pros and cons of rural living

Golfgar4 · Apr 17, 2002

"The ultimate plan is to die in the house and design will take that into consideration."

/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif It sounds like you're having a tomb built in to your house?? Or else you're talking about extra wide doorways to accommodate wheelchairs, lower countertops, things like that, right?

blurrybill · Apr 17, 2002

No, Golfgar. I want them to drag me outside to the burnpile or send me somewhere to be burned and then scattered about on the land. My idea: if I can grow a flower or blade of grass or some piece of groundcover, then I'm still part of the land. A tomb is the last thing we want; just want to be in a place with meaning. BTW, we are planning for 36" interior doors, frontload appliances, etc., including reinforced walls in areas where there might need to be support rails, etc. I have graphic standards books that show how much room is needed for wheelchairs in baths -- you get the idea. Believe it or not, you won't be on the golfcourse forever; or will you? I've got the perfect spot on my land for a chipping green -- I won't build one, but the thought crossed my mind. If you want to contribute to our house project (say 25-30K), I'll let you come once a year to hit shags. Just a thought......

Bill

Henry · Apr 17, 2002

I must defend my position on cows. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif You'll see that I rate cows in both the pro and con categories. I'm not a farmer, but our best family friends have been dairy farmers all their lives. My city-born kids got a chance to bring-in a new born calf, clean it up and feed it. Man, what great experience for them! The only con I notice is when I wear my good shoes in the barn ....

Henry

TonyC · Apr 17, 2002

By any chance, is the boat in the background a Traveller?


No it's not...at least I don't think so. The hull was made by a company named Lamiglass. It's very old and there were no other nameplates on it although I suppose at one time there might have been. I'm in the process of restoring it now.

TonyC · Apr 17, 2002

If you did all that work, nice job!

Thanks Bill. Yes I did all the work including a lot of the home construction as well. Of course the latter was not a one man job! As you can see in the right foreground the landscaping was not even finished as yet. That is a small pond and waterfall sitting above that mound of fresh dirt. It's a never ending project!

8NTX · Apr 18, 2002

pbenven -

Traveller boats - now that brings back some fond memories. My family had a Traveller Neptune. Bought it in 1967 and we really enjoyed it until we sold it about 1980. 19 ft., maroon, 150 HP Mercruiser. Sweet boat all the way around. Would trade it for my 2000 Sylvan 186 Sport anyday./w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

Harv · Apr 18, 2002

This has been an interesting thread, especially since we live in the burbs and spend as many weekends as we can at our country place. What I've noticed from what has been said so far is that suburb life seems fairly consistent no matter where you live, but the rural experience has some slight variations depending on where it is and whether or not you have kids.

My kids are young and my primary concern, so here's how it stacks up for me:

Suburbs: Pros /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Kid Stuff

- Very good schools, 5 minutes from home
- Minutes from several major hospitals
- Lot's o' friends, some within walking distance
- Lots o' team sports available (and lots o' teams)
- Lots o' Girl Scout Cookie customers within walking distance

- Superb trick-or-treat territory
- Most streets have sidewalks
- Lots o' easy biking trails

Other Stuff

- Lots o' stores, minutes from home
- DSL connectivity (cheap, too)
- Small lawns (wife mows 'em

)
- Streets cleaned every week by the city
- Nice neighbors
- Nobody litters in our yard
- No rattlesnakes to speak of
- Water supply is city's responsibility
- 200 feet of fence, easy to maintain

Suburbs: Cons /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Kid stuff

- No rocks to climb
- Must be driven to park to stretch their legs
- Can't skip rocks in the pool

Other Stuff

- No room (1/3 acre) for tractor
- No tractor dealers/suppliers close by
- Surprisingly quiet, but not quiet enough
- Pricey living (mortgage, taxes, etc.)
- Racoons, possums, skunks, deer - all pests
- No fishin' hole
- Neighbors too close
- Nuts drivers
- We pay for water

Rural: Pros /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Kid Stuff

- It's like living in a state park
- Backyard hiking, fishing
- Their own tetherball setup (soon)

- Good mountain biking (when/if we get the bikes)
- Fresh air by the bucket full

Other Stuff

- Lots o' room for tractorin'
- My own large woodshop
- 2 acre pond with fish
- Quiet most of time, real quiet at night
- Pleasant wildlife all over the place
- Unlimited free water from well
- Virtually unlimited garden possibilities
- Nice neighbors, never see 'em unless I want to

Rural: Cons /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Kid Stuff

- Sadly, the schools are rated very low, 20 minutes from home
- 30 minutes from small hospital, 70 minutes from major hospital
- No other kids for miles
- Minimal team sports (1 or 2 teams per town)
- No sidewalks, minimal shoulder, nuts drivers
- No door-to-door trick-or-treating
- Rattlesnakes
- Poison Oak

Other Stuff

- No tractor dealers/suppliers close by
- 30 minutes from a few decent stores, 60 minutes from major stores
- No practical high speed connectivity
- Power outages
- Water supply is my responsibility
- 1/4 mile of roadside property collects lots o' beer cans/bottle
- UPS delivery costs more
- Miles of fence, hard to keep up (my inexperience)

Hey, I'm going to print this out so's I can start dealing with some of those rural cons. I love our country property, but as you can see, it seems my kids are better off here in the burbs for now. Not to worry - they'll be grown and out of the house in another 14 years or so. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Golfgar4 · Apr 18, 2002

"Believe it or not, you won't be on the golfcourse forever; or will you?"

Well, I'm sure going to try!! We're planning on building our Compound in the next five years, and one of the plans is to build at least one golf hole somewhere in the vicinity of the new house. That's one of the reasons I need a new tractor /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. I figure when it's my time to go, I'll have them plant me on the tee with a permanent tee marker as my headstone!

bpence · Apr 18, 2002

The good shoes in the barn thing is easily fixed.

Don't wear them in the barn.

Bird · Apr 18, 2002

plant me on the tee

My youngest brother has told his wife and son to have him cremated and scatter the ashes on the #1 tee of the closest golf course - and he's serious./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif