who here lives in the sticks because cities are too costly?

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I grew up in nowhere and came to detest it. Now I live in the city and spend most of my time there. Healthcare is much better, salaries are higher, opportunities are many and people leave you alone on the streets. As for costs, we're good at managing daily expenses, own no car and took jobs that pay comparatively well.

If I have enough to eat, travel, pay my Internet bills and pile up for retirement, city life is good enough.

I live in the sticks not because of cost of living in the city, but because I like to be able to go outside and not see another human being.

When I was a child, the southern end of the county was mostly farms. Not anymore. For the past 60 years, South Central PA (Gettysburg, York, Lancaster) have become a mass suburb of Filthydelphia AND Bawlmer, with some Warshington thrown in for good measure.

Even when I lived in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, the rural areas were becoming suburbanized, no thanks to those fleeing Chicago and Milwaukee from the east, and Rockford and Madison from the west, with some Minneapolis/St. Paul thrown in for good measure.

To each his own.

I'm a city boy used to walking and public transport, but I have to admit I never felt closer to God than when I was shacking up in a tin roofed trailer on the Flori-Bama line, and I had her to myself and the stars.

And whatever pack of dogs or whatever that chose to have a look at us.

I actually hate where I live currently but there's not much I can do about it at the moment

I live in a suburb of Houston. Suburbs are slightly more expensive that most of Houston itself. The most expensive neighborhoods within the city limits are River Oaks, Memorial and Montrose (used to be middle-class, but is now heavily gentrified).

While the city itself is rather progressive, the suburbs are basically MAGA Central, save for about half of Pasadena, our largest suburb.

Average home price in the Houston area is about $200,000.

I have been, however, planning to relocate to Seattle. However, average home prices there are $700,000, more than 3x the price of their Houston counterparts. If one doesn't make a 6-figure salary, forget it.

Hmm. I bought this house 14 years ago for $15k. It is very close to a dozen stores, but the avocados are small, often bad, and $2.00 each. It takes between one and two hours to drive to a place with health food and traffic lights. Winters are very long and cold but it is fairly sunny, although the longest night is 17 hours long. Most locals have not made a new friend since high school, and all the smart ones left. When the residue wanted to build a new park, the first thing they did was to cut down the trees! I live two blocks from a hospital, but I'm not at all sure that it does more good than harm with the "talent" available here. I only have one good friend in the area, and I get the impression that all my friends are like tourists who become friends because nobody else speaks the language, but then seem quite boring back home.
I could live in a small city space if I gave up my workshop, but I'm not confident about sleeping in one again.

Yes. Totally.

I would like that too, except for the possibility of going outside and seeing one, with no back-up in case of trouble.

please dont be moldering , Rather please coat oneself in salt very heavily
to avoid molderification . besides corpses communicate even less well than
even severe Autistic people on this wrong Planet .

I hadn't thought about that. Well, so far so good as I've lived in the middle of nowhere since I moved to Massachusetts and haven't had any trouble beyond bears and coyotes. But they scare off pretty easily.

Wild animals are very seldom dangerous unless they are hungry or traumatized, but they are still relatively moody and volatile even if they know you. I know berry pickers who wouldn't get out of their truck without a big rifle, and others who are comfy with Bears nibbling away in the same field. My rural friend would make friends with his local bear, if not for the danger that would put it in from other humans.

A couple of years ago we had two young bears who stopped by constantly...a couple times a week at least. I called the state game commission to find out the best way to deter them as I have a young daughter who sometimes plays outside by herself and I didn't want to have to worry about the bears. I was told to make the environment as unwelcoming as possible, so whenever the bears showed up we went outside and made a racket to scare them off. It didn't really work until we took to shooting them in the backside with a bb gun. They didn't show up much after a few shots to the butt.

I live in a small city about 12,000 people,we have Walmart and many restaurants and Grocery stores and two Pharmacy's.My apartments and neighborhood is low income but no murders yet.

I lived in rural Vermont 12 years as my name suggests and it was more expensive because you had to drive far for everything,gas is expensive and wear on the car,now I drive very little.

I like the suburban town/city of 12K that I live in now,it's really great,I would not want to live in a city like Albany,Springfield or Boston anymore than would I ever go back to Vermont

Yes, you have to be comfortable with no back up.

At some point I learned that my choices were be comfortable without back up or be a slave to what others want. I chose the former. There are ineffable things I experience by being totally alone, without back up and 100s of miles from help, even if it could be requested.

A little over 40 years ago, I purchased 35 acres of land for $13,000. The land is mostly wooded with a very large hill. There is a stream down below at the bottom of my property. I have deers that will come almost up to my doors. It is very tranquil and quiet. I am at least a quarter mile from my nearest neighbor. I love it. I have one oak tree that dates to the time of the American Revolutionary War. It is massive and stands over 100 feet tall. At the moment I am trying to grow trees that almost went extinct a century ago. It is the American Chestnut. I dream about roasting these almost extinct chestnuts on an open fire and singing a well known Christmas carol with my grandchildren. For my birthday this year, my children bought me a special cutting knife to cut chestnuts and a long handled roaster specifically designed to roast chestnuts.