Leave the City Behind?

I would suggest trying to find the middle ground in there somewhere. There’s no rule saying it has to be one extreme over the other. I live in a town of about 150k…so small by some standards but large by others. I can basically choose the pace I want to go. Other than work…I have the hammock choice…or I can hit the clubs or big theaters if I want.

I just wish I didn’t have to work 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week, with 2 weeks vacation every year.

I’d be much happier working part-time hours making about 28,000/year (in Upstate NY, I’d have to be making a lot more in a big city).

I’d gladly sacrifice money for more free time, unless I actually found a job I enjoyed.

Is that too much to ask for?

Damn bills and stupid spending years ago on my part!

[quote]jackzepplin wrote:

…San Diego (which is German for Whale’s Vagina)[/quote]

Definitely not German. If you search for the above-mentioned words in google, though, there obviously are many people who believe this. From now on, don’t be one of them… :wink:

It sounds good now because you are in the grind. But the country would drive those accustomed to the city crazy, I think. I have lived in New Jersey all my life, for 11 years in the backwoods part and 11 years in a good suburb.

I dig being an hour from the mountains, an hour from the shore, and a half hour from NYC. Its hard to get sick of anything when you have the options to do the opposite.

But when you’ve been driving and living in jersey for long enough, too much wide open space is hard to deal with. My girlfriend would love to live down in South Jersey where she went to school. When I went down to visit her, she mentioned stopping at Dunkin Donuts before I left. 20 minutes later, on roads you can do fifty MPH all the time, we got there.

So I made a life-rule: Anywhere where I can drive for 20 minutes and not see at least 4 Dunkin Donuts is not someplace I want to live. I’m fine to visit there, but give me North Jersey anytime.

Vroom:

We live just on the outskirts of a city of 80,000, kind of in a suburb. We have a huge, beautiful house on a quarter acre lot, which would easily cost $300,000 more in a larger centre. We have a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains from our back deck. We know all of our neighbours (the kind that will lend you anything, bake you apple pies and offer to watch your kids). My husband works no overtime and makes plenty of money to support us (I used to work but now I am a stay at home mom). We have all the shopping and entertainment a person needs without any traffic congestion. There is no rat race at all in this city. It is a nice lifestyle. People don’t seem to care too much about money or materialism. Most people are very much into family and there are endless free outdoorsy things to do with and mountains and rivers and lakes everywhere. People smile at strangers and strike up conversations with anyone and everyone. A friend once described this place as “Leave it to Beaver-ville”.

Just wanted to let you know a slower, more affordable lifestyle does exist. I grew up in a city and I would never go back.

I’m glad to know it’s not just me going crazy, Vroom. I say do it.

Go all “Mountain Man” on our asses! If it doesn’t work out, you can always move back.

If you want to give it a try, I have plenty of grass that needs mowing and wood that needs splitting at my place. Once the chores are done, you can make me a hammock :]

[quote]JPBear wrote:
Vroom:

We live just on the outskirts of a city of 80,000, kind of in a suburb. We have a huge, beautiful house on a quarter acre lot, which would easily cost $300,000 more in a larger centre. We have a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains from our back deck. We know all of our neighbours (the kind that will lend you anything, bake you apple pies and offer to watch your kids). My husband works no overtime and makes plenty of money to support us (I used to work but now I am a stay at home mom). We have all the shopping and entertainment a person needs without any traffic congestion. There is no rat race at all in this city. It is a nice lifestyle. People don’t seem to care too much about money or materialism. Most people are very much into family and there are endless free outdoorsy things to do with and mountains and rivers and lakes everywhere. People smile at strangers and strike up conversations with anyone and everyone. A friend once described this place as “Leave it to Beaver-ville”.

Just wanted to let you know a slower, more affordable lifestyle does exist. I grew up in a city and I would never go back.
[/quote]

Where is this place? I’ve been thinking of moving to Canada when I finish my doctorate.

[quote]Chris Shugart wrote:
It’s an interesting topic, Vroom. Funny thing is, people with a “country life”, basically me, often long for the excitement, opportunity, and convenience of the city. I think it’s a “grass is always greener on other side” thing.

The perfect combo might be to live on the outskirts of a city, or 20 miles out. Problem is, urban sprawl often catches you!

About 25 years ago, my parents almost bought a house out in the country. My mother refused, saying she wasn’t going to live so far away from everything. Today, the house is across the street from a big mall, several strip malls, two grocery stores, and about 15 restaurants.

[/quote]

That is funny Shugs. I grew up in the country and wanted the excitement of the big city too. After college I moved to Boston and have been to several other large cities before ending up in Albuquerque, NM, and I would give anything to go back to the country life style. Unfortunately I have gotten used to working 14 days a month and having more time for my hobbies than what I spend at work. I guess I have some thinking to do.

[quote]SWR-1222D wrote:
I just wish I didn’t have to work 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week, with 2 weeks vacation every year.[/quote]

Two weeks vacation a year - damn that’s is harsh! Is that the norm in the states? I complain and i get 5 weeks a year. I work in London and commute from the coast every morning,it’s great at the weekend to be able to get away from the city and step down a gear. But the monotony of getting up at 6, sitting on a train for an hour, sitting at the desk till 6 and then heading home every day, really gets me down sometimes, but i’m trapped, mortgage, bills,blah blah… Some days the only thing that keeps me going are my workouts!

Congrats Vroom. It sounds like you have reached the point in life that allows you the choice. Some people never reach that, or just forget that there are other options. Good going on the successfull consulting. Now, regardless of which one you choose, you will know that the other is available.
Have Fun.

[quote]michael2507 wrote:
jackzepplin wrote:

…San Diego (which is German for Whale’s Vagina)

Definitely not German. If you search for the above-mentioned words in google, though, there obviously are many people who believe this. From now on, don’t be one of them… :wink: [/quote]

It’s a joke dude. Actually, it’s a quote from the movie, “Anchor Man”. It’s just meant to be funny. I highly recommend this movie, as it has changed my life. OK, that is a joke too (the last part).

[quote]bomberlow wrote:
SWR-1222D wrote:
I just wish I didn’t have to work 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week, with 2 weeks vacation every year.

Two weeks vacation a year - damn that’s is harsh! Is that the norm in the states? I complain and i get 5 weeks a year. I work in London and commute from the coast every morning,it’s great at the weekend to be able to get away from the city and step down a gear. But the monotony of getting up at 6, sitting on a train for an hour, sitting at the desk till 6 and then heading home every day, really gets me down sometimes, but i’m trapped, mortgage, bills,blah blah… Some days the only thing that keeps me going are my workouts![/quote]

I think it probably is the norm in the U.S. although it clearly depends on your job level and who you work for. My first job out of college, the vacation went like this: AFTER 1 year = 1 week, AFTER 2 years = 2 weeks. Then until after 10 years = 2 weeks, then to 3 weeks. At my current job, many years later, I get 26 days, plus all bank holidays and they usually throw in a day around Christmas - and I use them all each year. I don’t think I could go back to working for a U.S. firm for that reason alone, the time away with the family is needed, because they don’t really see me much during the week.

Vroom, if you are unencumbered by responsibility, I’d give it a try. You can always go back to the city in a year if you can’t stand it. If I could swing it financially, I would do it in a heartbeat and I know exactly where I would go. But alas,

DB

[quote]jackzepplin wrote:
michael2507 wrote:
jackzepplin wrote:

…San Diego (which is German for Whale’s Vagina)

Definitely not German. If you search for the above-mentioned words in google, though, there obviously are many people who believe this. From now on, don’t be one of them… :wink:

It’s a joke dude. Actually, it’s a quote from the movie, “Anchor Man”. It’s just meant to be funny. I highly recommend this movie, as it has changed my life. OK, that is a joke too (the last part).[/quote]

I know. I just wanted to save some poor noob from putting his foot in his mouth.

Closes Michael2507’s Encyclopedia of Excuses and goes to the kitchen to get some cottage cheese

Just to add further to the “grass is greener” debate, I can throw one out at you that lies somewhere in the middle between big city living and being way out in the country: the suburbs. Now, I live just outside of a medium size city (Hartford, CT… insurance capital of the world… yes, I can sense your collective trembling at our awesome might). We don’t have the big city problems per se and we also don’t have the issue of grocery stores being so damn far away (RJ - I feel for you on that one… and the pizza thing. I think that is a violation of your basic human rights… but I digress). We also have a bit of a nice advantage in that we are equally distant between NYC and Boston (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours in either direction).

So what’s the problem? It still ends up being fairly expensive around here, although it is allegedly made up for with the highest per capita income in the country (somehow that never seems to actually keep pace with costs). Another weird thing is that (and maybe this is unique to CT), some people seem to feel we live in an overly safe, boring and practically souless place. I think that is over-reaching quite a bit, but it’s like now that you are stuck in the middle, you have people who complain that it is not city enough or that it is not country enough.

It amazes me how we often tend to create our own problems and gripes. Personally, I like it here. Big cities are close if I want them, the beach is close if I want to go, Fall is pretty much spectacular… and Winter… well, that part can kinda suck. At least we have the best college hoops program in the country to maintain us through those cold dark nights…

Kuz

I’d actually like to live a little closer to the city. Of course, I’d also like to be able to meet people, which my job in the suburbs doesn’t allow me to do.

What I’d really love, of course, is to live on or near the beach. Sigh.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Well, I guess a lot of it has to do with the fact that I can do consulting over the Internet, so where I am is not so much of an issue.

However, some good points raised.

If I were to act on something like this, I’d want to live close enough to a real city that I could get decent groceries and be able to go out for a dinner and a movie every couple of weeks or so – whenever a new good movie came out.

I suppose if the city grew too much I could always move further away…[/quote]

If I could afford it, I’d move so far up in the mountains people would refer to me as “that weird hermit guy”. I could take over my parents ranch, but living off of $20,000/year wouldn’t cut it (I have a family to support). I was raised in the sticks & now live in the city. I would love to get back to the country.

I use to want just the opposite of you vroom. I live in a small village in Central La. A cpl. years ago I moved to Baton Rouge, then to Gonzales (outskirts of Baton Rouge) then to New Orleans and after a few months I found it horrific, the noise, close neighbors an stench of a city.Fuel fumes and all.

I currently live roughly 50 miles from a “smaller” city an can jump in a car an just head out there in a matter of a half hour/forty-five mins.

Overall what others are saying the pluses an negatives are all great in each their own right, but the one that trumps them all is the total privacy.Especially if you can get a place where your neighbors are a mile away in any direction.I wouldn’t trade it for nothing.

[quote]Kuz wrote:
At least we have the best college hoops program in the country to maintain us through those cold dark nights…

Kuz[/quote]

What do you mean? You’re a good 4-5 hours from Syracuse:)

DB

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
Kuz wrote:
At least we have the best college hoops program in the country to maintain us through those cold dark nights…

Kuz

What do you mean? You’re a good 4-5 hours from Syracuse:)

DB[/quote]

LOL NICE! Actually, I used to live in Fayetteville and was there when the Carrier Dome was opened. But I am full-on Husky blue these days.

Not to pull a total hijack, but I am beginning to get kind of fired up for the hoops season (even if both of our potential starting point guards are under a murky cloud of legal charges… idiots).

Ahahahahaha. Who are you trying to kid… get out of town!