, because my family was known in the community. So I do see your point.

One of my best friends and her husband moved to a small, small town, like less than 500 and the nearest town of any size is 20 miles away and then only 10,000. People there are nice, but they're clearly trying to pigeon hole you. Same attitude I ran into when we ourselves lived in a small town. Who are you, how do you fit in here, what are you planning on doing next, that sort of thing.

Here in my own city, I interact with complete strangers on a daily basis. We ma'am and sir each other, smile, give directions, recommend restaurants, the whole shebang, without either one of us trying to figure out what pigeon hole the other person goes in. They are just people who happened to cross my path that day. In a city, you are forced to take people as they come because they themselves are all you know about that person. Personally, I find it a lot less stressful to live this way. Just my mileage.

[mausi]

I was there a couple of weeks ago! The one with the beauty queens who ate there on the wall? Small world.

'm originally from a small town in rural Scotland, and I came away with PTSD and a distinct lack of braincells from the use of certain substances. You would NOT catch me going back.

Haha yes, the beauty queens (and the "eat carrots or die!" "drink water or die!" propaganda on the wall!) place. Small world indeed!! :D

[oscar]

I've lived in different places, and I have to say I liked living in a big city, and I liked living in a very rural community, but I really dislike the suburbs.

I think Patrice is in no small part hamming it up for her readers and advertisers. Remember when she went to Portland, OR, to promote her book? She wrote about her "big-city" experience at Panera Bread, Barnes and Noble and the mall, where she made fun of some cheap-looking, impractical plastic shoes. (Always with the shoes, that Patrice.)

This gave me pause, because Portland has great coffee, fantastic indie bookstores and a strong DIY/handmade culture. Why was she complaining about this soulless big-chain stuff, rather than connecting with the aspects of local culture that seem much closer to the things she claims to value?

I think she wants to convince her readers that these sanitized, homogenized mainstream experiences are the best that urban living has to offer, and that a creative, self-sufficient, rewarding handmade lifestyle is only available to those who buy into her particular right-wing flavor of "homesteading" and "simple living." She wants you to click her ads and buy her books, and I don't think she's above being disingenuous to drive traffic.

[Wolfie]

I'm just telling it like it is, and I don't really mean to be rude about it. I guess it is a culture shock if you've never lived in the country before. Just like it was a culture shock for me when I moved to the city. As for the M'am/sir thing, this was used by white people when talking to other white people even in the Colonial/Antebellum period. To each their own I guess.

You know what? I live in the country and several neighbors and I are all bothered by the neighbor's dog taking a dump in our yard. An afaik, any sort of rancher or farmer tends to be too. That is why there are laws on the books that say dogs can't be running loose, and you can kill them if they threaten you or your livestock.

And, your rural living sounds stereotyped, backwoods. It isn't the type of rural living I've experienced, or want to experience.

[oscar]

You know what? I live in the country and several neighbors and I are all bothered by the neighbor's dog taking a dump in our yard. An afaik, any sort of rancher or farmer tends to be too. That is why there are laws on the books that say dogs can't be running loose, and you can kill them if they threaten you or your livestock.

And, your rural living sounds stereotyped, backwoods. It isn't the type of rural living I've experienced, or want to experience.

Seriously. Dogs running loose have been severely frowned upon in any rural community I've ever lived in. Even if they're good dogs around their owner's property, they can easily become dangerous to people, pets and livestock when they are allowed to roam. People will start disliking you if you let your dogs do that, or they'll just shoot the dogs.

Also, geniebelle6901 - you might want to take a closer look at actual crime statistics for city vs. country living. When I moved to NYC from a rural area, I was surprised that the per capita crime rate was much higher in my old community than in my new neighborhood on the border between Harlem and Morningside Heights. Even though the absolute number of crimes is higher in urban areas, there are many more people and the chance that you, personally, will be a victim of a crime is often much lower than one might suspect.

As an aside, one thing I continue to find unsettling about suburban developments in the eastern US is how, even though the houses are surrounded by the green space of lawns, it rarely smells like the outdoors when you are outside. I mean, you walk down the sidewalk and you smell people's meals cooking, different air fresheners, cleaning products, laundry detergent or fabric softener - being outside still smells like being inside someone else's house. It's weird and claustrophobic to me. In the city, being outside doesn't necessarily smell fresh, but it does smell distinct from the indoors. (And it's not like living in the country means you're guaranteed fresh-smelling air all the time, either - think of hog farms, trash burns or newly fertililized fields!)

[reds]

Oh the smell of money! (So i am told) :roll:

[TXDuck]

The smell of burning trash isn't really unpleasant. (Or maybe I'm weird.) But there is no way you can ever learn to like the smell of hog farms or chicken coops.

[geniebelle6901]

I believed I've already said to each his/her own. If you like city or suburb living then fine. If you like country living fine. For me personally country living best suits me farm stench, loose running dogs, and all. While that may seem like ass-backwards living to some, this is where I am comfortable living. If the city or suburbs appeal more to you then by all means live where you're comfortable living. I'm not saying you shouldn't. I'm sorry if my smart-ass remarks earlier made it seem otherwise.

[TXDuck]

I'm sorry if my smart-ass remarks earlier made it seem otherwise.

They didn't come across as "smartass remarks" so much as statement of (personal) fact. It is possible to highlight what one likes about X without insulting Y, ya know. ETA: And you didn't actually say "to each their own" so much as "my way is clearly superior". Which is fine, I happen to think my way is superior too. ;) But you will get grief for saying out loud you think your way is superior.

[oscar]

I just can't get past this loose-running dogs thing. I've never been in a rural community where roaming dogs were socially acceptable. Unless one is in a community where people value dogs so little that they don't care when they are shot for running at large? That doesn't sound like a good place to live.

[Kitty]

Seriously. Dogs running loose have been severely frowned upon in any rural community I've ever lived in. Even if they're good dogs around their owner's property, they can easily become dangerous to people, pets and livestock when they are allowed to roam. People will start disliking you if you let your dogs do that, or they'll just shoot the dogs.

Also, geniebelle6901 - you might want to take a closer look at actual crime statistics for city vs. country living. When I moved to NYC from a rural area, I was surprised that the per capita crime rate was much higher in my old community than in my new neighborhood on the border between Harlem and Morningside Heights. Even though the absolute number of crimes is higher in urban areas, there are many more people and the chance that you, personally, will be a victim of a crime is often much lower than one might suspect.

As an aside, one thing I continue to find unsettling about suburban developments in the eastern US is how, even though the houses are surrounded by the green space of lawns, it rarely smells like the outdoors when you are outside. I mean, you walk down the sidewalk and you smell people's meals cooking, different air fresheners, cleaning products, laundry detergent or fabric softener - being outside still smells like being inside someone else's house. It's weird and claustrophobic to me. In the city, being outside doesn't necessarily smell fresh, but it does smell distinct from the indoors. (And it's not like living in the country means you're guaranteed fresh-smelling air all the time, either - think of hog farms, trash burns or newly fertililized fields!)

Or if you're near a swamp, the smell of peat.

That's the nastiest smell ever, and always comes after big storms.

[Kitty]

I just can't get past this loose-running dogs thing. I've never been in a rural community where roaming dogs were socially acceptable. Unless one is in a community where people value dogs so little that they don't care when they are shot for running at large? That doesn't sound like a good place to live.

Yeah, it's not acceptable in my community either. I can't think of anywhere that would be acceptable. Though in mine dogs wouldn't typically be shot unless they were actually threatening someone or their pets. Dogs running free on their owner's property is fine though, even if there's no fence.

There is one asshole chow on my boyfriend's street who is never on a leash and is allowed to run free. Needless to say, nobody in that neighborhood likes that dog except the owners.

[lilwriter85]

I grew up in a town with about 10,000 people. There were some good things about living there and some bad things. I have lived in a city for almost ten years now. There are things, I love about the city and things that I miss about small town life. The small town I grew up in is a bit liberal, so pretty much gay and lesbians could live there and not being discriminated much.

When it comes to the cost of entertainment, the free days at museums and free concerts are mostly summer things.