January 15, 2010
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City or Country?
Country Mouse or City Mouse? – A Featured_Grownups writing prompt.
So the question is, which am I?
I grew up in a small town in a little subdivision plopped down in the middle of acres and acres of farmland. (In fact, our neighborhood was called “The Goodrich Farm subdivision”. I didn’t see a railroad crossing gate until I was 14. We played baseball in the field behind our house, we skated on the pond down the street during the winter. We hiked through the woods and fields to visit friends who lived up to two miles away. I rode a ten-speed bike to work (3 miles away) on the weekends when I was in high school.
Fast Forward to now.
I live in a suburb of a large city. I’m only 30 minutes away by train. I have two large malls within 3 miles. There are three theaters (live theater) within 5 miles. There are restaurants and convention centers within 1 mile. But my little neighborhood is quiet.
I like living in the suburbs of the city. I’m far enough away from the hustle and bustle for it not to disturb my leisure time, but close enough that I can work in the city (taking public transportation into the city) or do shopping or touristy stuff when I have visitors.
City or Country?
I guess I’m a little bit of both. What I can’t do is have a house in the middle of nowhere. I like the close proximity to everything where I live.I guess I’m on the fence
Comments (10)
It’s a fence we’re both on, and it’s the best place to be! Hmm, except I’m about 100 miles from anything like a large city. But I don’t mind long drives, so I guess it’s OK. Besides which, my town is big enough to satisfy my needs.
I like the country. Good entry though.
I’m on the fence as well. I also spent portions of my youth in farm and farm area settings and enjoyed that freedom and sense of safety. I often long for a real city experience, but doubt I’ll ever get more than the suburban life I have at the moment. I am 55 miles from Chicago’s downtown, and 45 miles from Milwaukee’s downtown. I’m only blocks away from the train to chicago, and only 15 mins drive away from the train station to Milwaukee.
jus’me
cm
It’s hard to choose. Fence-sitting seems to be the best option for now.
It’s interesting to think about how where we grew up influences where we want to live as adults. I’ve often seen an attracted-to-opposites phenomenon — the farmboy escapes to the big city, the childhood urbanite discovers the countryside.
I guess I’ve done that opposites thing, a bit. I grew up in a subdivision in a fairly rural part of southern Ontario. Toronto beckoned on the horizon (literally, on a clear day), and as soon as I could I made my getaway.
I lived almost 20 years in Toronto, and now I’m still in what they call the Greater Toronto Area. I tend to be happiest right downtown, but for affordability, I don’t mind a little commute.
It sounds like a fence I would like to be on!!!!
On the fence too … I dream of living out in the middle of nowhere, but I don’t think I really have any idea what that would truly entail. Maybe a vacation home in the middle of nowhere would be a better dream for me.
I can be sort of on the fence as well. I’m happy to be in the city but I like escaping to the country every once in awhile.
i’m glad there are choices!
think of how horrible it’d be if we moved all the ppl into tiny pillboxes stacked on top of each other and left the countryside free….
I’m a city mouse by location, but would love to be a country mouse.