I would hate to ever have to live in the city again. Country is fine with me. Quieter here, much less crowded, the view is nice. It does have disadvantages, of course. I have no real grocery store out here...some small stores within 10 miles. What things I can buy here cost a bit more. Then there's the cost of gas to drive to the city and back. Not a lot of local sources of repairs or help with work on the house. There's greedy developers that want to convert nice ranch land into very high-density housing next to us. There are animal predators that prey on pets or wild animals that come around and dig in the yard or on the property. Or try to get all or most of their food from your place. But the city...the traffic is depressing, crime is bad in some areas, not much privacy, too many rules, etc. There's a vet for the animals not too far away, but we go into the city for human medical, dental, etc. We just found out that one of the few restaurants within fairly easy driving distance is closing. They said they plan on opening up again later, but don't know where.

I loved being in down town austin, 1 1/2 blocks from the river and the community garden and a spring fed pool. I could walk across one street and be in a huge park that meandered for 15+ miles. I was a walk from my grocery store , three restaurants, bar, vet, hairdresser . A bicycle ride from everywhere else. SO MUCH going on. No crime in my neighborhood. I knew everyone on a first name bases. Strong neighborhood. I loved the hustle bustle. I had enough privacy in my backyard I could........ At night I would hear classical violin drifting into my bedroom window and the bamboo slapping on the side of the house. Why did I ever move!!!!!! But my husband and I needed a larger shop and couldn't afford the extra space in town so we moved to the country. Here we have acreage and I have enough privacy icould...... I can hear mountain lion (once) coyotes, birds. I can walk into a gorge in my backyard. I can never run out of space for new plants.I do not like all the driving I have to do,and I miss the people and all the hubbub. It was fun, and the people at the community gardens, and art openings so I am not as active in rthe art scene anymore ...BUT I have met a whole crew of amazing artist in the hills, and now swim in a local swimming hole with a 40" waterfall. I have slowed down but maybe that is as it should be. Work is harder because I have to plan better. I have become active in land conservation. Life was good.... Life is still good. There are things I miss but they have been replaced with other things that are new and fresh. I don't know if I will say I will never live in a city again. I might want to change my life again and move to Barcelona or a medieval greek village.. I really enjoyed the change and maybe there will be a bigger change in my future. I might want to design my future further. Never know.... Merry Christmas.

I grew up in the country, moved to a small town, moved to Austin. They built low income housing near us. Could not leave anything out without it getting stolen. Moved to a street near Pflugerville so we could get horses for the kids. Soon we were surrounded with people and restrictions. Am now living near a small town but in the middle of a pasture. Its 15 miles to Temple and about the same to Waco. This means a 20 minute trip to go to the larger grocery stores and to the doctors. Wouldn't trade it for all the places I have lived. Even tho it is farther to go for drs. and lots of other things it is still less time than it is when you have to fight traffic in the larger cities. I can plant anything I want wherever I want and all I have to worry about is fighting nature to get things to produce. I have fed alot of coyotes with my birds but they eat them. In less rural areas we had to contend with people's dogs that were let run wild that just killed and injured for their pleasure. Even had a neighbor's dog that ripped my daughter's face that took several hours of surgery to repair when we lived in Austin. The owners response to that was he would never have a dog that wouldn't bite. I know things have changed since that happened but still we did not have any control except to sue him. I could not do that as I could not see how that would help my daughter. Fortunately we had an excellent plastic surgeon that did a wonderful job so that one has to look very close to even see the scars. All this rambling is to say I love it here where I have freedom.
Patsy

I miss the country, too, but city living has it's advantages. We used to drive 90 miles to Lubbock to do the 'big' shopping once a month. Lived out of the freezer and bulk items. The water well was bad. We had rattlesnakes, coyotes, bobcats, feral hogs, even a cougar a few miles away. But, the neighbors (several miles away) would do anything for anybody. I miss the country folk, but not my water well freezing up, or the septic tank backing up. We've swapped wildlife dangers for homo sapien dangers. I've shot coyotes out of my yard in the country, but here people get offended if they see me carrying a firearm in the house from my pickup.

I do like the big stores being so close. and my dentist's shoes don't smell like a cattlepen here. He even numbs my gums before nailing me with all that novacaine!

RC's pictures of West Texas make me homesick - until the dust starts to blow. It was fun out there when we had horses and enjoyed all of the outdoors stuff, but I'm ok with the lines and SOME of the traffic (you won't see me in Dallas traffic). Justin is not a bad place to be.

J.D.

I love the country, disadvantages and all !!! I don't mind at all that I have to look across several acres to see my nearest neighbor, or that I see the critters feeding off the dropped birdseed at night. I love the quiet of the country and the sounds of the wild that cannot be heard in the city. I lived in or near a city for many years, and am so grateful to now be on a small amount of acreage so that I can hear the songs of the birds or the tree frogs talking to each other. Guess I am just a "country girl"!!!

Generally speaking, most critters are easier to live with than people. Humans are the most cantankerous critters out there.

I prefer to live where there is decent air, moderate traffic, and as long as I can get to a decent grocery and drug store, within 15 mins. or so, I am more than happy to be "out there". Can't wait until I can get out of the city, and I live pretty far out in the "burbs", now, and I still consider it living in the city.

Carrie.....you aren't going to be in the "country" for very much longer, I'm afraid. The never ending development, is inching closer and closer to you. Your acreage will help, but I suspect you already have traffic, most of the time, whenever you want to go somewhere.

You are so right, Rick ---- it has gone beyond "inching" to "yardsticking" !! That is why we are beginning to get serious about finding a piece of land in south central Texas where I grew up. I can live with the postoaks, blackjacks and yes, even a few ticks to get out of this zoo that I find myself in.

I wish I could live out in the country but we can't afford the gas driving too and from work. It's also not very "green" and I'm trying to help cut down on fossil fuels. Also, I'd hate to have to kill wild animals that were a threat so I try to leave the country side to them by not buying a home out there. At least it's one less person anyway. Most of the homes in my suburb have the traditional lawn with non-native plants for wildlife passing through or flying over. I like to see my garden as like a mini mart for birds and squirrels at least on thier way from what's left of the green areas here and there. I'm hoping to encourage my neighbors to do the same so the animals might have a place to live IN the suburbs with us. I don't know if I'll have any impact but I'll try at least. PJ

For the most part, if any human finds any critter, messing with their place in any way, the first action is to eliminate the critter.

Co-habitation is not an option.

Gives me greater respect for that town in Pennsylvania, where the black bear and human residents, have a working relationship. The bears use one side of the road, and the humans, the other side. (smile)

Living in the country does not mean an end to the habitat of the critters, PJ. On the contrary, I have carefully built habitats for mine so they may have a place to call home. I also have plants and trees that feed the birds and other wild life. But to be reasonable about any situation, you first have to walk in the old Indian's shoes. If a wild critter were killing your cattle or horses or domestic animals, then elimanation of that particular one would be in good order. Not all critters can be taught respect for these things. I have drawn flack for protecting my birds at the many feeders I have up for them, but I feel that since man has destroyed their natural habitat, then I am somewhat responsible for seeing that they have food and a safe haven.

I didn't mean to upset anybody about busting a coyote in the front yard, but when a wild, normally nocturnal animal shows up in the front yard at 1:00 p.m. and is looking sickly or odd, you just don't wait to find out if it means harm (in this instance my children were even playing outside!!) The coyote should have been afraid and was likely rabid.

If that makes you feel any better. :-)

That did sound a bit preachy sorry :(.

Carrie,I know most of the folks on here are animal friendly.

Justin, there is no shortage of coyotes :)

I meant to give my reasons for not living in the country.
I felt guilty moving to the suburbs instead of making a country home for the wildlife. They did clear cut a huge natural area to put in this house. I'm hoping my neighbors join me in turning it back to an area for the stuff that was here before. Homely possums and all.

Frankly, I do wish less folks would move out in the country. Most of them clear cut, put in a ton of invasives that aren't wildlife freindly, and kill anything that moves. The move to the country to "have space" they don't care about the fauna and flora.

Friendly bears huh? I'm not THAT gullible! LOL! PJ

Honestly......it was a feature article, on the town and how it deals with the bear population.

Well, all of your posts, especially PJ's, have made me think a little. I wouldn't want to displace any wildlife habitat to live outside of the city.

In that regard, I think I have a pretty good place for wildlife in my yard. I have 2/3rds acre in the city, and I've planted quite a few natives that support wildlife such as possumhaws, rusty blackhaw viburnums, native persimmons, and lots of nectar-bearing plants. I've felt extremely proud when one year several people commented that the most butterflies they'd ever seen in one place, they'd seen in my yard. I also have red ants and lots of both native & non-native lizards, owls way in the back, cardinals and doves in other areas, raccoons, and snakes. In some respects, my yard is like living in the country except for everything mentioned in my original post.

Still, I sometimes dream of a humble house in a small town....

You know, when you stop and think about it, we ALL live in nature (if not 'the country'). Homo sapien has just enabled itself to live in a more extravegent 'ant hill'. We must never forget we are part of nature - even in the busiest cities.

'Hats off' to all who enhance our surroundings (and that of the other living things around us) - no mattter how close to the grocery store we live!!

When we bought our land and old house out in the country we had such dead land that I very seldom found earthworms due to all the chemicals that had been used. It has been 10 years now and I am happy that our soil is coming back and the wildlife has been moving in (Except for the coyotes and fireants). We could make money letting people hunt on our property but do not. It is so wonderful to stand on the porch and watch all the birds, butterflies, etc. For several springs we had a doe that had twin fawns each spring. We would see her drink from our pond and then take off with her babies, jump the fence and go on her merry way. Unfortunate the past spring she did not come back so I suppose some of the people who own property on both sides of us must have taken "care" of her. There are feeders and stands in all the pastures that surround us. We keep out feed but I guess it was not enough. I was so excited last week to see some bluebirds drinking from one of my small water projects that I have in the back yard. They joined the cardinals, dove, many kinds of other birds that I have no clue as to what they are. This area is not a natural habitat for the blue birds but I sure do hope they stay. Gonna put them up a nesting box just in case.
Patsy

Ok Rick I'll bite! Do you happen to have a link to this article ? :) PJ

Nah. That was in a real world magazine, and not on line. (smile)

I don't even remember which magazine, but they actually had photos of people using one side of the street, while the bears used the other side.

The town was in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and it was a for real story, observed and illustrated, by the journalists that wrote it for the magazine.

There were also accounts of bears hibernating under someone's porch, etc. in the same town.

Of course, I am not advocating that humans get that close to bears, just pointing out that it is possible to coexist, without killing bears (which happens all too often, by police), or removing them all from their habitat, which isn't right, either.

Most critters just want to be left alone, by humans, and given the chance to go the other way, will do so.

"Most critters just want to be left alone, by humans, and given the chance to go the other way, will do so"

I'd be nervous around bears because I don't think like a bear and would be scared I'd have a bear rip my head off because of a percieved "slight".
I'd avoid the bears if I could and I wouldn't want them shot on my account.These people are brave and I really hope they set a new standard for wildlife tolerance tho. PJ