Different ways of life

When we bought our house back in 1987 the area was a bit more rural than it is now. I live a couple of miles north of a small town. Its located about halfway between two larger areas that have a metro area of about 150,000 to the south and about 200,000 to the north. On our road we own 5 acres and our road is not quite 2 miles long and there are 12 houses. This is a dairy farm area with alot of large farms and one hugh one with 6900 dairy cows is about 2 miles to the east. So there is a fair amount of farm equipment on the road!! In the town 2 miles away there is a grocery store, Video store, 3 gas stations a church and it wouldn't be Wisconsin without a few bars!! Not much else for retail. No public transporation either!! So if I want to go shopping I hop in vehicle and drive. One thing thats unique is of course that Lambeau Field is about 20 minutes from my house. If I shop in Green Bay I usually end up close by. Lambeau has restaurants so its nothing to stop in and eat lunch there as opposed to finding another restaurant.
There are performing arts center in both towns as well as universities, museums, public gardens and tourist attractions.
From Green Bay to about 45 Minutes south is the Fox Valley. Located on the Fox River are many paper mills. YOu would say we are the toilet paper capital of the world. Kimberly Clark has a big presence (there is a town called Kimberly) Georgie Pacific and many other paper companies are in this area.
I grocery shop about every 7-10 days depending on what I need. I have a large veg garden and can/freeze lots of veggies so I din't need to by too much of that. And of course cheese factories and stores are quite plentiful!!
I live about 30 minutes from the bay of Green Bay but we don't have a boat or any watercraft. There are groomed snowmobile trails about 1/4 mile from my house-if a want to snowshoe (when there is snow) I just need to put them on and walk away. We ride our 4 wheeler ATV around our property but if I want to trail ride its more "up north". We can go to our farm which is about and hour away but 45 of the 79 acres are farmed and that is rough riding!! I can though ride on the property next to it as one of my BIL has 94 acres next to us and another BIL has 80 one the other side. We cut all our firewood from our farm too and haul it home for use.
That's just a sample of what is happening here!!

I live in one of the smallest capital cities in the world, numbering only over 2 million. The city was once a whole bunch of little townships, and eventually everything got amalgamated into Ottawa. To begin with, what most strikes anyone living here is that yes it is a big city, but everyone knows each other.

We have the Parliament Buildings on Wellington and they are probably the single most recognized symbols of Canada other than the flag, and they are very, very beautiful. I've been there countless times and you can just lay on the front lawn for ages, or go inside and marvel at the gothic architecture. The Library of Parliament has been renovated. In the early part of the century the buildings burnt down and all that was salvaged were some paintings of Queen Victoria and the library.

There isn't much crime. We've only had six major murders this year and there are a number of muggings and robberies, but nothing extreme. I've never been robbed. We can leave our doors open during the day but we lock them just in case some rowdy decides to steal something.

In winter you can strap on your skates, glide down the Rideau Canal and join in the Winterlude festivities. It depends on the weather of course. But we always look forward to it. Summer is a time of music festivals. It's so easy to hop a bus and go down to Bluesfest at city hall or go to a number of festivals and venues. Another favourite is the Tulip Festival, where literally millions of tulips bloom. It's magnificent.

Because it's a small city (growing every year!), it's very easy to bus to where you're going, although it's kind of expensive. We also have a light rail, but that only brings you to a ginormous shopping mall. I use the rail to get to my university.

I live with my parents still, in the house that I've grown up in. We're in a decent, middle class neighbourhood with three major schools within blocks of each other. Our house is one of the older places,built in 1915. There are a number of older, smaller "cottages", which at one time would have had riverfront property on the Ottawa River.

We also have Hull, or Gatineau as it is called now. Hull is on the other side of the Ottawa River in the province of Quebec. My ancestors came up from Massetusetts (How do you spell it?) and made their names tilling the land and logging The Valley (as the farmland between the Gatineau hills, our city and townships and beyond is called). In effect they were the founders of Hull. I know many, many people who also have these ancestors. It just confirms that we are just a nice big hick town, and I'm a Valley Girl to the core.

There is so much history in this city and I could go on and on. I love it to pieces. Big, BIG cities like Toronto and New York just scare me sometimes, but I like some of their aspects. I'm good where I am and hopefully I'll stay here.

Tucson has about 500,000 people, spread over about 50 square miles. We have a few tall buildings but, they're not much over 20 stories and are pretty much clustered downtown.

Most of the homes are single-story and apartment buildings are rarely more than two stories. I live in a triplex and have the back unit. There's more privacy and I have the biggest backyard.

We have one freeway (I-10), that skirts the city. If you need to get anywhere, you pretty much have to take surface streets. Due to NIMBYs and environmentalists, all plans for a crosstown freeway have ben shot down - we REALLY need one, though.

Cost of living is reasonable - I only pay $575 per month for this 2-bedroom place and the average home price is $211,000.

We have the usual problems: crime, gangs, drugs. These are exacerbated by our proximity to the Mexican border.

Tucson is home to Davis-Monthan AFB and the University of Arizona. Our weather allows for year-round flight training. Other major employers are Raytheon (defense plant) and about 40 call centers. Tourism is also a big industry here. We have numerous 4 and 5-star resorts. Canyon Ranch is based here, as are a couple of high-end drug/alcohol rehab centers.

Just north of town, is Mt. Lemmon, the southernmost ski area, in the US. We are 1 hr from Mexico, 8 hrs from San Diego and Las Vegas. Hiking, biking and rock-climbing are also big draws here. Five Indian casinos provide entertainment, closer to home.

I'm not crazy about some of the changes, over the past 40+ years but, this is home and as long as I can live comfortably, have my family and a WalMart nearby, I can deal with everything else.

Ooooh, big city life is the best!!!

I grew up in a city of 200,000...a suburb...about 45 minutes outside Chicago. I now live in the city, about 3 miles north of the downtown business district and 4 blocks from the lakeshore in a neighborhood called Lincoln Park.

Chicago has 6 million people in the area and 3 million in the city.

Cost of living is pretty high. For instance, I pay $800 a month for a 425 square foot convertible apartment.

Riding the subway....well, it's an experience. I've done the subway in New York and DC as well as here (duh). Chicago has the nastiest subway of all of them. You just put your little farecard in the machine, walk through the turnstile and wait on the platform for a train. When one comes up, you get on, and sit down. It usually smells a little bit, and in Chicago we have the Newspaper Hat people (they make everyone in the car paper hats), the El Evangelist (our trains are mostly elevated...only 2 subways, the rest are 2 stories up, hence, they're called "El trains") who preaches to everyone, the blind panhandler guy who takes his glass eye out and show everyone, and the 3-card monty guys who try to scam people of their money. Best to smirk, try not to make eye contact and mind your own business.

Safety is something you learn. Obviously, our doors are locked even when we're at home, and there are buzzer systems to get into all of the apartment buildings 24/7. We avoid being alone in areas where there are few people, and we avoid being outside alone at all after 2AM and before 7AM. I don't carry pepper spray or anything like that, but I know I have the gall to punch someone in the face or kick someone in the family jewels if it came to that. There is definitely a cautiousness you develop in certain situations, but I generally feel perfectly safe.

Parking...is a nightmare. I don't own a car, so I don't have to worry. I bike everywhere and when I can't bike, I use the CTA.


Being a 5 minute walk away from a pharmacy, a grocery store, several designer boutiques, a zoo, a huge park, a nature museum, a conservatory, lake Michigan and the beach, and being able to take a bus or train to see or find literally anything is why I live here. I can see a symphony play or a play or eat ethnic or gourmet food at the drop of a hat. If I need anything under the sun, you can find it in the city, somewhere, as long as you know how to look for it.

Chicago is extraordinarily clean and the city's motto is "urbis in horto" or "city in a garden". We have a lot of open green space and a lot of bike lanes and such.

As far as noise goes, yeah, there's always a hum or a buzz. I used to live on a main street and the building backed right up onto the El tracks, so that when we were in the bathroom the walls would shake a little bit. But you get used to it such that when I travel somewhere, I can't fall asleep because it's eerily quiet!

I love it here. I think this is the best city in the world, and the way I see it cities are proof that people need to be together. I am definitely proud to call this place home!

Oh yeah, I go grocery shopping when I need groceries (usually a couple times a week..since I'm only one person I don't want to buy a ton at a time and have it spoil) and I've never lived in a high rise. I live in a mid-rise courtyard building right now and I like it just fine...although, it's funny...my neighbors can look into my windows and I into theirs. I have sheer curtains with a patter to sort of obscure the view and the bedroom blinds are down at all times.

Condo buying is just like house buying from what I understand. Sometimes, condo boards will put restrictions on things, sort of like an HOA.

High rises generally have all utilities, cable and internet included in the rent. I DO know that much.

I've lived all my life in and around Toronto, Ontario. I think we're just over 3 million for population stats.

I spent 7 years living right in the downtown core on the 23rd floor of a condo. It's great if your a single female. I had 24hour security, a gym, pool and party room at my disposal. Many outsiders think Toronto is a clean and crime free place but this is really changing. Now, every day on the news there are shootings. One girl was killed right on Yonge Street (main shopping/tourist area) during Boxing Day shopping from a stray bullet last year.

I also had one guy stabbed right in front of me while walking to get groceries. I think it was a drug deal that went wrong. A woman was killed in our underground parking garage as well. Homeless people and drugs are pretty common all through Toronto. I guess that's the price you pay for living in larger cities in North America. Of course, Toronto has it's good points as well. But they don't seem as good when you're confronted by the dark dealings of a large metropolitan city.

Many people have to take local transit (bus/train/subway) because commuting is a nightmare with traffic congestion. Public transit is convenient but rush hour is packed on the subways/buses and your commute can take a while if there is a mechanical failure. And it always seems to happen when you're late for work.

We now live 30 minutes from downtown Toronto. We feel like we're part of a community and we would love to leave Toronto all together. We both have cottages north of Toronto and we call that home (instead of our city house). Real estate prices are crazy! Our 700 square foot condo now would be priced at $220K plus you have to pay $400 a month maintenance. If you want a parking spot, that will run you another $100+. Our current house has gone up $100K in 4 years. As I said, real estate prices are crazy!

Sure, downtown is convenient with everything at your disposal 24/7. But you really pay a price for that convenience.

Originally Posted by Ryn

No, I live in Turku, about 2 hours train ride west from Helsinki. You're welvome to visit anyway.

Are your family here locals or living in Finland for some other reason?

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My father's parents (my grandma and grandpa) are from Helsinki, born and raised locally (or maybe in one of the surrounding towns). However, my father died before he could teach me much Finnish and my grandparents are gone too, so I have never been to Finland and I don't know much else besides that. I do plan on traveling there once I have some money, though. I am actually embarrassed about how little I know about my family and I can't wait to rectify the situation. I am the only person in the US with my last name, at least according to the census bureau stats.

Back on topic, I lived in an apartment downtown close to the man-made canal, and I loved it, but I have also lived in the ghetto (our first house) complete with homicides down the block and drug deals on the corner. Quite different experiences, but I wouldn't want to not have experienced either.

I live in a city of about 35,000 people but I live on the south side of town, and there's farms and stuff just outside of here so it's sort of like being in a small town (downtown/most of the city is across a bridge from my house). I prefer small towns/small cities as opposed to big ones. The biggest city I've been to is Vancouver, which is pretty much bigger than my whole province.

ETA: Here's a picture of part of downtown so you can have an idea of where I live:

Now I'm homesick Just kidding
I was born and raised in Kentucky also. Born in Louisville, raised in Shelbyville.
I have to say I am partial to the country. Yeah, living in the city is easier in some ways. You can run to the store that's 2 blocks away, you can save gas that way.
I miss ALOT bout\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <-----Bo says Hi
Anyways, I miss alot about Kentucky... the snow, season changes and the privacy you have.... Here in the city, you have almost NO PRIVACY!

I can tell ya, you're not missin much... but then again, I'm biased

Originally Posted by DixieDarlin256

I miss alot about Kentucky... the snow, season changes and the privacy you have.... Here in the city, you have almost NO PRIVACY!

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There is SNOW in Kentucky? Talk about an uninformed Canadian...

Originally Posted by Moz

There is SNOW in Kentucky? Talk about an uninformed Canadian...

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Yeap... there is snow.. We would have 2 feet some winters

There is ice in Kentucky too but most of us don't like that we would much rather have the snow. I would rather have two feet of snow then one inch of ice. It gets really cold here too and the thing about Kentucky is we will have a warm day in the winter one day and the next it drops like 20 degrees very drastic changes is probably why I have so much trouble with my sinuses.

Interesting thread! I now live in a small, semi-rural town, population 9,600, which is quite old, as it dates back to at least 1142. It's located in a river valley which is quite well-known for its wine. The towns are all old and located right on the river, and are surrounded by hills and forests.
Most people live in apartments/condos, the houses for the most part having around three apartments, one owner-occupied, and the other two rented out, though there are larger ones. We ourselves live in a twin house/duplex, with small yards front and back, and upstairs balconies.
There's not much to do here, as we don't even have a movie theater, or much of a selection of restaurants or bars. There is a club catering to young people, an internet cafe [new], and an artificial lake. Our library is open one afternoon a week. Most of the small retailers have disappeared over the past two decades, along with the post office. However, we do have several bakeries and butchers, plus three fair-sized supermarkets which are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., except for Sundays, when all retailers are closed. Hubby usually does one "big" shopping trip a week, and one or both of us will stop during the week for fresh bread or milk.
Public transport consists of buses, or the train. Our town is 39 km / 24 miles from the state capital and largest city, which has a population of 600,000, and all the museums, theaters, clubs, shops, restaurants, etc. you could ever want. Also a very nice zoo/botanical garden. Traffic is so bad that most people take the train into the city, and then use the excellent subway/trolley system, which gets you wherever you need to go.
I grew up in the 4th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., so moving to a small European town was a bit of a "culture shock" at first, but I enjoy living away from the city (where I work). I can take advantage of what the capital has to offer, but have the cleaner air, less noise, and a bit more "nature" at home.

One thing I forgot to mention is along with several areas in the upper Midwest we have to learn how to deal with a large temperature variation thoughout the year. Our low temps-usually occuring in January and February can dip to -16F.
The highs in July and August can reach into the upper 90's. I have lots of clothes to wear in these extremes!! For example Novemeber 23 was Thanksgiving. We had very warm temps for this time of year-the high was about 55F. Today the low temp will be 11F and remain cooler than normal for most of the week. You wonder why we have 50F parties and run around in shorts when there is snow left on the ground!!

We live in a small town where everybody really does know everybody else (except us as we are fairly new here). We are about 1 hour from downtown Toronto and love to go to shows and theatre a few times per year. One of my 2 best friends lives in the east end of the city of Toronto so I am down that way visiting occasionally. When I was younger I lived in the downtown core of Toronto (on the 29th floor of a highrise apartment building) and felt very safe on the streets at any time of the day or night. I know that has changed now, but I still believe Toronto is one of the safest cities in the world today.

I seem to have to stop at the large grocery store at least 2-3 times per week on my way home, but fortunately I have to pass through the town where the big stores are on my way home so it's not big deal.

I do grocery shopping once per week for all the major items but some things I like fresh, hence the need to stop on the way home from work.

We are both (hubby and I) about 45-55 minutes from work (1-way) but feel it's worth it to be able to live here. Our property is fairly large and there is space between neighbours. In fact, sometimes too much space. Our neighbour 2 houses away died last week and we didn't even know until 4 days later.

I've travelled by subway (still do if I have an appointment downtown Toronto), bus and taxi. Our Toronto subway is clean and safe.

I love the pictures you posted Tavia's mom - I am a big lover of horses and so is our daughter. She used to ride when she was younger and wanted a horse so badly. You are lucky to have such a wonderful place to live.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I love the pictures you posted Tavia's mom - I am a big lover of horses and so is our daughter. She used to ride when she was younger and wanted a horse so badly. You are lucky to have such a wonderful place to live.

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Thank you. Those are my big girls the red or sorrel one is named Candy but her registered name is Eternally Impressive. And the palomino is named Star I never got her registered but I could have if I had wanted but I didn't intend on saling her she is Candy's daughter. They both are very spoiled I think they think they are big dogs.

I currently live in Limerick City in Ireland. It's officially a small city, because the city has expanded so much in all directions, but a lot of the city lies outside of the city "proper". Where I live is such a place. In a few years, Limerick may not even offically be a city, despite how much it's grow!

I live in Castletroy, which is where the University of Limerick is located. In fact, the back of my house faces the east gate of University. It's a really beautiful campus - not in architectural terms, but in landscaping terms. It's great to have somewhere so pretty to take walks and go on picnics. (It's were I did my BA and where I am hoping to finish my MA).

Because the outskirts of the city have expanded so much, most of the time we can avoid going into the city center (or "downtown" as Americans would typically cal it), because we have two shopping centers about ten minutes from home, and another 20 minutes away on the other side of town, but linked via a dual carriage way (a highway with out the effort of lifting it off the groud unless completely necessary). Limerick has always been a good shopping city, but it's getting even better!

We currently live in a small two bedroom cottage - very old-world style although it's only about 30 years old. We've also lived in a 3 bedroom house, a 4 bedroom, three story very narrow house (all the rage in Annacotty to squeeze in more river front property (yes, we lived in one, it was cool, we had the third floor master bedroom), another part of county Limerick swallowed by the city's expansion), and we've lived in a very spacious all mod cons apartment in a really affluent neighbourhood in Castletroy (the rent was quite reasonable). There are lots of other places to live in Limerick too - we've seen some truly tiny, dingy (and oddly expensive!) apartments which only had proximity to the city center to recommend them.

I've also lived in rural north Kerry and in the suburbs of Dublin city. I might write about them in another post; I would like to.



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I really love this thread, it's nice to see how we all live, and it helps remove some of the weird ideas we get from watching shows like Friends or movies like Darby O'Gil and the Little People.

I bet I have a few new posts to read up since I was here last too.

Originally Posted by Quill_luv

There isn't much crime. We've only had six major murders this year and there are a number of muggings and robberies, but nothing extreme.

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Ottawa sounds fascinating, but I have to ask, what's the difference between a major murder, and any other kind? And, how many of those are there?

This is my home town, Northumberland. On the doorstep to both the countryside and the beaches, with plenty of history to go with it along with plenty of castles, and just a 45 minute drive from here is the busy town centre.

http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/vg/

I live in Los Angeles, the 2nd largest city in the US. I'm not familiar with country life at all, as I grew up in San Diego. I don't ride public transport now, but I have been unlucky enough to have had to ride it in the past. I think it's a miserable way to get around, personally.

I have bars on my windows, even though I'm in a decent area, and I'm happy I do have the bars. There is plenty of crime in Los Angeles, even in Beverly Hills. Although most people here have long commutes to work, and spend most of their time in the car just getting back and forth to work, I am lucky in that I live just a few minutes from work, and can drive to and from work quickly, and I don't have to get on the Freeway or anything.

I usually get groceries every Friday which is payday, however I stop at 7-11 every night on my way to work and pick up a few things for my lunch.

I don't really know any of my neighbors, although we usually say "Hello" to each other in the parking lot.

One thing about Los Angeles, is that you could probably live your life on one or two streets and have everything you'd ever want or need. For example 3rd street has everything: Two huge malls, (The Grove, and The Beverly Center), Three or Four major grocery stores, fast food dining as well as fine dining, several 7-11's, gas stations, body shops, doctors offices, you name it.

I don't think I'd be happy living in the country. I am not comfortable in open spaces, kind of gives me anxiety attacks when I'm away from things.