Rural Bashing?

[Oldpath05]

Never really heard of Rural bashing before, sounds like we need a government study to find out what's this is all about, we dont want this to get out of hand...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

In MD they fight rural living with a program called "smart growth". They encourage city box living, and try to keep people from building in the country, by passing zoning restrictions, septic restrictions, and limiting rural development.

 

[Oaktree]

I thought everyone wanted to live on a few acres with no neighbors.

Reminds me of something that happened to me maybe 40 years ago. I was working as a field service tech, used to get job offers from customers fairly often. One in a very large city was quite persistent...every time I was there on a service call the supervisor would ask if I would come to work for them, one time even offering to double my salary. Always politely declined. One time he asked me why. I told him I had a house on 8 acres on the side of a mountain in New Hampshire. Turns out he was a country boy himself, and we spent some time talking about how much the city sucks.
Later he told me that after I'd left, his boss asked him if he'd offered me a job, he replied he had but I'd turned it down. Boss asked if I'd given a reason, and he relayed my response. Boss thought about it a minute and said that if he had 8 acres in N.H. he wouldn't want to move there either!

Don't think I've ever experienced rural bashing, a couple city friends have commented how it's a completely different world up here.

 

[oosik]

We lived for a year "in the bush" in rural Alaska. It was 87 miles to the nearest town. The last twelve miles was by ATV because there was no road. We lived in a cabin we had built. We sold the cabin, moved down here and set up operations. That was a real experience in "country living".

BTW - during our year in the bush we only went into town twice - so very little chance for rural bashing. We only had one friend visit once - most were afraid to make the trip.

 

[Redneck in training]

I have a story about eggs. When still living in Czechoslovakia we had a cottage by a lake. While there we used to buy milk and eggs from a family living in the nearby village. The milk was fresh still warm from the cow and the eggs were from the chicken running free in the backyard picking bugs and seeds. Based on what the chicken ate the yolk was quite red. One time we had my wife friends visiting and my wife told them about farm eggs and how great they were. Since we had about extra dozen in the fridge my wife gave them to the city folks. Some time later she again met her friend and asked if they liked the eggs. The woman said that she doesn't want to offend her because all the eggs were bad and she had to throw them away. When my wife asked what was wrong her friend said the yolk was red. She was clueless because she always had store bought eggs with yolk almost white from chicken concentration camp.

 

[Soldier415]

Completely unrealistic: You didn't mention beer.

The inebriation is implied...

 

[Blstr88]

I for one am glad most people prefer city living...if they all knew how much better country living was they'd all move out into the country and we'd be overcrowded!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Those dollar stores are really showing up everywhere now, and one tiny problem/blessing of being out in the country is sometimes you have to be your own first Responder.

Long waits for ambulance and EMTs is why rural people die younger.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have a story about eggs. When still living in Czechoslovakia we had a cottage by a lake. While there we used to buy milk and eggs from a family living in the nearby village. The milk was fresh still warm from the cow and the eggs were from the chicken running free in the backyard picking bugs and seeds. Based on what the chicken ate the yolk was quite red. One time we had my wife friends visiting and my wife told them about farm eggs and how great they were. Since we had about extra dozen in the fridge my wife gave them to the city folks. Some time later she again met her friend and asked if they liked the eggs. The woman said that she doesn't want to offend her because all the eggs were bad and she had to throw them away. When my wife asked what was wrong her friend said the yolk was red. She was clueless because she always had store bought eggs with yolk almost white from chicken concentration camp.

My Grandmother would bake the best strudel and pastries on her wood/gas wedgewood stove...

Nothing on the farm was treated or sprayed with pesticide or commercial fertilizer...

I remember her at the kitchen table with a bucket of apples and cutting out the all the bad parts for her strudel and her apples had the best flavor. The "Bad" parts went to the pigs.

One of my friends was visiting and said it was the best strudel he ever had and my Grandmother offered to bake him one to take back to the city...

We went to pick the apples and he said there was not a good one to be found... farm produce without pesticide may not "Look" perfect and that is what he wanted... only perfect fruit.

 

[flyerdan]

There will always be a segment that will denigrate any choices or ideologies that don't conform to what they think is normal, sometimes due to an inability to comprehend unfamiliar concepts, other times just due to being a massive knobhead. One could speculate that the Rural Purge of nearly fifty years ago led to tacit approval of disrespect for lifestyles that strayed from the urban mainstream. Not surprisingly, a lot of the shows referenced have enjoyed a resurgence on outlets such as Antenna TV due to the network offerings of late being foul enough to make a buzzard puke.

 

[Streetcar]

I wonder about the people that want to live in a rural subdivision. I think the worst of both worlds, lots of close neighbors and long drive to stores etc.

 

[MountainWoods]

My favorite line is " I'd be afraid living way. OUT THERE in the dark. I just laugh and tell them that the vast majority of criminal riff raff tend to live and ply their trades under those bright city lights. Besides most folks out here are equipped to defend themselves which makes us much less attractive victims. Then there is that infectious disease called the HOA and we want absolutely no part of that insanity. :thumbdown:

I had a good friend at work (before I retired) that came out to our place for a Day At the Farm, but he didn't bring his wife. He said that she was deathly afraid of the country, and wouldn't even buy a house at the edge of town, next to the farm fields. Like farm fields are going to eat you or something. At least he had a great day at the farm.
My brothers and I used to have a term: Freak of Synthetics -- someone who is so "man made" that they can't stand anything natural.

 

[Gary Fowler]

All our friends and relatives love to come out to "the farm" for visits when they can. They all love the peaceful serenity of being in the country where they can unwind from the rigors of city life and work. I have not had one person, young or old that did not love it and not one ever downgraded anyone for living in the country.

Unfortunately all those who visited had to go back to the city to work for a living. Not many ways to make a decent living in the country now days. You just about have to be retired or independently wealthy in order to live "way out in the sticks" like I do. The only jobs around here is in the service industry like government, teaching or sales.

The "way out in the sticks" is really a misnomer since time wise, I can be in town for shopping or at the hospital in 20 minutes which is less time than it took me to get to shopping or hospital when I lived in the suburbs of Houston Texas.

 

[MountainWoods]

Never really heard of Rural bashing before, sounds like we need a government study to find out what's this is all about, we dont want this to get out of hand...

If they'll just give me $15.2M, I'll be happy to look into it.

 

[vvanders]

All our friends and relatives love to come out to "the farm" for visits when they can. They all love the peaceful serenity of being in the country where they can unwind from the rigors of city life and work. I have not had one person, young or old that did not love it and not one ever downgraded anyone for living in the country.

Unfortunately all those who visited had to go back to the city to work for a living. Not many ways to make a decent living in the country now days. You just about have to be retired or independently wealthy in order to live "way out in the sticks" like I do. The only jobs around here is in the service industry like government, teaching or sales.

The "way out in the sticks" is really a misnomer since time wise, I can be in town for shopping or at the hospital in 20 minutes which is less time than it took me to get to shopping or hospital when I lived in the suburbs of Houston Texas.

I know more than a few people who work in tech that swing it(myself included). Assuming you can get reasonably faster internet(25mbit+) it's possible to make happen. Takes the right mindset and you have to find a company who's culture supports it but definitely opens up options.

I certainly miss none of the traffic, congestion or crazy city codes($100 to get a "permit" to fix a simple 4' fence, please!).

 

[check]

All our friends and relatives love to come out to "the farm" for visits when they can. They all love the peaceful serenity of being in the country where they can unwind from the rigors of city life and work. I have not had one person, young or old that did not love it and not one ever downgraded anyone for living in the country. Unfortunately all those who visited had to go back to the city to work for a living. Not many ways to make a decent living in the country now days. You just about have to be retired or independently wealthy in order to live "way out in the sticks" like I do. The only jobs around here is in the service industry like government, teaching or sales. The "way out in the sticks" is really a misnomer since time wise, I can be in town for shopping or at the hospital in 20 minutes which is less time than it took me to get to shopping or hospital when I lived in the suburbs of Houston Texas.

Yup. Like I said, the city slickers that I know just LOVE the country, and many say they wish they could live there and still work at their city jobs. (Actually, at my work we are fairly close to the highway and more than a few of my coworkers do live in the country and commute.)

 

[Oldpath05]

If they'll just give me $15.2M, I'll be happy to look into it.

I want a piece of that pie, give me $1 M and I'll help you out, I'd work from 12-1 with hour off for lunch........

 

[bigtiller]

Snip

I certainly miss none of the traffic, congestion or crazy city

I wanted to mow the north fence last week but I drove the 2720 to the end of the driveway I had to wait for 4 cars to go by. That's never happened before.

 

[Redneck in training]

That is crazy traffic jam.

 

[Wagtail]

I wanted to mow the north fence last week but I drove the 2720 to the end of the driveway I had to wait for 4 cars to go by. That's never happened before.

I feel your pain & frustration, Mate. During the Summer 'tourist season' it once took an entire minute before I could walk across the main street, here in St Helens! :shocked:

Mind you, there are no traffic lights in my town. There are also no STOP signs here either, only yield. Those are only found in the 'Big Smoke' like Launceston or Hobart.

Imagine that!