Thursday, 20 November 2008

  • Location, Location, Location: Where Do You Live?

    Mama Fox by Mama Fox

    Location, Location, Location: Where Do You Live?

    I live in South Austin. Our neighborhood as the feel of suburbia with great access to the city. It's really the best of both worlds. I have a safe place to call home but pretty much unlimited resources just down the interstate. We love living here but it also has its down sides. We have to worry about traffic and big city crime. The cost of living is higher so there's less money for extra fun things.

    We are thinking about buying a house in a town just south of here. It would be a lot cheaper than living here but my first thought was, "What is this going to do to our homeschooling?". I've already looked into the resources the city offers and coming up short. I have already decided that when the time comes I'll be paying the annual non resident fee to keep our Austin library cards. We are going to just have to plan for trips to the city, rather then getting up and going.

    I do look forward to the small town feel. Ya know where you get familiar with everyone you run into on a regular basis, from cashiers to your mail person. It would be nice to slow down a little bit. Living here it almost feels like I should be on the go all the time just because of what is going on at any given time. Not that small towns are safer, I think I would feel safer being away from the big city.

    We're still looking into it. There's pros and cons about both areas. Lots of things to think about before we make a commitment to buy a house. In the end, I know we'll make the best decision for our family. First we just have to figure out what that is.

    Do you live in a big city, suburbia, small town or rural area? What are the pros and cons of where you live?

Related Posts

Comments (25)

  • Amarisa@xanga

    I feel ya.  My family lives in Houston, and the busy-ness of the city makes us tired.  We're ready for a smaller town.  The good thing about Houston, though, is that the cost of living isn't really high at all (Austin is high!), and there are great homeschooling groups here.
  • Karamelqt@xanga

    I live in Jackson, Missouri....THIS TOWN SUCKS!  Cost of living isn't high though. 

  • lil_lady_j@xanga

    we live in Kingsland, GA.
    small town
    and the housing cost is perfect :)

    just a little boring but we're only 30 minutes away from Jacksonville, FL
  • reasmom@xanga

    I live in a suburb of Kansas City.  We have a small town feel and low crime, but we are thinking of going even smaller - more country feel.  Our city is big enough that I worry about my kids playing outside without constant super vision - we want to move to a house with more land where our kids can run and play, ride 4 wheelers and "shot guns" (that one is for the hubby - not that kids - at least not at their ages).  In order to afford that we have to move a little further away, but still close enough that a weekend trip to the "city" is no big deal.
  • Kristenmomof3@xanga

    I live in the country and I love it. I am not a big fan of cities
  • xSocial_Vampirex@xanga

    We live in a rural area in East Texas. We live far enough out where we have plenty of peace and quiet but not so far out as to where it is an inconvenience.   
  • YourJennifer@xanga

    I'm living in Marquette, Michigan, a city of 20,000 in the summer and 30,000 when college students are around. I love being right on the beaches of Lake Superior and having so many hiking trails and camp grounds nearby.  But it's certainly a city for outdoorsy people who enjoy brutal weather (we've had 8inches of snow in the past couple of days).

    In a few weeks though I'm moving back to my hometown of Hampshire, Illinois.  It's in a cornfield and it takes 30minutes to get anywhere urban.  Plus there isn't much for hiking and backpacking.  Chicago is about an hour away and makes for a nice place to go visit when I need a dose of urban life.
  • IfonEarth@xanga

    I live in San Francisco. Is that a big city? I don't know. It's tiny geographically (for a city). I like it here, but I can't explain why. Part of it may be the fact that I've never lived anywhere else and, therefore, have nothing to compare it to, but I think it's more than that...
  • Romans_837@xanga

    A town of 108 (last census, down since then) in rural NE Kansas.
  • Romans_837@xanga

    @reasmom@xanga - I work in the city I grew up in, Leavenworth KS - (which, as you probably know, is in the KC metro area, but not in metro KC).  
  • MommyGEM_RN@xanga

    We live in Freehold, NJ. As suburbia as it gets! I really like it here though.

  • reasmom@xanga

    @Romans_837@xanga - 


    I know where Leavenworth is - if fact I used to date a guy that went to St. Mary's College.I actually live in Olathe - which is where I spent most of my growing up years - but we are thinking about heading to the MO side (that is where M is from) and south a little ways.
  • MangoWOW@xanga

    I live in Miami Florida. Its nice cause its a small-big city so theres always something happening... but its kinda boring because besides South beach there's no where to really go. :/

    But still. I love Miami! I can go to the beach whenever I want, there's always somewhere to go and down here we really are a melting pot of cultures :D You get to see so many wonderful things.

  • rocknrollklown@xanga

    Cheney, Washington.  Just outside of Spokane, but I work in the city.  There isn't a whole lot to do in Spokane, but it still has its perks and I like where I live.  There isn't a lot of crime, and it's relatively quiet. Well, quiet, except for all the TRAINS!!!
  • Luv2BMama@xanga

    I live in a small town in mid-Missouri.  I actually grew up in an even smaller town, of about 1100 people.  The town where I live now has about 11,000 people.  It's mostly a farming community.  I like small towns, probably because it's mosly all I know.  I like the slower pace, I always feel so lost and rather alone when visiting a big city.  I love that you go to Walmart, and always see someone you know.  My only real complaint is that as far as homeschooling goes, it's much harder to find resources.  But hopefully by the time we really need to start, I will have had some luck.
  • happygirl7798@xanga

    I live in a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth.  I can't imagine not living in the city or at least a large metro area.  I like being close to everything.  Everything that I need on a regular basis (groceries, etc) is less than a five minute drive from where I live.    
  • gracehopper6@xanga

    I live in Davenport, IA. I personally find it boring. and a bit stifling. but that could be cause I grew up there. I go to school in Beloit, Wisconsin. Now, Beloit is smaller than Davenport, but I like it better, but i'm sure that's just cuz i'm biased and love my college (the town itself isn't that exciting)


    currently, this semester i'm living in Granada Spain. It is one of my favorite places to live! It's so diverse, full of immigrants and gypsies since Granada is very southern spain. It's a semi big city, but not as touristy or as big as Madrid. It's a really safe place to be too. I feel comfortable coming home at late hours in the evening by myself.


    also, there is PLENTY to do. and free tapas with every drink you order! i love it here! unfortunately i have less than a month before ihave to return to the US of A
  • FunnymanGeorge_is_a_GIRL@xanga

    I feel like a real city slicker in here now... I live in Las Vegas. No one knows what the population is because we have so many people moving in and moving out every month a census is invalid only a few minutes after its finished!


    I don't live in the hustle and bustle of life as tourists see it: the strip. I am originally from Springfield, Missouri (born and raised) and jobs brought me to the west coast where I've lived for the past 15 years or so now.


    A common misperception about Las Vegas is that it's a 24 hour town. Only on the strip does that ring true. We have stores and restaurants in the "locals" areas where they close at normal times every night. We have much less expensive places to shop than the strip, we have banks and we even have Wal-Mart! (and green Wal-Mart too) There is gambling in almost every convenience store and grocery store but not at Wal-Mart at all. That was the only weird thing about moving here and getting gasoline. You tell the guy you want $20 on 12 and he might put you down for a gambling bet instead of a gas purchase! *LOL*
  • BkLyNzzzHoTTeStLiLgUrL@xanga

    I have lived in so many areas, so I can truly say something on this topic.

    I have lived in the small town areas before in the mid west growing up, and I didn't like it at all. I remember hating not having anything to experience more and no foreign people to meet. It was all like a dejavu kinda feeling. You know the same thing over and over again. The schooling really isn't that great in a small town, and even though it's cheaper, really its not that great

    I moved to a huge city(NYC to be exact) later on. It is one of the best places I think any child and family could be raised. You don't need to have a car to get anywhere (except for in queens). and Rent in areas can be quite reasonable.
    In a city like I live in right now there are so many more opportunities for the family too. Like education for example. Kids actually have a choice of what middle school they wish to attend. There are over 500 public high schools in NYC, and you can pick any one of them and go to that one (assuming you meet their standards.) These highschools also specialize in the interests of what the students want. Some of the best high schools are located in bigger cities. PLus there is so much more life has in store for you and in a more populated area you get to experience more (opinionated).

  • Meahsmom@xanga

    Very rural Arkansas.  You get off the interstate, go north 15 miles, turn at the taco bell and go another 15 miles.  We're ten minutes from one of the smallest grocery stores I've ever seen (that's going some, since I grew up in AR).  We love having the room for the kids to roam, and knowing that we don't have to worry about them.  But, we live so far from a real town that my husband does the grocery shopping on his way home from work once a week.  So planning is definitely the order of the day, but it's worth it.
  • TakingxOverxMe@xanga

    I used to live in Grove City, Ohio..  A small town.
    Now I live in Riverside, California.
  • heatherkirk@xanga

    We live in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Belfast is a great city and because we live on a rural Island we are only 5 mins from the sea and also the country side!  Can't beat it!!!!
  • methodElevated@xanga

    I live in metro Detroit, Michigan.
  • ncsm@xanga

    I live in Daly City, CA.  It's like 5-10 minutes away from San Francisco.  A great place, I think.  Not too small, not too big. I can't imagine not being near a big city after living here for most of my life.  I love the cold weather, the beach is okay, and I love the diversity that we see and hear on a daily basis.
  • NavajoPrincess27@xanga

    I grew up in a small rural community and everyone knew everyone. 
    My husband is now in the Navy so I'm sure we won't be living in a small rural community for several years. 
    We live in Pensacola, FL and I HATE it.  It's not that it's big, there are so many homeless people.  In my old town, you never saw a homeless person....
    My son had to go the the bathroom on the way home from church the other night and he didn't fully make it because I wouldn't let my husband stop anywhere in the part of town we were in. 
    In my hometown, there were no bad parts of town. 
    When we get out of the Navy I'm definately living in a rural community.  Hopefully in Southern Indiana! 

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.