How do they LIVE like that?

[geeman]

SF is in gridlock today because one bridge is out down.I'll never understand how so many people can live so close together.

[Paul Girouard]

SF is in gridlock today because one bridge is out down.I'll never understand how so many people can live so close together.


Well why do you think more murders are comitted in city's ?? It doesn't alway work that can," live together.":rolleyes:

[Popeye]

there's only one guy per square kilometre in canada

his name is bob

[S.V. Airlie]

Sounds like Cooperstown ( pop. 1100 if everyone is home ) on Baseball Hall of Fame weekend.. Dealing with 30,000 visitors ain't a picnic there either.

[Norman Bernstein]

SF is in gridlock today because one bridge is out down.I'll never understand how so many people can live so close together.

none of them can understand how you could live in rural TN.

[S.V. Airlie]

none of them can understand how you could live in rural TN.
Probably true but I bet those stuck in traffic for a few hours B****t**ch more!

[Bruce Hooke]

Actually, I'd bet that at least some of them would like to move to a rural area. Unfortunately, cities are where the jobs are...

[Popeye]

cities are where the jobs are...

nonsense

[LeeG]

SF is in gridlock today because one bridge is out down.I'll never understand how so many people can live so close together.

humans have been doing it for quite awhile.

[High C]

...cities are where the jobs are...

Ya only need one.

[Bruce Hooke]

I should clarify a bit what I said about jobs. There are obviously some jobs that are more common in rural areas (not too many farmers in cities!), and one person obviously only needs one job. However, my experience has been that the employment options in many rural areas can be rather limited.

I recently considered moving to far Western Massachusetts, and talked a lot of people out there, and over and over again I heard things along the lines of "the quality of life here is great, and we'd love to have you, but you'd better plan to bring your job with you rather than expecting to move here and find work."

It does also partly come down to one's choice of careers, and then there is the factor that any move to a new geographic area can be a challenge to pull off because you are leaving behind your current network of contacts and have to start over in some ways (unless you can manage to cultivate "long-distance work" where it does not matter if your customer or boss is in another state).

I'd also refer you to this thread: http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=64173

[Keith Wilson]

I lived in the East Bay for five years. San Francisco is a delightful city, although I had a real love-hate relationship with the place. Some aspects of it are absolutely wonderful; some things are so bad they're just absurd. Traffic is in the latter category. I don't live there any more, but there are a lot of things I miss.

The problem with the bridges is an accident of geography, however. There are only four ways out of San Francisco by car: The Golden Gate Bridge to the north, the Bay Bridge to the east, the San Mateo Bridge about 15 miles south, and south by land down the peninsula toward San Jose. That's it. Without a boat there are no alternate routes, so if something happens on one of the bridges, all hell breaks loose.

http://www.luxurytravel.com/cityguides/san_francisco/images/map.gif

[S.V. Airlie]

Bruce.. the Lenox Stockbridge area is really nice.. I loved being in that area for a while but jobs.. true.. not really that many. In part it is because it is a tourist area hence, seasonal.

[Popeye]

sf , is that the place where they have those 8 lane parking lots ?

[LeeG]

BART trains will be packed. Keith, that picture is where I lived for 24yrs.

[Bruce Hooke]

Bruce.. the Lenox Stockbridge area is really nice.. I loved being in that area for a while but jobs.. true.. not really that many. In part it is because it is a tourist area hence, seasonal.

Yup. I was actually looking at the Shelburne Falls area. In some ways the "Pioneer Valley" (the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusettes) has a unique set of problems when it comes to jobs. Lots of people graduate from the many colleges and universities in the area and look around at the great quality of life and want to stay, and lots of people visit the area and see the great mix of culture and rural living and want to live there, but there just are not enough high-skill jobs to employ them all. The situation in most rural areas is rather different, but still often not great when it comes to jobs.

[Bruce Hooke]

That's it. Without a boat there are no alternate routes, so if something happens on one of the bridges, all hell breaks loose.

It should maybe be noted that there are plenty of VERY rural areas in Maine where a bridge out could create a lot of havoc too. My parents live on Deer Isle, which has a single long bridge linking it to the mainland. If that bridge went out all hell would indeed break loose...

[Popeye]

on the shuttle from the airport , we were all chatting and they got around to asking me where i was headed , i said .. uh , livermore .. pause .. , a nice lady checked her watch and announed , um , it's three o'clock , you ain't going to make it ..

she was right :eek:

[Keith Wilson]

It should maybe be noted that there are plenty of VERY rural areas in Maine where a bridge out could create a lot of havoc too.Very true, but the scale is a bit different. The Bay Bridge carries about 300,000 vehicles per day.

[Bruce Hooke]

Yes. I was just making the point that unexpected problems with the transportation network can cause problems in rural areas too, so the rural folks shouldn't get to feeling too smug...

[S.V. Airlie]

Bruce.. does the mailboat still run outta Sunset?

[Bruce Hooke]

As far as I know, but it's been a while since I've had any need to know about that mailboat...

[S.V. Airlie]

Was just wondering.. I used to hop a ride once in a while.. Wondered if it was still operating.

[geeman]

Its very true certain problems can cause trouble in rural areas too, but when they do crop up theres less people trying to get to the same place at the same time.And we sorta like it that way.
Lack of jobs can also be a problem, I guess its all a matter of perspective.I chose to settle for less money to be able to live the life I prefer,slower,more peaceful,less hassle.
The fast pace of city life wasnt for me, even tho I spent my teens years and part of my adult life there.I didnt feel comfortable there.I am home here.

[Popeye]

and if that's what you have in mind
yeah if that's what you're all about
good luck movin' up
'cause I'm movin' out

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

San Franciso is one of the worlds great cities and it's shortcomings are a reason for it's luster. It's so limited by geography that every square foot of it is worth a fortune. Blight doesn't seem to be in it's future as long as someone is willing to pay those outrageous real estate prices.
It is the only major American city I can think of that has a ghetto that's a distant suburb.
If it didn't sit on a tectonic fault and have a water supply that may become iffy it would be almost a perfect urban local.

[S.V. Airlie]

Bruce there were some advantages to living in the country.. Just bring everything with you..
My great grandfather's house in Lenox...of course it was his summer home LOL...
And a bit extreme.. Sold to Carnegie.. Who I think died there.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s307/tancook/1141833910_shadowbrook.jpg

[Bruce Hooke]

LOL!

Nothing like a little place in the country to get you away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

That place looks a bit big even for Toad Hall.

[S.V. Airlie]

Yup.. his escape from Savannah during the summer...
This is the only picture I could find when I googled it. Supposedly 100 bedrooms.. LOL:eek::eek:
Burned in 1956.. My mother remembered it.. Now it is some far eastern retreat.. or what is left of it, is..

oh and just so some people don't shout silver spoon etc. He lost everything through the laws regarding having monopolies... Won his case but lost everything doing so. My mother, his granddaughter could not even afford college.
So no silver spoon folks... I think the spoon was tin actually.

[Wild Dingo]

mmmm so this post is about? bridges? city vs country living? what did I miss this time?

[Keith Wilson]

mmmm so this post is about? bridges? city vs country living? what did I miss this time?This is one of those wandering threads that's sort like a conversation in a bar, about everything and not much of anything - classic bilge. Feel free to post a non sequitur. :D

[Bruce Hooke]

mmmm so this post is about? bridges? city vs country living? what did I miss this time?

What may not have gotten much coverage overseas is that an accident involving a gas tanker (truck) brought down part of a key approach to a bridge in the San Fransisco Bay area. As Keith noted, the discussion has wandered in various directions from that starting point...

[S.V. Airlie]

But the drift seems to be based on a post that no one from the city would want to live in TN.. and ya go on from there..
OOOPS wind shift..

[geeman]

:) We in Tn have our problems, a lot of them.But all in all, most of us would rather be right here rather then anywhere else.Is why I "migrated" from Virginia.
We used to vacation here a couple of times a year.I got tired of watching the wife look thru the back window of the car and cry at the mtns as they got smaller and smaller when we left,and brought her up here.

[Vince Brennan]

Jamie, the only reason someone from "The City" wouldn't want to live in rural TN (or rural VA, for that matter) is that they haven't.

Once you learn to slow down a bit and smell the (sometimes roses, sometimes something else, but all natural...), you find yourself wondering what the heck attracted you to that pile of masonry and asphalt in the first place.

I just hated it when I had to leave Blountville, TN and move back to Philly, but my wife (of the moment) just wasn't ready to do the "slow up", so she never got the do the smellin', neither. Shame, mighta kept her on an even keel.

Any roads, if I had the chance I'd be down on Buncombe Road at the "Funky Buncombe Cricket Farm" again in a flash, feet on the rail, tipped back in the rocker, and watching the butterflies fly and listening to the horses do what horses do when they've eaten well.

(Now, there IS one disadvantage to having the paddocks come right up beside the house: sometimes the horses like to scratch a portion of their anatomies (the ones that do what horses do...) on the side of the house... window jambs preferred - and this can sometimes lead to sleeping in gas masks, but it's a small problem. Cheap at twice the price.

[S.V. Airlie]

Vince.. the towns I grew up in had two blinking lights if they were lucky... Never lived in a city if I could help it... A few exceptions but overall short lived ones.

[Bruce Hooke]

Jamie, the only reason someone from "The City" wouldn't want to live in rural TN (or rural VA, for that matter) is that they haven't.

I think this discredits the people who truly enjoy life in the city. Some people thrive on the energy of a city and honestly dislike living in a rural area just as much as someone who loves living in a rural area might dislike living in the city. To suggest that city folks just haven't discovered the virtues of living in the country is balderdash.

[Keith Wilson]

Jamie, the only reason someone from "The City" wouldn't want to live in rural TN (or rural VA, for that matter) is that they haven't.Nah. You might, but some folks prefer what you can only have in a city. I do, although San Francisco was a bit much; I don't live there anymore. That's OK, though; it keeps your neighborhood from getting too crowded. :)

[Noah]

Yep, one 15ft Bridge in Shelburne VT is deemed un-safe, and now I have to bring my boat to another boat yard out of town. What a pisser!

[KNOCKABOUT]

To paraphrase Woody Allen: "Where else can you get a pastrami on rye at 3:00 in the morning?"

[huisjen]

Hmmm.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070429/capt.67e37298f7d04dc5843efe86cc27d5c6.highway_coll apse_caps107.jpg?x=193&y=345&sig=F1pVfQJQTaPorMjCxJr0lw--

[Garrett Lowell]

SF is in gridlock today because one bridge is out down.I'll never understand how so many people can live so close together.

Apparently you've never been to Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Bangalore.

[KNOCKABOUT]

^
|
|
Or Cairo...

[dmede]

SF is in gridlock today because one bridge is out down.I'll never understand how so many people can live so close together.

Uh, it's not really in gridlock. Traffic was pretty light this morning and nothing really awful was reported. Remember this city got by for a good while with the entire Bay Bridge shut down after Loma Prieta.

I expect it will get worse as more people venture back on the roads to see if they can get by. But unlike the bridge closure, there are alternate routes around the fire damage. Don't overstate the problem.

As for living or working in the city... well I guess you never been here huh? ;)

[Vince Brennan]

I think this discredits the people who truly enjoy life in the city. Some people thrive on the energy of a city and honestly dislike living in a rural area just as much as someone who loves living in a rural area might dislike living in the city. To suggest that city folks just haven't discovered the virtues of living in the country is balderdash.

Nope. You mis-read the post. In the middle somewhere I said that you haveta be able to learn to slow down to be able to appreciate it.... most "City Pholques" are running at a speed unsustainable in a rural setting, and for them, rural life would be Booooo-ringgggg in the extreme. (Mr. Blandings builds his dream asylum:D)

Some folks, like a friend in Brooklyn, couldn't deal with not being able to get falaffel at 3AM, or to be able to go shoot pool anytime, 24 hours a day. He just wouldn't go there.

Fine for him, but I can deal with both. I'm like an old record-player and function equally well at 78 or 33-1/3, but I prefer 33-1/3.

(Heck, I actually like 3-1/4, but it's hard to hear me then...)


Vince.. the towns I grew up in had two blinking lights if they were lucky...

Blountville wasn't that advanced. When I was there, they put the lite on the main hiway crossing on blink around 8PM but turned the other two in town off entirely.

[KNOCKABOUT]

All I know is the ratio of women to men in NYC is about 9 to 1. So pardon me for saying that all you woodshed-gasbags whinging on and on about where its better, or what "speed" you're on, or which "speed" is better seem to have forgotten about that thing attached rather tangentially to your prostate. There is no place better for a young man than in a city. And, as has been clearly outlined here, there is no other place than urinating behind said woodshed when the sun starts her long afternoon descent... Why in the world would anyone argue this point?

[Bruce Hooke]

Vince,

I understood exactly what you said the first time. I just think you are wrong.

The idea that city folks can't slow down is as stupid, insulting and downright bigoted as the idea that all country folks are bumbling idiots or hicks.

I know people who lived in the country for many years and of their own volition decided to move to the city are quite happy there.

[KNOCKABOUT]

Get'em Hooke!

[Bruce Hooke]

'Tis ironic that I am defending the city life given that I really feel like more of a country guy myself...

[paladin]

when I was home in Okiehoma for a week or two I rarely used the car to go to town,,,,it was just a couple of miles by ponie.......never in a hurry, I would carry one of the large i9nsulated canteen thingies full of cracked ice and water. We had sorta wandered to town and was asked to pick up a couple of small things on the return trip. Boys being boys we stopped a mile or two from town, sat an empty coke can on a post, backed off and popped a few rounds at it. One of our Okiehoms finest stopped his car and indicated that it was against state law to shoot a firearm from a highway right of way.....we pointed out that we were on private property..indian land,,,then he got more upset...but we kept shooting.....we killed the can. Constant practice...

[Wild Dingo]

How do they live like that?

Could be turned on its ass to read "How do you live like that?"

Each to their own mate each to their own... me? I lived in the smoke once or twice and saw its benefits the plus factor an the minus factor and just couldnt do it so I and then we left for the bush again... we moved back to the smoke several times over the years generally we would get this view from somewhere that being in the smoke or at least close to it would give the hoons more "opportunity" and a better edjoomakashun... not so every time we moved there we moved out within a year

Last time we stayed for 8 years in a satellite city just outside of Perth... sure nothing as large as SF or NY but still... we couldnt wait to leave!! initially the hoons didnt want to you know freinds and such but now weve left and been out of it for a couple of years again NONE of them want to move back to the smoke

But some people cant abide the bush mate... Ive known quite a few and the hoons used to have their friends come down to stay but they were city kids and couldnt cope with the slower pace of life down here and so they havent been back but the hoons seemed to have shrugged and found new ones and got on with life.

Personally I couldnt imagine living in Perth now and the idea of Sydney terrifies me so imagine what a place like SF or NY do to me!! :eek: And thats JUST the airport let alone the thought of living there :o I cant see how they can do it... but then different strokes for different folks eh? and hell some of them city folks are nice people!! :cool:

[geeman]

I didnt mean to slam city folks.I just dont (having lived in the city) care for it.In the 1st place unless I was working I didnt see any need to go out in the middle of the night.The city (to me) would be fine, except there's people there.I like it quiet maybe even boring, we dont "do" parties,we dont go to bars. To me there's something depressing about watching people get stinking drunk.But thats just me.Give me the quiet,and I'm a happy guy.

[dmede]

I didnt mean to slam city folks.I just dont (having lived in the city) care for it.In the 1st place unless I was working I didnt see any need to go out in the middle of the night.The city (to me) would be fine, except there's people there.I like it quiet maybe even boring, we dont "do" parties,we dont go to bars. To me there's something depressing about watching people get stinking drunk.But thats just me.Give me the quiet,and I'm a happy guy.

Wow, you are just full of city life misconceptions and generalizations.

I grew up on Kauai and spent most of my early years on a small farm, so I'm no city boy. But I do like living in the bay area. I do not care for living right in the city, but I love being close enough to go whenever I want to. And of course I work in the city so I go everyday! There's a lot more there than just bars and noise BTW. There's culture, great food, lots of oppurtunites to mix with people from all over the world. And if it's too much society in 20 minutes from my driveway I can be on a vaccant high moutain trail overlooking the pacific and the bay at the same time. Or lounging on the patio in Half Moon bay with a beer and some local fish and chips and a small local band playing blues in the bar. Or in 4 hours I can be completely lost in the Seirras.


Cities (or more generally, metropolitan areas) are not for everyone. But they are not just gatherings of people who like to stay out all night and get "stinking drunk".

[geeman]

LOL dmede,
I wasnt implying that thats ALL there is to city life.As I said I lived in the city most of my young life, until I was about 28 or so.My point was, I dont like to get up in the morning and hear somebody elses car going down the road.I cant stand traffic noises.Or hearing other peoples conversations,or hearing cell phones going off,or other peoples radio ,TV, etc.
If theres an emergency I can drive the 20 miles to the nearest town at night.But most of everything there is closed too.In the country when it gets close to, or after dark its time to go home ,and a bit later go to bed.We make one trip to town a week, and get everything we need until the NEXT week.Its quiet( most of the time). Thats all I want, QUIET, to only hear the natural sounds of nature.Might sound boring to most folks, but its how I choose to live.
Culture is for those that seek it,I dont give a rats behind about culture,I prefer to eat my wifes cooking most of the time.Sometimes when we're in town we'll stop at a resturant,but mostly I prefer to eat at home where I dont have to listen to other peoples try to control their kids while their dining.I dont care for feeerin food,I like steak and tators.I'm not much of a "mixer" either.I dont care for "polite" conversation,if I have something to say I'll say it. Otherwise I prefer to be left alone.

[dmede]

LOL dmede,
I wasnt implying that thats ALL there is to city life.As I said I lived in the city most of my young life, until I was about 28 or so.

Ahh, see now you were there during your formative years (read drinking years!). Yeah, I know what you mean. Like I said, I don't live in the city either. Mostly for the same reasons. My big issues are that it can actually be harder to find and get what you need in the city in terms of project materials and the like. If you want out it's a bit harder to leave town with traffic etc. I have better access where I am to great small markets, delis etc. Not as many good reasturants though. And bars... I got no good dive bars in my hood.

It's a toss up. Cities, love um and hate um.

[Bob Cleek]

Native San Franciscan here. We LOVE these disasters! Earthquakes, bridge closures, they separate the men from the boys (Although it's often necessary to use a bucket of cold water and a crowbar to separate the men from the boys in some neighborhoods!). When things get inconvenient for a while, a lot of the opportunistic sissies move back where they came from. What was once a nice place is now overpopulated with wierdos, perverts, and wannabes. Ruined it good for the folks who built the City and made it what it once was. Damn shame.

[John of Phoenix]

Where else could you find anything like this?

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2005/11/01/ba_grimes4_c_04dec02.jpg

Used to love to watch that guy.

[dmede]

Now Phoenix, why would anybody live in Phoenix!? There's no ocean there! :D

[John of Phoenix]

Yeah, "Phoenix, all beach - no ocean" is the standing joke.

The pic above is from the Wharf in SF. I was stationed in Montery in the late 70's and used to head up to the Bay area every now and then.
The Automatic Human Jukebox was a favorite. Guy with a trumpet in a refrigerator box. Drop in a coin, select your tune and enjoy. He was legend.

What a hoot. Or "toot" if you prefer.

Just found this...

Mr. Poznikov would sit at Fisherman's Wharf near the cable car turnaround in a painted refrigerator box. On one side of the box were dozens of little tabs cut into the cardboard, each with a song title written on it. On the other side of the box was a slot for dropping in money, and on the front of the box was a lid operated by a pulley from the inside.

Tourists would push in a song tab, drop in money, and the lid flipped open to reveal Mr. Poznikov in a fedora hat and tie. He'd reel off the song on trumpet, kazoo or any of a half-dozen other instruments he kept in the box.

The quality of the song depended on how much cash was dropped in the slot. A reporter selected "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" one hot summer day in 1976, slid in a dime, and got one quick kazoo blast. The reporter then tossed in $2, and when the performance lid flipped open Mr. Poznikov blew a soulful, pitch-perfect version of the same song on trumpet, fetching cheers from the crowd of 40 people gathered around.

[pcford]

Anyone who is doubtful of the charms of San Francisco has never spent any time on the west side of the city watching the winds from Japan swirling the fog outside your building.

People that don't get it are simply to be pitied.

[hokiefan]

Right out of college I spent 6 weeks at a company school in San Jose. We spent the evenings and weekends exploring the area. The whole area has some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, postcard scenes that can't be real until you really see them. Found the best crabmeat fried rice I've ever had in Chinatown. Truly loved the place, except there were just too many people for me. I grew up in a small paper mill town of 7,000 people and I liked it. Savannah is more than big enough for me and Jacksonville is too big. Other people really are born for the big city. Thank goodness there's both, to each his own.

Bobby

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

I got mugged in Savannah. Right on Factors Walk. I like it anyway.
Was visiting a relative that was attending the Savannah School of Art and Design. Came back in May for the graduation. Almost croaked from the heat and humidity. Summers must be something there.

[Phil Heffernan]

Where else could you find anything like this?

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2005/11/01/ba_grimes4_c_04dec02.jpg

Used to love to watch that guy.

That's the era I lived in SF, and it was the best era EVER;)

What a scene, everybody was living out their dreams...Life was simple and cheap, and it seemed as if every smart, beautiful person in the U.S. had gathered in SF....

I have always loved the urban buzz. Which is why I love the small village life as well: It's always a party right outside your door:cool:

PH

[geeman]

demede,
I didnt have "drinking years.
I've never liked the taste of booze,family didnt drink when I was young and I never developed a taste for it.The only time I messed with booze of any kind was after my split with the exwife,and I drank to numb life for about a month.After that I still never cared for it.
Wife and I dont even keep any type of booze in the house here.
As a rule (which has been broken a time or 2) we dont drink socially either.I will not drive if I've had any type of booze,I'm a firm believer in being sober behind the wheel.Its just something we never have felt we needed.
Tomorrow we have to go to town for a few things, after that the truck wont move until Fri when we leave for work.Gonna spend most of both days workin on the boat.weather permitting.Boats under roof but have some touch up painting to do.
"always a party right outside your door"
If their partying outside my door then their tresspassing and there's gonna be trouble! LOL

[MarkC]

'Quality of Life Index' for rural areas is not always so rosy.

- access to doctors and medicine
- isolation and depression
- exposure to pesticides - crop-spraying
- country roads
- entertainment for youngish people (drinking, driving and country roads)
- job perspective
- boom or bust employment
- resale value for houses
- lack of housing options and high rents.

Quality of life index for cities varies as well. Live-able city versus Megalopolis.

Being able to walk to and from work was one of the best things I have experienced in Sydney. Getting anywhere in that city was a drama. Got to have a good job though - to afford to live in Sydney. I can imagine it must the be the same in SF etc.

[Phillip Allen]

'Quality of Life Index' for rural areas is not always so rosy.

- access to doctors and medicine (We don't get sick nearly as often)
- isolation and depression(one is often more isolated in a crowd than in neighborly country settings)
- exposure to pesticides - crop-spraying(doesn't happen in country settings...just corporate farming)
- country roads(slows the traffic down and keeps out the tourists and yankees)
- entertainment for youngish people (drinking, driving and country roads)...(imaginations expand and dependance on electronic mind shrinkers deminishes)
- job perspective(the job is a means to an end...once the end is arrived at the job becomes superflous...think peaceful living)
- boom or bust employment(think of it like the seasons...if it were summer all the time you'd get pretty bored)
- resale value for houses( why sell my own paradise?)
- lack of housing options and high rents. (John Mure had the best attitude on that)

I might add that your last two seem to contradict

[hokiefan]

I got mugged in Savannah. Right on Factors Walk. I like it anyway.
Was visiting a relative that was attending the Savannah School of Art and Design. Came back in May for the graduation. Almost croaked from the heat and humidity. Summers must be something there.

Savannah is a lovely city, but it has its issues. Crime is one of them. In the first few years we lived here, it was ranked as high as#4 in the nation I believe in per capita murder rate. Turned out about 30% of that was one gang. They required all prospective members to knock-off a random person as a rite of passage. When they put those guys away the rate plummeted, now we're only middle of the pack bad. Schools are also an issue, there are a few public schools that perform, but the rest just plain suck.

Ahh, the summers. Well its just plain hot from late April to early October. You just keep the water bottle beside you when you're working outside. On a typical Saturday of yard work, I'll drink half a dozen 20 oz bottles of water. Just keep drinking, just keep drinking... Its also easier to keep working if you sit down in the shade outside to cool off, don't go into the AC until you're ready to quit for the day. I've cursed all my trees for the last couple of months, but I love them dearly this time of the year.

I don't think I ever want to move away from the coast. My grandfather taught me to never say ever and never, but I can't see a worthy reason.

Cheers,

Bobby

[geeman]

For some it may be true that depression sets in in a rural area.Those folks wasnt cut out to be there.For ME tho, depression sets in when I have to contend with a lot of people.Some of us thrive in isolation,its not isolation to us, its called "peace and quiet".
As I said earlier, if you dont mind being one of the rats in the rat race, I suppose city life is fine.I'm not competing with the guy next door, or his neighbor or anybody I know.If some folks feel that dealing with all the hassle of city life and the aggravating people that are there to make a buck,more power to them.For me, sitting on my front porch that cant be seen from the road unless your trespassing is fine. I'm in no hurry when I'm going somewhere,the speed limit is fine by me, sometimes I dont even drive that fast.I'm in no rush to get anywhere.When I leave for work I leave early so I dont have to find that hole to stick my truck thru to get to work on time.If you have to drive fast to get where your going, you didnt leave early enough.Simple as that.
I'm the guy thats in front of you going down the road somewhere around or below the speed limit thats driving you crazy.No rush,blood pressures fine, no real worries.Thats country livin.

[MarkC]

- boom or bust employment(think of it like the seasons...if it were summer all the time you'd get pretty bored)
- resale value for houses( why sell my own paradise?)
- lack of housing options and high rents. (John Mure had the best attitude on that)

I might add that your last two seem to contradict

Think 'employment boom and bust' and I'm probably talking more about mining than farming, but this would also include fishing towns - who do you sell to? and when you get the new place, all the rents have increased and how do you afford a new house?

Who the hell is John Mure?