Much Too Rural

[BrokenTrack]

After a year of Tiny House living (368 days) we decided to move our family of six back into our old house.

We tried to sell the house, but after 94 days on the market, having 35 couples looking at it, and having 4 offers that all fell through for various reasons, it was pretty clear that it was not going to sell. We even tried to rent it out, and got 50 responses in 5 hours, but after the second rental fell through, we just realized God was not in it, and while it might have been a good plan, it was not God's plan, and so we moved our family back in.

The house is nice, with a nice barn, even a starter flock of sheep was included, with winter hay, and out of 35 people who toured it, we never got any negative comments about the house itself, but there was consistency on why only a few people wanted it...almost all of them said, "it is much too rural here".

Is it in the middle of nowhere, or in the middle of everything? I guess that is the question?

There was aspects of Tiny House living we liked, and some we did not, but regardless we are here again. I have never lived anywhere else, so I just had no idea this area was considered "too rural".

 

[BrokenTrack]

When we moved back in, we ended up selling all of the sheep off, which left our dog with nothing to do. For the last 7 years she had=s lived on pasture, or out in the barn 24/7/365. In those years she has killed (2) fox, and (2) coyotes and chased off an Eagle trying to grab a lamb, chased away a hunter, and thwarted an attempt by a Husky Dog to get at the sheep. So, she has done her job well. Having contracted Lyme Disease on an on-the-job injury, we decided that it was time for her to retire.

She has done well in the house. She has had a few accidents, but overall is doing well. She has also learned to let her guard down, and last week when there as (6) adults, and 14 kids here ranging from ages 16 years old to 2 weeks old, she did really well. In fact one of the Mom's wanted to take her home.

I was worried about the dog jumping up on the countertops to steal food, but there was no concern for that...she is so big she does not have to jump up...she is nose-level at the countertops just standing on all fours. Man is she ever a big dog. (purebred Great Pyrenes) She does not steal food though, nor gets up on furniture, and pretty much just sleeps the days away now. For whatever reason, she has taken to me, so whatever room I am in, she is in, and sleeps by my side of the bed. With the cat...not so much. That cat is pretty dumb...a Russian Blue if that tells you anything...and so she will bat at the dog when she passes by, which the dog will growl at her. Considering the dogs paw by itself is bigger than the cat, it is pretty stupid of the cat to mess with her. I mean the dog has (4) confirmed kills...

 

[shooterdon]

More information needed...

How close to nearest neighbor? (3/4 mile)
How close to a town of 500 or more? (15 miles)
How close to a hospital? (28 miles)
How close to schools...is there bus service for school? (15 miles, Yes, but have to drive 2.5 miles to road)
How close to gas station/convenience store. (10 miles)
Does FedEx and UPS deliver? (Yes)
My numbers are in the brackets and it works for us. Rural living is not for everyone.

 

[Diggin It]

^^ You know, one of the kickers to that list these days is something no one ever thought of even as recently as 10-15 years ago. Internet access. While I have decent service, my neighbors only a mile away can't get it at all except on their cell phones.

Otherwise, my numbers are similar to yours.

Normally, I go to town about once or twice a month unless I'm in the middle of a project like I am now and need lumber or other materials. Some of my neighbors make the 25-30 mile trip almost daily however..

 

[groundcover]

If you are close enough to see smoke from your neighbor’s chimney you are too close !

 

[Diggin It]

I've said before, there are times when I can stand out in my yard and not hear a single man made sound; no machines of any kind. Just natural critter sounds if any at all. I'll never go back to less than this unless my health gets too bad to be able to stay.


I would not want to be much further out though which might be the OP's situation. 25 miles to town is fine, 50 miles, I'd have a problem with. And I need my creature comforts, power, county water and so on. I didn't have water here at first, no one was ever able to get a well drilled here, so I needed water trucked in. I did that for the first few years knowing that county water was coming 'soon'. Takes a lot of planning and conservation to live that way.

 

[Jstpssng]

I guess that it all depends on what you want. Years ago when I moved to northern Washington County I rented out rooms to coworkers who came up from Bangor for the week. I got so tired of hearing "there's nothing to do!" I would go out fishing until dark, that winter I learned how to trap and skin beaver so didn't even get home until 10:00; being careful not to wake them as I tiptoed through the house. I even went out and bought a television to give them "something to do."

Seriously, what to people in the city do for fun? You can't spend all of your time at the mall (or these days, on the computer.) Movies are boring; the last one which I sat through was "Platoon" when it came out... and that was just because of who I was with. (I also took her to the only concert of my life...)
It sounds like you have a nice spot, and one thing I've noticed about people who raise their family like you do is that they have very well behaved kids.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I guess that it all depends on what you want. Years ago when I moved to northern Washington County I rented out rooms to coworkers who came up from Bangor for the week. I got so tired of hearing "there's nothing to do!" I would go out fishing until dark, that winter I learned how to trap and skin beaver so didn't even get home until 10:00; being careful not to wake them as I tiptoed through the house. I even went out and bought a television to give them "something to do."

Seriously, what to people in the city do for fun? You can't spend all of your time at the mall (or these days, on the computer.) Movies are boring; the last one which I sat through was "Platoon" when it came out... and that was just because of who I was with. (I also took her to the only concert of my life...)
It sounds like you have a nice spot, and one thing I've noticed about people who raise their family like you do is that they have very well behaved kids.

Yes, my kids are very well behaved.

I almost had to take a guy's teeth out the other day for saying otherwise. He was one of those preachers that come to your house to make you feel guilty about how you live, and to make himself feel better for how he feels about himself. He was not a Jehovah's Witness, in case anyone is wondering, just a guy out driving around on his own with a wacky sense of Godly philosophy. We sparred over my theology in any case. That was when he said, "if you raise your kids with those thoughts, they will be so rebellious."

He insulted my wife and said she should be put to death because she wears pants sometimes, and oh my...wears miniskirts...
He offended me because he said I should be put to death because I have been divorced...
Then he insulted my kids saying they would be rebellious, although so far they have proven to be the opposite thereof...

Yeah he almost lost all his teeth. But I do appreciate your kind words Jstpssng!

 

[TnAndy]

He insulted my wife and said she should be put to death because she wears pants sometimes, and oh my...wears miniskirts...
He offended me because he said I should be put to death because I have been divorced...
Then he insulted my kids saying they would be rebellious, although so far they have proven to be the opposite thereof...

Sounds more like he needed an introduction to the business end of a Mossberg than dental work. I don't let lunatics free range on my place.

 

[MossRoad]

Interesting list. I plugged my numbers in.
We live in an old neighborhood about 1/4 mile outside the city limits. We're fortunate to get along with 7 out of 8 neighbors. The area is convenient. Easy access to transportation, highways, larger cities within a few hours drive like Chicago, Indy, Cleveland, Detroit, Canada. What's nice is it's dirt cheap to live here, employment is high, and it's easy to get to other places, and get home.

We also own some rural land, about 20 acres, in an undeveloped area of the county. Surrounded by large farms, woods, etc... I'd have to add about 3 miles to most of those numbers below for that piece of property, except there are 2 neighbors across the highway from it.

Maybe add to your list:
- Utilities availability, like gas, electric, municipal sewer or septic, municipal water or well, phone (wired and/or cell service available), internet (wired, wireless, satellite).
- Transportation like airports, bus stations, train stations.
- School systems and their ratings (no one wants to send their kids to poorly performing school systems for whatever the reasons).
- State/National parks, recreation areas, hiking, fishing, boating, etc....

How close to nearest neighbor? 50'. 6 more within 250'.
How close to a town of 500 or more? 400 yards
How close to a hospital? 3 miles
How close to schools...is there bus service for school? middle school 400 yards. grade school 600 yards. catholic grade school 800 yards. high school 1.5 miles. school bus at the door. city bus line 300 yards away.
How close to gas station/convenience store. 600 yards
Does FedEx and UPS deliver? yes