Learn me rural/semi-rural living

I'm back in the house I grew up in now, and I really appreciate it. 2 acres, 10 minutes from downtown. I can see my neighbors, but I can shoot, burn, collect cars/junk and no one cares. Have a well, electric, but city sewage(that was berkeleying expensive because we live near a township line and had to pay for both township tap fees). The pellet stove beats the ever living crap out of electric furnace or wood burners. For some reason, while they have gas wells all around the neighborhood for fracking, no one actually has gas service on my street.

I wish I lived a bit further from town. The smaller municipalities out here where comcant wouldn't go have put in one hell of a fiber optic internet service and it's slowly coming my way, but they have to fight and sue Verizon and comcant for every pole because of shady local politics. The power and cable have gone out more this year than in the last 20 combined though. Rarely for more than a day, but usually at annoying times. When my dad was still alive we had the emergency electric package because of his dialysis and sleep apnea machines, might still have that on the bill. It really improved our priority level when the power went out.

It kind of sucked when I was a kid because it was just me and the neighbor girl surrounded by old people, but the old people are dying off and families are starting to move in, so it might be better for my Daughter.

I still dream of acres in the hundreds or thousands though, just to have the room and ability to do whatever. Maybe even host rally events and farm.

In reply to NOHOME:

We made that move 27 years ago. Burlington to south of Brantford and tthat's not been our experience. Best thing we ever did.

HOAs must be a southern or a western thing. I live in a smaller town that is older compared to many on this section of the NJ coast. It's suburban living without having any real Urban to go to (unless you count Atlantic City). I have moved around a lot in this area, not once did I ever come across an HOA.

In reply to mad_machine:

It's not a southern or western thing, it's a developed-since-the-'90s thing. It just so happens that many areas in the midatlantic region were already built up before HOAs really got popular.

Delaware has experienced rapid suburban development of our previously rural areas, and many if not most of those new subdivisions have HOAs.

Duke wrote: In reply to mad_machine: It's not a southern or western thing, it's a developed-since-the-'90s thing. It just so happens that many areas in the midatlantic region were already built up before HOAs really got popular. Delaware has experienced rapid suburban development of our previously rural areas, and many if not most of those new subdivisions have HOAs.

I noticed all the build up in Delaware last year. It had been a decade since I drove down to Baltimore via the ferry and I was shocked by all the huge developments.

In reply to mad_machine:

Yeah, it's pretty sad, actually. The construction of DE 1 between Wilmington and the beach area really opened up the bottom 2/3 of the state to become bedroom communities. Tons of rural agricultural land is getting 4-bedroom-Colonialed to death. Now that they are connecting 301 through to DE 1 as well, the same thing will happen down that corridor. Probably worse, since 301 is underutilized and connects to Annapolis, Rt 50, and the DC suburbs on the south end.

I think people have covered a lot of the pros and cons, but I'd like to add a couple of points. While I live in Suburbia here in the States, I grew up right on the edge of a small rural village in the North of England. By that I mean walk past half a dozen houses to the North, East or West and I was in open country side for miles. Head south into the village for shops etc. I also had a girlfriend whose parents were dairy farmers so spent time truly out in nature. Over here I have close friends who for the last 20 years have lived on eight acres a couple of miles down a dirt road surrounded by farms. There is a small sub-division close to them, but even they are a minimum of 2 acre lots.

My observations that steer me away from rural living in this country are:
Roads. In the UK the only dirt roads you find are private roads, all public roads are paved. Dirt roads SUCK. Your car is always dirty, your wheels are always out of balance from accumulated mud and it makes the winter salt issue so so much worse. Cars rust even faster in out of town than in town, and that's saying something here in the rust belt.
More Roads County roads in the UK are all aspiring tarmac rally special stages, rural roads here, in additions to being sucky dirt tend to be long straight and zero fun
Walking Public rights of way go back in some cases over 1,000 years in Europe. There were miles of pristine, beautiful paths through the country side, up over the moors etc. Glorious for walking and hiking. The paths pass through fields both arable and livestock so you need to be respectful, keep your dog on a leash where appropriate as you are walking across private land. Over here, there are no rights of way over private land so if you want to walk or hike, if you live in the country you need to jump in your car, drive down the long straight boring sucky dirt road to a park or similar. I've tried walking and running in the country here, it's terrifying. People flying past at 60-70mph in their pick-ups flinging dirt and rock as they fly buy. The irony is you live in nature, but don't have true access to it.
The People WARNING, Massive generalization from personal experience Where I grew up and most places in the UK, people who live in rural settings tend to be open, friendly people. I did warn you Over here, many seem to want to live in a rural setting to get away from people and often tend to be In my expereince more anti social. Walk trhough a farmers field in the UK and you'll get a tip of the hat and a 'Mornin. do the same here and you're heading for a 'WTF are you doing get off my property, or worse the wrong end of a shot gun. I hesitate to use stereotypes, but the camo covered Pick-up truck with gun rack, NRA and Trump stickers stereotype comes from somewhere. Each to their own, but they are not as a rule my type of people. Damn, why do I think I'm going to regret saying this even as I type it?

As I say, those are the things that stop me looking at rural living at least in SE Michigan and my current time of life. Whenever I'm out visting friends, once you get to the end of their property, I then feel isolated, but not in a good way. Back in the UK when you get to the end of the road I can walk for miles bumping in to people and having an idle chat or just enjoying the country side. That's a pleasant isolation, not an enforced one.

Having said all that, the retirement plan in 17-20 years is to move up to the Leelanau Peninsula on the edge of or just outside of one of the smaller communties (Possibly Empire for those who know MI) That way I am close to town, it’s all paved roads but we’ll also have easy access to hundreds of square miles of National park, National Lake shore, State parks plus the big blue wet stuff.

Not hating on other people’s views or opinions, just trying to add some personal experience.

For the well and septic issues people harp on..... My folks are on the same septic system that we installed in 1992. 25 years with no problems. Ours is approaching 14 years old and ditto. Both counties had ridiculous requirements for the two houses. I remember when the guy came out to install the one for our house he laughed, shook his head and told us that the small nursing home he installed one for recently had a septic system smaller and worked great.

The well... well the well we have was dug around 95 years ago and feeds off the underground river that feeds Indianapolis. We use a water softener because it's obviously hard water, but it's awesome. In the 35 years I can remember back, we've always had wells and septic. Septic has never required maintenance and we're replaced 4 well pumps in all those years. It's definitely cost less than paying someone to take away my poop and give me water.

Bobzilla wrote: For the well and septic issues people harp on..... My folks are on the same septic system that we installed in 1992. 25 years with no problems. Ours is approaching 14 years old and ditto. Both counties had ridiculous requirements for the two houses. I remember when the guy came out to install the one for our house he laughed, shook his head and told us that the small nursing home he installed one for recently had a septic system smaller and worked great. The well... well the well we have was dug around 95 years ago and feeds off the underground river that feeds Indianapolis. We use a water softener because it's obviously hard water, but it's awesome. In the 35 years I can remember back, we've always had wells and septic. Septic has never required maintenance and we're replaced 4 well pumps in all those years. It's definitely cost less than paying someone to take away my poop and give me water.

Indianapolis area well water (at least in Hamilton County) has to be the worst tasting well water I've ever experienced.

Well water.

I've never tasted well water that is as nice as my city tap water here in SE Mi, but (not being in Flint) we have great water. Water softeners just don't cut it for me, no mater how long I rinse off in the shower I also never ever feel full clean when I stay out there.

Where I grew up (rural Eastern Shore Maryland), there were 2 types of wells:

1) Shallow, hand-dug wells, like 30 feet deep, that gave delicious clean water but dried up every July and August; and

2) Deep, drilled wells about 300 feet deep, that gave smelly, horrible tasting very hard water with so much iron that it turned everything orange. Seriously, even with treatment, I didn't have white sheets or white shirts the whole time I lived there, at least not past a couple washings.

Moving to city water was one of the best parts of joining suburbia.

In reply to mtn:

I'm in Boone and it tastes fantastic. I can't stand city water and Indy is one of the worst tasting to me.

EDIT: best tasting well water was when growing up. My grandfather sank the well casing into a natural spring. Even in the middle of a drought, the water was never more than 6" below the top of the casing and was usually about an inch below which was 18" above ground level.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

We have two wells, one at 90 feet the other is markedly deeper. Water out of our 90ft hole is passable as water with my 3M two stage carbon filter and the Rainsoft softener. The deep well was recently added because of the farm and we source our drinking/kitchen water from it. Holy crystal mountain of goodness. I still use a filtration system but it's 1/4 of the primary well.

I guess the old saying, the deeper the bury the sweeter the juice still holds true.

I lived in rural SW Michigan until I finished college in my early 20s. My parents still live on that farm, which was originally owned by my great grandparents, so I guess I was the fourth generation of my family that lived in that approximate location. It's a lovely place to visit, and boy did I take all that personal car storage space for granted as a kid. However, I now live in suburban SE Michigan (quite near Adrian_Thompson I believe) and I'm not sure I could go back. Riding my dirtbike alone in circles on our farm was fun, but that could get old. There is so much more to do over here outside Detroit.

The items Adrian lists about "walking" and "the people" ring true to me. Access to a wide range of outdoor activities is actually better here near the city. People in rural areas can be suspicious and aggressive. In some ways, I don't blame them as the crime rates are quite a bit higher in rural MI than many of these suburbs. I have had some really sketchy encounters out in the country, but feel very safe in the burbs.

Plus people are constantly dumping their trash everywhere in the country. Delightful trash like a large cooler filled with rotting fish or a hefty bag full of dead puppies (every bit as awful as you are probably imagining). A couple of discarded meth labs have been dumped on my parents land as well, but the local authorities show up to collect most of that.

In reply to mtn:

Well water varies greatly depending on the individual well, so you can't judge it on a regional or county basis. I live just south of Indianapolis and have a well. I can't tell the difference between my well water and any of the city water I've ever had. It has none of the typical sulfur smell or bitterness that is common with wells. My in-laws live 5 miles away, and their well water is gross. Rusty, sulfur-y, and poor tasting.

I've been on well water basically my whole life and never had water that didn't taste fantastic, so long as there was a water softener. On the other hand, I've never tasted tap water that didn't have at least a hint of chlorine flavor (if it didn't taste like straight up pool water, that is.)

In reply to WilD:

Well this thread is turning into the seeds of a SE Mi GTG again :)

believe it or not, Southern NJ has some very tasty water. we all know the stereotype of how nasty New Jersey is, but you forget that most of the southern end of the state is empty and full of state forests. Well water seeps in through the pine forests and heads south, coming up to form the Mullica and Egg Harbor Rivers and in Cape May County (where I am from) it comes up in Lake Lily, not 100 yards from the very tip of NJ and the ocean.

The Aquifers here reach out far under the ocean, leaching just enough salt from it to be sweet water. My Grandparent's old Place in Berks County Pa has nasty hard water from the city, their original well was all but undrinkable.

Two things brought up that seem true. I work with both City Dwellers and very rural country folk. You don't mess with the country folk, from what I have heard from them directly, they are a suspicious and dangerous people, I would categorize them as being almost paranoid considering the arsenals some of them own and the fact they are always packing when walking around their own property. I myself live in the town directly south of one of the more unsafe ones in the area. I can literally walk two blocks north and be in Pleasantville. I have never had anything stolen, anything vandalized, or ever felt unsafe.

In reply to Furious_E:

NYC tap water comes from reservoirs in the mountains and has no chlorine. It tastes as good as any bottled water.

I'll bet there is some chlorine.

We get our water in the same way, only from the Adirondacks instead of the Catskills. The water is sand filtered and some chlorine added. Not enough to taste.

And now the big reason I hate living rural: just went into the laundry room to take a leak, and found the first snake of the year in the shower.

Stuff like that really doesn't sit well with me.

In reply to RevRico:

Meh, I live in the burbs now, and we've had to evict 3 or 4 little snakes over the years.

We haven't had any inside the house. We do have them outside. I'm like, oh, look a snake. BOOM. Was it a good snake? It is now. Except the day-glow green ones. I know they are "good."

Wait.... rural people are aggressive and scary? Really? I've live 38 of my almost 42 years rural and I've never encountered that. I ran into plenty of scary and aggressive people living in Terre Haute and Fishers.

And those "arsenals" are just another hobby (like cars, biking, whatever). I'm sure the news papers would have a field day looking in my safe. (OMG there were almost 20 fully loaded automatic high capacity assault clips and a machine gun!)

I must be doing something wrong. I've lived and worked in some E36 M3ty neighborhoods urban and rural and have run into maybe a dozen scary aggressive people.