# Country Mouse or City Mouse?



## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

Do you live in a city, or do you live out in the country? My guess is that a lot of you live in cities. More people live in cities anyway, but also if you like classical music and wanted to be able to go and see a symphony or an opera, you would probably want to live in a city or in the neighboring suburbs

I can assure you that Franklintown Pennsylvania does not have an opera house. They have a fire house, although the fire house jam sessions on Thursday nights do bring folks in from all around

Me? 

I live in the country. I grew up in a big city, and it is nice to be able to do some of the things that are there for you in the big city. But folks from the city go on vacation to get to stay somewhere that the mornings are as quiet and peaceful as they are out here on my property in the woods by the lake. 

So where do you live, town or country? wherever you are, could you see yourself living in the other?


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I was born in a small-ish city (Worcester) but have lived in the same smaller town all my life. I reckon I could handle living in somewhere big like London or Bristol but would probably relish the opportunity to 'get it together in the country' (especially the south west of England) for certain times of the year when the bustle of city life got too much, as long as I enjoyed the luxury of not being involved in the city-based rat race. Of course, if I was wealthy I would have a choice of residences - a well-appointed apartment in the city and a nicely secluded house in the country - and perhaps a chauffer-driven top-of-the-range motorhome if I wanted to travel about.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I was born in the city but have lived in semi-rural areas as well. It's all good as far as I'm concerned, because I take myself wherever I go.


----------



## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

Live in the country but work in the city. It's a 15 minute drive.


----------



## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

Kivimees said:


> Live in the country but work in the city. It's a 15 minute drive.


I do the same thing. I used to work in Lancaster (Pennsylvania, not UK) and it was an hour drive each way

thing is when I lived in Dallas and Houston I always had to drive about an hour to work, so I didn't really mind

funny how when you live in a big city you get used to lots of driving.


----------



## SarahNorthman (Nov 19, 2014)

No in the middle option? Like a suburbs mouse?


----------



## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

SarahNorthman said:


> No in the middle option? Like a suburbs mouse?


no...where I live, the suburbs might as well be town 

I think the difference is going to be in the sort of animals you are living with. Out here, I have to live with professional animals, you know, ones that do it for a living.

if you lived in the suburbs, but knew how to skin a raccoon or prepare a bucket of live bullfrogs for frying, then I would gladly confer the title of honorary Country Mouse, though

So I think the test there is if you had a snake in your house, would you be afraid and want an exterminator, or would think, "there's a nice fat tasty snake!" and catch it and fry it up for dinner? Snake is pretty good eating, you know.


----------



## johankillen (Sep 20, 2015)

In the middle of a city in Sweden with a nice concert hall and an opera house


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

We do live in a suburb, only 10 minutes by tram from Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
So city boy.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I like 'in-between' best - a smallish historic market town. Although I like to visit the country, when I lived there (briefly) as a young married, I found it very boring. The high point of the day was to walk up to the next village, where there was a butcher's shop, and buy a couple of beef-burgers for our tea.

I grew up in York, which is a city, but it always felt like 'a smallish historic market town', because first I lived in a terraced house within walking distance of the centre & then, when we moved out to the leafy suburbs, I'd cycle to school on my bike. There were two girls' grammar schools there, and if you went to one of them, you'd know a lot of people across the city and participate in inter-schools events etc. Plus, the centre of York is very walk-round-able.

We now live in Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk, and though we mostly drive into town, it's only 20-30 minutes to walk, and as well as other people's gardens to look at, we have the fields round the old railway line, and the clifftops and beach. It's very nice.

Country Mouse or City Mouse? - _Town_ Mouse!


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Smack in the centre of a beautiful 14th century Hanseatic city.


----------



## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Ingélou said:


> I like 'in-between' best - a smallish historic market town. Although I like to visit the country, when I lived there (briefly) as a young married, I found it very boring. The high point of the day was to walk up to the next village, where there was a butcher's shop, and buy a couple of beef-burgers for our tea.
> 
> I grew up in York, which is a city, but it always felt like 'a smallish historic market town', because first I lived in a terraced house within walking distance of the centre & then, when we moved out to the leafy suburbs, I'd cycle to school on my bike. There were two girls' grammar schools there, and if you went to one of them, you'd know a lot of people across the city and participate in inter-schools events etc. Plus, the centre of York is very walk-round-able.
> 
> ...


 We stayed near you years ago in a caravan. We visited Gorleston. It was beautiful!


----------



## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Live in Leeds UK which is quite a big city. Got a lot of old buildings as the picture on the Avatar show Leeds Town Hall where many of the concerts are held.


----------



## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

The small town....that's a good middle. I like riding my bicycle through little towns. The historic small town over there in England would be pretty nice. Right in the middle of a big city in Sweden would be a good spot for music, for sure. You probably don't get as many good eating snakes, but then you can't have everything :lol:

Here's some pictures from right around where I live. Its mostly wooded hills and rolling farm fields.


----------



## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

Pugg said:


> We do live in a suburb, only 10 minutes by tram from Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
> So city boy.


The Netherlands has a population density 16 times (!) that of Estonia. Are there any genuine country mice in the Netherlands?


----------



## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Pugg said:


> We do live in a suburb, only 10 minutes by tram from Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
> So city boy.


We stayed in a place called Nordwijk (I think that's how it's spelt) about 15 years ago. Beautiful beach and lovely town.


----------



## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

I live in Eindhoven, 5th city of the Netherlands, between 250 and 300K people.
Our house is located in the most southern part of the city where the woodlands start. Also moors and some farm land.
I would love to live in a truly rural area, but my family, especially the teenagers, have very different views on that.
For a few years I was the proud owner (with a few friends) of the city-tractor ! Perfect combo of town and country mousing.









Click to enlarge


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Country. Every time. Can't be doing with cities.


----------



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

I live the suburbs and work in the city.

My workplace is right beside Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. (Our offices are in the glass-walled building in the background of the photograph below.)


----------



## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

the pic of the tractor going down the street is pretty good. Yes, that is combination of city and county for sure.

you know, out here where I live, there are some religious sects that reject certain technologies. The Amish reject the internal combustion engine, but I would see these tractors out in some fields with cast iron wheels. I asked one of my Mennonite friends, and Luke told me that there are some Mennonite groups that are ok with the internal combustion engine, but its the pneumatic tire that they don't use.

In the generation before automobiles, bicycles were the height of human transportation technology. In fact, powered flight was finally realized by two bicycle mechanics from Ohio in the early 20th century. As society moved from the horse and buggy, pneumatic tires were developed for bicycles before there were cars. And so it was the rubber tires that they rejected, and so now there are tractors with cast iron wheels out in some of the fields around here

as an aside, my friend Luke is a very good folk musician. I go over to his house and we sit out on the porch and play old folk tunes from this region. Its always fun because everybody comes over to listen to us play. you see, out in Luke's part of the valley, everybody is Mennonite and they don't have any electricity. So us playing music on the back porch is some of the best entertainment they get. 

That is a real country experience. Watching barefoot kids dance in the yard while we play old time tunes on the porch of an old stone house without any electricity


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

I was born in the county, a rural town called Horsham, not the Sussex one (been thru there on the train to Paris) but the Wimmera one in Oz. Have lived in cities Melbourne (Yuck), Adelaide, Gold Coast and Brisbane (all much nicer than Melbourne) but now again live in a town on the edge of the Adelaide Hills towards the Barossa region which is nice place to be.


----------



## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

that sounds really nice, Eddie. I always hoped I'd get to see Australia when I was in the Navy, but we never got to go there.


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Nate Miller said:


> The Amish reject the internal combustion engine, but I would see these tractors out in some fields with cast iron wheels. I asked one of my Mennonite friends, and Luke told me that there are some Mennonite groups that are ok with the internal combustion engine, but its the pneumatic tire that they don't use.


I don´t get why the Amish are allowed to use non electronic sewing machines when they are not allowed to use bicycles when both are based on the same princible.
I come from the country and live in a city because I find it more convenient.


----------



## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

I live in the country, fairly close to a very nice but rapidly growing city, as evidenced by the growing impossibility of driving anywhere.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Judith said:


> We stayed in a place called Nordwijk (I think that's how it's spelt) about 15 years ago. Beautiful beach and lovely town.


Our whole coast is lovely, in summer the walk along the coastline in I believe 5 days.
From the Hoek of Holland to Den Helder.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Born and raised in suburbia, but I love cities. I'm currently living in one, in an outskirt village that has a charming main street with small businesses. Christmas lights in almost every store window, and lights vining up every lamppost, it's the epitome of charm. Few miles away is the actual downtown which I've only been to once this whole semester.  But this is a wide-spreading city with many neighborhoods. Hope to have more chances next year.


----------



## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

We lived in Staten Island, a borough of New York City for 11 years. Classical music is obviously available in a city that big. I went to a few concerts. In September we moved to a small town called Freehold in New Jersey. There are classical concerts by the NJ Symphony Orchestra in a town not too far away. I'm hoping to go to a few next year. It might not be so convenient to get to classical concerts, but I far prefer living in a small town to living in a big city. I value my peace and quiet!


----------



## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

Sloe said:


> I don´t get why the Amish are allowed to use non electronic sewing machines when they are not allowed to use bicycles when both are based on the same princible.
> I come from the country and live in a city because I find it more convenient.


I have a Mennonite friend that plows his field with a horse. I said to Merv one time, "if you used a tractor you could have all this done today". He looked at me and said flatly, "then what would I do with the rest of my week?"

the reason their community doesn't use a technology is because they saw the lifestyle they had being challenged by changes in technology. They aren't interested in living like we do. I can understand that. I don't use cell phones, never have. I don't use air conditioning at all and I heat my house with wood. I don't expect people to understand that, but free men are free to live as they choose

now as to why they can use a sewing machine and not a bicycle...well, you have to get into the particulars of the community you are talking about, but my experience with Amish in Lancaster county Pa is that they can ride a bicycle, they just aren't allowed personal property, so they don't OWN a bicycle. A friend of mine has a bike shop that does a lot of business renting bicycles to the Amish.

its the same with telephones. They can use a public phone, they just don't have them in a person's individual home. So the phone for a group of Amish will be out on a pole, or some sort of shared community space.


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I grew up in a "rural suburb". In other words, I grew up just outside of Silicon Valley in the SF Bay Area, but in an area of windy roads and oak forest where people own undeveloped acres and have vineyards and horses. Even though it's just a 15 minute drive to HP and Apple headquarters. It's pretty much the ideal arrangement. You get the perks of the countryside while being close to "civilization". Our house is on a hill and overlooks the Valley; we have several acres including a small orchard and vineyard. Now, technically right now I live in the Stanford dorms, but I come home all the time and still consider the house I grew up in my "home".

Here's a view from a house in my area:










A lot of people I know live in SF or want to live there and as much as I like visiting it, I don't think I'll want to live in a big city, let alone one as cold and as mind-blowingly expensive as SF is. But at least I could maybe walk to the symphony...


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

I consider the bits between the cities and the sea the wasteland. I always wonder if a couple there get divorced, are they still brother and sister? :devil:

My ideal is a City by the sea.

Still have high hopes for, Sydney, Lisbon, Valencia then...who knows?


----------



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

City -I live 2 miles west of Chicago. I did work in the city but for the last 18 months in a further west suburb so I have been feeling quite suburban lately.
Retirement looms in a few years. I don't like heat and humidity and would love to end up in a place like Traverse City, Mi, or perhaps further east such as Vermont or the Berkshires, to take advantage of lakes and summer music festivals, and spend a few weeks every winter someplace warmer to break up the winter


----------



## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

Triplets said:


> Retirement looms in a few years. I don't like heat and humidity and would love to end up in a place like Traverse City, Mi, or perhaps further east such as Vermont or the Berkshires, to take advantage of lakes and summer music festivals, and spend a few weeks every winter someplace warmer to break up the winter


I visited Traverse City the last time I was in the US (2007). It struck me as a very nice town - lots of friendly folk.


----------



## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

I reside within the city limits ... but in an area that feels more rural than anything else. Our immediate neighborhood consists of only 25 homes all with tile roofs. 

We have three excellent venues for music performances and we are volunteer ushers at two of those. For major concerts, like opera, one has to travel about 110 miles to a larger metropolis city, but the drive is all freeway there and back.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Kivimees said:


> I visited Traverse City the last time I was in the US (2007). It struck me as a very nice town - lots of friendly folk.


Yeah. I was there too. I did a complete tour of Michigan. The golf courses were beautiful and the food and wine, memorable.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I live in the country, 20 minutes north of Nashville, in a little town called Ridgetop, because it's at the top of a ridge; when your ears pop, you know you're home. We have one stop light, two grocery stores, a bank, a gas station, and four churches. It is a lovely little town with a lake and walking trails. John Wilkes Booth's ex-fiancee moved here back in the day because its hills reminded her of Germany.

Could I see myself living in the city? Definitely. I love cities. But now Nashville is crazy expensive. Plus, where people come, crime follows. Then come higher taxes. Ridgetop is still affordable - we only have two fire engines to support - and the criminals haven't discovered us yet.


----------



## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

Country boy. I grew up around the fields of barley, cotton and corn, and rolling hills of northern Alabama. In my opinion there is no more beautiful scenery than a field of crops on a bright sunny day with mountains in the background. Of course I'm biased because that's home to me, but I've yet to find scenery I like better! My hometown of Huntsville isn't the most scenic city in the Southeast but it still has plenty to offer. Those of you who live in Tennessee probably see remarkable mountain scenery frequently that puts the mountains near me to shame.
These photos are where I live (within a mile or two):














Not immediately where I live, but a few minutes drive away:






















By the way, I don't do cities. At all. I have spent weeks at a time in big cities like Chicago and Boston, and each time I felt sick by the time I left. Seas of asphalt and endless waves of cars and people, and not enough greenery for a country boy like me! Made me feel like I was breathing in fumes of exhaust the whole time. God bless the people, they were nice as they could be, but I made up my mind I wouldn't ever live in a big city. I'll go to them to see great orchestras, but that's about it.


----------



## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

I always thought northern Alabama was one of the prettier parts of the country. People who haven't seen it don't know what they are missing.

It is a lot like where I live. Rolling fields, hills, ridges. I think your hills probably top out higher than the hills around me...but your top picture reminds me of this spot about 7 miles south east of my place









Up there in Tennessee would be a nice spot, too.


----------

