Who else is truly living rural?

[Idaho45guy]

Seems there are more and more posts that simply don't apply to folks like me who live in low population areas.

I sometimes wonder if city folk really have any idea what it's like to live somewhere where you cannot get a pizza delivered. Or where going shooting means driving out of the town limits and finding a tall embankment along a dirt road. Or that if you get stuck behind someone going 10mph under the speed limit, you will be behind them until they pull over, or have reached their destination.

I live in a town of 1100 people. There are no stoplights. The tiny grocery store closes at 7pm. There is a bar/restaurant that closes by 11pm on weekends. There are no movie rentals in town. There are no food delivery services. There are no gas stations. The nearest town is 15 miles away via a rural 2-lane highway. It will get shut down during a bad snow storm.

But, this is big city living compared to a place I had in AZ. I lived on a 5-acre spread that was also 15 miles from the nearest town, which was Prescott Valley, AZ. I could shoot off my back porch up to 500yds. My driveway was 1.5 miles long and crossed the Agua Fria river. No bridge. During a heavy rain, the creek swelled up and you couldn't go to town. Sometimes for weeks at a time. I shot and killed a javelina in my yard that was attacking my dog. I used a burn barrel for garbage.


Just wondering how many other folks here truly understand what rural living is like and that running to Costco is a two-hour trip...

[Hannibal]

You, Sir, are still in suburbia. The nearest 'town' is only 2 miles away, but the population is 202. There is a Post Office. It's open 2 hrs/day, 6 days/week. And there are no other businesses. Shooting range is whatever door I walk out. There is no one around to notice what I do, let alone care except for my wife and kids. Other than stop signs, a 20 mile drive is required to encounter a flashing red 4-way or a gas station. It is only open 8 hrs/day, 6 days/week. Want a real stop light or Wal-Mart? That's 30 miles in the opposite direction, but at least there is a 24 hr truck stop there. Burn barrel for trash. And what is this Cosco of which you speak? Some type of new devilry, I expect . . . .

[runfiverun]

yessir.
a few years ago we moved here to the big town of 2,000.
before that we lived in the next valley over and this was the big town we drove over to for stuff.
no pizza, one bar [closed on sunday] a couple of gas stations, and the county seat. [big city life] we do have a drive-in theater though.
it's a bit over a mile to the range now, when it was a walk to the bottom of the pasture, and the shot gun target throwers were just 2 steps off the back porch.
the bridge over the river was out [unsafe] so we had to drive in a big loop to get to town instead of the straight 2 lane at highway speeds.
I could hear the little waterfall on the river over a mile away at night.
I can barely hear the ducks quacking on the kids fishing pond 3 blocks away at dark now.

[MaryB]

Pop 180, 60 mile round trip to the nearest Walmart for groceries. I am in "city" limits so no shooting unless I drive to a friends farm. Dead quiet after 10pm except for the occasional car leaving the bar/grill that is the town center. I live on the edge and have farm field 2 sides and a horse pasture across the street so no town noises to speak of! And DARK at night now that they have starting going to LED streetlights that only light the road and not every yard around.

[Idaho45guy]

yessir.
a few years ago we moved here to the big town of 2,000.
before that we lived in the next valley over and this was the big town we drove over to for stuff.
no pizza, one bar [closed on sunday] a couple of gas stations, and the county seat. [big city life] we do have a drive-in theater though.
it's a bit over a mile to the range now, when it was a walk to the bottom of the pasture, and the shot gun target throwers were just 2 steps off the back porch.
the bridge over the river was out [unsafe] so we had to drive in a big loop to get to town instead of the straight 2 lane at highway speeds.
I could hear the little waterfall on the river over a mile away at night.
I can barely hear the ducks quacking on the kids fishing pond 3 blocks away at dark now.

Yep, Soda Springs is indeed rural living... Went mule deer hunting up North of there off of hwy 15 near Dubois (20 miles out of Dubois) about seven years ago.

[Tracy]

We live on a dirt road about 7 miles from the nearest town, which has a population of 800. I have a rifle range in my backyard. ATVs constitute probably half of the traffic on my road, and the population in my hollow doubles or triples during deer season.
But I used to live truly rural, and off grid to boot.

[Blanket]

8 miles to nearest town pop 100

[labradigger1]

My entire county has one traffic light.

[GhostHawk]

I grew up in a town of 135 souls counting dogs.

One main street was also a county highway going east/west. 2 blocks east of us was the State highway running North/south.

We were on the edge of town, well we called it town, village or hamlet is more accurate.

Anyway there were no houses east of me so I could sit on my back steps and shoot blackbirds off the power line with my sheridan pellet gun. And did so, often. Cottontails in mom's flower garden all went into the pot of course.

A quarter mile walk in any direction would put you out of town, away from people.

As far as I know, no pizza was ever delivered to our house. Closest would have been 45 miles away in Fargo. They'd of wanted a dollar a mile to drive out there.

[Geezer in NH]

No traffic light, no store, no gas station nearest no named is 10 miles,1 tiny supermarket 15 miles one way, 3 Walmarts 35 miles one way no mater which you head for, big box supermarkets the same.

Elementary school is in town (small 8-10 pupils per class) middle school and high is 20 miles away.

Shoot in the yard like everyone does around here.

Neighbors mind own business but will help if you need it.

I love living in the country only time there is lots of people is in the summer we go from 1500 residents to around 10,000 split between the mountains and the Golden pond. (movie was filmed in our town) Also out town center is well seen as it was the town used in the opening of the Bob Newhart show. (VT did not have one as pretty)

[dragon813gt]

I am not living rural. But this is by choice. My entire family is here. That really helps when raising children. I grew up in the town I live in. Being able to ride your bike all over and cause chaos w/ your friends was great. I want my kids to have the same experience. Their friends that live outside town have to be driven everywhere.

There are pros and cons to both types of living. I like have everything I need w/in fifteen minutes. I like having good schools. And I like having good hospitals. But we also have a place in the Poconos to get away from it all. It's in the middle of a state forest, three miles back a dirt road. Thirty minutes to the grocery store, weather permitting. Everything else is further away. Once I go back that dirt road the last thing I want to do is drive back out it. One day when my kids are out of school I will move to a place like that. But it won't be until then.

[WebMonkey]

We were on 10 acres 2 miles from a town of 4500 a month ago. Now we are 25 miles farther out from that town on 100+ acres. A town of 1500 is 30 miles in the other direction.
Blessed to have sold the other property and move out to the "recreational property" full time.

My wife home schools the last 2 of 6 children.
We coordinate feed store trips with church time to reduce in town time

[pmer]

I'm 5 miles from the nearest town of about 500 people. About 8 miles the other way to the nearest Walmart. I can hear recreational shooting from neighbors and have two pistol ranges and a 250 yard target I can shoot at till the field corn gets too high in the summer.

[jmort]

For the last 20 years I have lived in The Sticks. Unincorporated areas where I can do what I want where I live. Shoot, never see other people, whatever...I can get deliveries, and one driver asked "Who you hiding from?" I prefer counties with no building codes. And yes, I too hear a lot of gun fire, which is fine by me. Can't see who is shooting, but it reminds me that I am not alone.

[ole 5 hole group]

You have it made in the shade. Lived in Brimson, Minnesota (North of Two Harbors) - man who ran post office also ran the train depot, which no longer exists. One grocery store with limited groceries, which tripled as a bar and gas station. Haven't been back in several decades, so don't know if the grocery store is also the post office or not - I know John died over 40 years ago. Lived a couple miles out, didn't have electricity or running water until the power company brought in the lines and the two holer outside frosted up in the winter, so you always tried to be the second user, not the 1st!! - life was good, as we didn't know any better.

[rancher1913]

we are about 10 miles from the nearest small town and 1 and 1/2 hours from a city, more cows than people. yet we have city water. in the 70's for some odd reason a public water push went on and the government paid to have water lines ran all over our county and half of the neighboring one so we have a city water tap as well as several domestic wells serving the ranch. several of the taps only serve cattle water tanks.

[bearcove]

I live in the suburbs of albuquerque. But have 5 acres that I can have horses. My cabin is Remote, No road, boat or float plane access only, Other house is 7 miles from town in the woods, spend a lot of time there. I'd live in the cabin with no running water or electric. But having a float plane to take kids to the gym or music lessons or college would not leave much time to fish hunt or just wander around in the woods.

Yep done rural.

[GRUMPA]

I think I'm about as rural as a person is going to get.

HOUSE:


SHOP:


Chicken Coup:


Nearest town: The actual town of Concho is so small all there is there is a small mini-mart of sorts with 4 gas pumps, an Elementary School, a Library, and the Post Office, no A.T.M. in town either.

What I do is done from the power of the sun, so when the sun doesn't shine I'm at a virtual stand still. There isn't any services here, no water, no phone lines, no power lines, no sewer lines, etc.

Takes me almost 1 1/2hrs round trip just to get to the P.O.


RANGE: Front door yields a 4 mile range as a crow flies. Backyard about 250yds.

We have 40 acres here..

OK!!...So WHAT DID I WIN?

[OutHuntn84]

I live in a little hamlet of just under 3k folks. Everyone at least has 5 acres plus to do there own thing and mind their own business. No post office or places to eat besides at the 3 convenient stores (Only 2 sale gas the other sells liquor because of priorities lol). Its a great little town and most everybody knows somebody and only about 25 minutes from walmart and the feed store. I like it but long for an even more rural life style.

[DerekP Houston]

nope not here....suburbia is as close as I've gotten so far....urge to flee in to the woods gets higher each year. I can't *stand* the repeating strip centers and box stores near us, it repeats every few miles with the exact same stores! Apparently 15 minutes is about the limit people will drive from their house, so we need a walmart or grocery store every 500'.