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Someone Asks People Who Live In A Rural Area “What Will ‘City Folk’ Never Understand?” And Here Are 30 Of The Best Responses
According to Statista, there were approximately 57.23 million people living in rural areas in the US, compared to about 272.91 million people who opted for the urban lifestyle in 2020. But even though a majority, 56.2% of the global population, now lives in cities, more and more people are tempted to leave the chaotic urban jungle behind and restart their lives in a calm and peaceful environment.
And for those who’re wondering what it is like to wake up to birds chirping instead of neighbors arguing on the other side of the wall, this Reddit thread may be particularly useful. A Redditor u/MotorArea posted a question “People who live in a rural area/out in the country, what will 'city folk' never understand?” some time back, and received 4.2k comments.
From nature smells to burn piles, these are some of the most quintessential features of country life we don’t ever come across in an asphalt jungle.
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#1
In the city, you ignore the sirens and listen for the gunshots. Out in the country you ignore the gunshots and listen for the sirens.
Foxxy (The Original) 3 years ago (edited)
Where I live you don't really need to worry about either. Don't have sirens to warn of natural disasters and we have good gun control.
RELATED:
#2
The scream you hear in the middle of the night isn't a woman being murdered. It's just foxes shagging.
To find out more about the joys of country life, Bored Panda has reached out to a former city girl from London, Amy Powell, who moved to live in rural Wiltshire with her dog. Amy runs a lighthearted blog “City Girl, Country Life” where she shares the snaps of her daily life. She was happy to share how her life has changed after she moved to the country.
“For me, the contrast of country life to living in the city was very stark—not just from the way of life, but even the pace of it. When I moved out here, I was constantly being asked 'why do you walk so fast?'" Amy guesses that she was used to storming her way through hundreds of people at a tube station or while walking down busy streets to work.
#3
The dark. In a city at night you can read a book outside. In the country on a cloudy or no moon night. You can't see anything. Not like it's kinda hard to see, but it's so dark you might as well be blind; the stars and gravity are the only way to know which direction is up. Also a clear night sky in places that get truly dark like that is something my vocabulary can't describe.
Foxxy (The Original) 3 years ago
I absolutely love it when we go bush camping and get to see soooo many stars. It is magical.
#4
"Watch out for deer" when saying goodbye is another way of telling someone you love them.
Another stark difference between city and country lives was availability of things. “City life meant that if you wanted to go out for dinner after work, the only question was 'where shall we go?'—the options were endless. In the country, there is one local pub and then you had to decide who was driving or whether you should book a cab.”
But the benefits of leaving the urban jungle behind are endless, assured Amy. “My asthma all but cleared up, my pace of life has drastically slowed down, and I feel such a sense of community in the countryside that just doesn't exist in London.”
Simple things, like people saying good morning to you when you walk past , “just because” is something Amy hasn’t had while living in the city.
#5
A calm night, sitting out on your grandparents porch eating a grilled hotdog off a paper plate while listening to the summer rain hit the tin roof.
#7
Letting my kids just go outside and play. Ride their bikes down the street, go into the woods out back and explore. But more importantly just feel generally secure about their safety doing these things.
#9
The extent of our pantries and freezers. We can't just "run to the store" to pick up that forgotten ingredient or spur-of-the-moment craving. But if we're well-stocked, we can whip up just about anything!
“I can walk nowhere in particular for the sheer enjoyment of it and I have found a love of bird watching from my garden—my colleagues endlessly mock me for this and the amount of money I spend on stocking up my bird feeding station for my little visitors!”
Another obvious country bonus was all the space Amy got. Plus, she got a dog almost as soon as she moved out of the city. “Walking him has proved to be the best tonic on so many occasions... if I'm feeling stressed, sad, worried or just down, a stroll with him in the fresh air never fails to improve my mood and my outlook.”
#10
The amount of animal noises at night.
Just a girl in a crazy world 3 years ago
I love falling asleep to the sounds of birds frogs and crickets
#11
Small Town Texas here
S**tty Internet
Friday Night Lights Ghost Towns
The smell of the rain
Country Road parties
Driving for an hour and not seeing another car
Small Town Festivals
Knowing everyone business and everyone knowing yours
Snakes are your friend
Dead Coyotes hanging from fence posts
The sky at night is inspirational
#12
I temporarily moved to a rural village in order to get my foot in the door early by getting the EXACT job I wanted without the necessary 5 year experience. My plan was to get a bit of union time in then leverage that and my bit of experience to get back to the city. I moved 2.5 hours away from the city. It has been 11 years and I love it here.
I don't think urban people can understand how much more simple life is. There is no pressure to keep up on trends or make up, but if it interests you, then do it. It is a small village with not too much around it except the ocean so everything is clustered together. This clustering means 2 minute commutes to work. Empty beaches, no need to jockey for spots on the sand and those beaches are within 10 mins. Oh, you prefer the woods? Then drive 10 mins the other direction. Let me tell you, when you spend 4 mins a day going to and from work, a whole world of hobby time opens up for you and getting 8 hours of sleep is still easy.
Going to the "city" is now an exciting trip. I felt stupid when I realized that but then I realized it makes for cheap thrills to be this easily excited.
Saving money is easy peasy. Nothing to 5 dollar your life away at. At housing prices!! I bought a 3 bedroom, 1 bath (booo), 130 year old home for $100k.
Specific to where I live, I don't know if it is the same elsewhere, but our postal system is fast. I get things delivered here faster than my mom does in the middle of the big city where both our parcels go through. And couriers are hilarious. They will leave you a note letting you know who they left your package with if you aren't home.
Oh and the gossip, better than any soap opera.
#13
Chickens. They're a lot more animal than I think people realize. They eat almost anything organic, so their enclosures are barren. If you free range em - they will eat your garden, even buried stuff like potatoes.
Also they will both produce almost no eggs, then when you get 4-5, they will produce all the eggs. Like so many you'll start giving them away.
And animals love chicken. Hawks, coyotes, foxes, dogs, even damn raccoons get brave for some chicken.
Oh yeah - roosters. They totally sometimes call at 5am. Also they're mean suckers, and have large talons on their feet called spurs which are basically little chicken daggers for defense.
Oh, and eggs come from the same hole they poop from. Eggs almost always have poo on them.
I've loved raising chickens, but damn would I never want someone who isn't use to it to try. They're pretty gross at times, not at all intelligent animals, and tend to fight themselves when they aren't be predated by animals you'd never consider a threat.
They can be kind of affectionate though.
#14
Seeing Deer isn't a special occasion, those f*****s are always showing up.
Moreover, Amy said that “country pursuits are joy; much to the amusement of my London colleagues, I got a pet pig and I learnt to care for chickens. That's something you'll never be able to experience in the city. The more you throw yourself into country life, the more it gives back to you in spades.”
When asked if she ever misses some city things, Amy said that it would be cocktail bars. “Oh, how I miss perusing a cocktail menu as thick as a bible and happy hour drinks with friends after a long week at work! A pint of cider at a cheese festival on a Sunday just doesn't have quite the same effect…”
#16
Constantly losing power because of wind and rain damaging old wires, transformers, etc.
#17
Sorry mr, Thompson. I have to leave class today. Cows got out.
Your mom has a list of who you can and cant date, and when your cousin gets married the list gets cut in half.
The monthly Costco run
Having literally everything. Seriously I have so much sh*t laying around, but cant get rid of it because who knows when you will need an extra carburetor.
Chatting at Dutch bros with the barista for 2 hours because there's nothing better to do.
Gutting a deer during lunch break.
Driving 45 min to the nearest bowling alley.
Not going anywhere because you forget to fill up gas before the weekend when the stations are closed.
Knowing every single logging road by memory and practically a rally driver in a lifted truck, but freak out when your driving in a city where there are roundabouts.
#18
Our traffic is tractors during harvest / planting.. usually you can just zip around.
There is something so empowering about being able to go outside in your panties and tshirt and have no one around to give you a second look. ( best way to watch the stars at night and drink your first cup of coffee in the morning)
#19
How little politics affect your every day life when you aren't surrounded by people talking about it. If it weren't for social media (which I avoid 99% of the time) we'd have no idea what's going on out there.
Also, how quiet it is. I have city friends that love to come out just to listen to the quiet.
kathoco 3 years ago
This reminds of why I'm glad that I no longer live in a small town. People think that issues like gay rights and racism and whatever don't concern them because they live in a small, peaceful town. These questions are everybody's business because they contribute to improving society for everyone in the country (not just in a small, homogeneous town) and we should all feel like this is important. Rights are human rights and everyone should fight to protect them.
For all the people out there thinking of leaving the city behind and moving to the countryside, Amy suggests looking for a community as soon as you can in order not to feel loneliness. “If you're doing it alone, you'll struggle more than you think you would... the emptiness in the countryside can feel overwhelmingly lonely.”
That community can be found through exercise, a hobby, or an animal. “The rural community has so much to offer, but being so spaced out, it can be hard to find people to connect with at first unless you make a solid effort.”
“Yet, once you have been embraced into that community, you will never find a more supportive bunch of people.” Amy concluded that “The way people look out for others in the country is unparalleled and really restores your faith in humanity.”
#20
When a road sign says Last Gas for however many kilometers
#21
I live in a very rural, very northern latitude and almost full homestead area. There are lots of thing different.
Seeing stars and the Milky Way when it gets dark as well as full sky of northern lights.
Stocking up firewood in the summer when it’s hot and sunny. With that the dry warm heat from your woodstove in the middle of the winter is something everyone should experience.
Shooting guns off your deck to make sure they are still sighted in.
Having friends drop in just because they were in the area.
Taking a 4 wheeler to the store and spending an hour there because you keep running into people you know.
Fresh chicken eggs and veggies from the garden
Your local store is also your gas station, post office, deli, liquor store, movie rental.
There are so many other things, I don’t see how anybody can even live in the big city’s at all but that’s just how my upbringing is.
Joseph OReilly 3 years ago
I never knew what the milky way looked like until I moved to the country(too much lighter pollution in the city) and it's one of those things that no matter how many times you see it, you have to stop and look at it for a few minutes every time because it's SO DAMN COOL
#22
I moved from a busy suburb to a country house for a few years because my parents dream was to live quietly for the rest of their lives. We all ended up moving away after a few years back to a suburban neighborhood because they figured out it wasn’t for them. There are a few things to get use to:
it is extremely quiet, almost no noise unless coyotes are nearby then all you hear is howling all night at random times during the year
mowing the lawn takes all day
there’s no one to talk to, unless you bike several miles away to hang out with another kid, and you may not like them but tolerate them because you have nothing else to do.
snow turns into huge drifts, and the forts you can make are amazing
people in small towns have nothing better to do than to gossip and talk trash, so when you are new they all judge you for the first year then decide if they’re going to treat you like s**t.
ignorant white kids saying really dumb things about minorities, which is information they got from their parents. They got really upset when I told them they were wrong and told them stories about friends I use to have before moving. They get really offended and hurt when someone uses facts and experience while having a discussion, especially when you disprove something they say.
There’s a bunch of cool stuff about living in the middle of nowhere, but the worst part of it is the people who live there.
Grumble O'Pug 3 years ago
This is very true in a lot of ways. The silence, the snow, the ignorant people. Trump didn’t get elected in a vacuum.
#23
Its basically impossible to live if you can't drive, I live a few miles out of the village so I have to get lifts to work, to go see friends and everything. The only bus only leaves the village every 2-3 hours to go into the city and is ridiculously expensive.
But it is gorgeous and can be so peaceful, i often take my dog up the hill behind my house, there's no roads and only a couple of other houses and its so quiet and relaxing, i can lie there for ages on a nice day. I also have a horse and its great to go for a mental out-of-control gallop through the fields and the forests.
Katie Garr 3 years ago
i'm incredibly jealous of the horse. where i live, we don't have any fields or spaces big enough for me to take my horse out and have a full gallop around. it's been something i've wanted to do for years.
#24
The reality is your neighbors are nosy little f*****s, they don't have a life and wanna know what goes on in others.
#25
No light pollution, the night sky is amazing. It can also get extremely dark and silent. A large pack of coyotes sounds terrifying, but owls are music to the ears.
#26
How hard it is to get high speed internet.
Nikki Gregerson 3 years ago
I can only get t.v. and internet via satellite in rural Illinois. It's slow and cost a damn fortune.
#27
They'll never truly understand the power of nature. The feeling of being surrounded by it and hearing every living creature all around you.
Ralph Watkins 2 years ago
We have a wooded area next to our home. The amount of critter noises we hear is incredible. I have also hiked way off the grid on the west coast years ago. The silence is deafening. Same amount of critters but spread out by miles of wilderness. Hearing a buck scraping it's horns on a tree or a passing bird is about the only animal sounds you hear all day. It does not mean the creatures aren't there. They tend to be quieter.
#28
I don't have a leash for my dog, because where the hell is she gonna go?
#29
How small it really is.
When I graduated in 2014, my class was 14 people. And we were one of the largest grades at the school, the grade below only had 6 people, the grade above me only had 4. I originally grew up in a hamlet, population 20 people and then moved to a village where I went to school, roughly 300 people.
We have one bar, one grocery store that closes at 6pm, a carwash, a bank(in the neighboring villager 15 minutes away) post office and school in town. Everyone else is either oilfield workers or farmers.
And it’s f***ing boring, for fun in the summers we used to bike down the highway for hours to no where and then turn around and bike home.
#30
Your neighbors are important, you gotta check on them, they gotta check on you.
What do you think ?
Mimi777 3 years ago
I agree with many of these. It’s absolutely beautiful to lay out on a warm summer night and just stare up at all the stars. No light pollution and u can see the Milky Way. It’s so peaceful and quiet.
Daria B 3 years ago (edited)
I could do the same in my hometown city of Umag, on the way to the lighthouse. Seoul and nearby cities, on the other hand, less so, but not entirely impossible.
Load More Replies...
Teucer T 3 years ago
Knowing why people have light bars on their trucks... HINT: They're not for decoration.
ChickyChicky 3 years ago
Lack of access to quality health care is one thing that would be not so great.
Bill 3 years ago (edited)
I have lived in parts of Asia and several US cities and I was happy as a clam moving back to the country and will never leave
Scyth 3 years ago
Me too. I've worked and lived in the middle east and south europe, but now I have settled in north Ukraine and would never want to move away.
Load More Replies... Teucer T 3 years ago
You can tell the Europeans on this list. In the US "being 25 minutes outside town" is called "living in the suburbs."
A.M. Pierre 3 years ago
Yep. I was talking to someone from Europe who said, "In American, 100 years old is old. In Europe, 100 miles away is far."
Load More Replies...
marianne eliza 3 years ago
Actually going to a neighbor to borrow a cup of something. Or an onion.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
You find flaws in any situation, and human nature is what it is across the board ----- grew up rural, have lived urbansuburban and frankly prefer to just avoid humanity. *That* seems to eliminate most negatives ;-P
Katie Garr 3 years ago
another addition: coyotes. my mom heard one for the first time with me and my horse at our barn, and said "what is that?" my sister (not an outdoorsy person) told her it was a coyote. she didn't believe her until i confirmed that it was, in fact, a coyote, and that it was standing about 30 feet in front of us, in the pitch black, and that my horse was looking right at it and could see it better than we could.
Botox 3 years ago
Backing bread is not trendy hobby. Most of the time it's the only way to have fresh bread ) I love living in the countryside. I miss some "Citi's things", but it worth it. And I couldn't imagine real difference before, although I spent whole summers at grandma's house and thought I know everything about countryside. I did not. It's a true difference between tourism and emigration!
Mewton’s Third Paw 3 years ago
Why does it matter if bread is “fresh” though? Grocery store bread from a factory isn’t fresh but I think it’s what most people use.
Load More Replies...
Joyce Blodgett 1 year ago
Lived rurally for a great many years. Can't buy the bit that if you hear a car (ortruck) door slam, it means something's wrong. People work all kinds of shifts, start at every hour of the day or night, so someone closing a car door could just as easily mean they've gotten home from work. Until 2020, it even meant that those of us who are night owls were just getting home from shopping, or the movies, or from a friend's house. People writing on BP really need to stop the insanity of writing dumb things meant to scare people. There's enough wrong in the world, nobody needs to add to it by writing half truths and full out untruths.
Sara Throndson 3 years ago
While there are some ignorant young white kids who talk trash, there are a lot who are being raised to know that all people are created equal. The people in these rural areas are not always the worst. We can be just as beautiful as the country we live in.
AlmightyOne 3 years ago
I know there are problems in the country, but damn I wanna move there now.
Tracy Sellars 3 years ago
The beauty in just watching the wedge-tail eagles sore on the thermals. Magnificent birds and so graceful. We have a mating pair 5 mins from my home snd I always get joy in watching them.
Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
I live in a village an hour from the city. If I come home by bus after nine PM, I can walk home in twenty minutes. But in the daytime, it takes either four minutes or at least an hour and a half. Four minutes, someone gives me a lift. Over an hour? Gotta talk to people! I love it.
Margaret O'Connor 3 years ago
Don't come here. You would hate it here. We don't want you. We are your worst nightmare. You are our worst nightmare. You just keep doing your Starbucks Tindr thing and leave us alone.
Mewton’s Third Paw 3 years ago
One thing not on the list is the drug use. Rural drugs are usually meth and prescription opioids. That’s unheard of in the city. City drugs are cocaine based.
Mimi777 3 years ago
I agree with many of these. It’s absolutely beautiful to lay out on a warm summer night and just stare up at all the stars. No light pollution and u can see the Milky Way. It’s so peaceful and quiet.
Daria B 3 years ago (edited)
I could do the same in my hometown city of Umag, on the way to the lighthouse. Seoul and nearby cities, on the other hand, less so, but not entirely impossible.
Load More Replies... Teucer T 3 years ago
Knowing why people have light bars on their trucks... HINT: They're not for decoration.
ChickyChicky 3 years ago
Lack of access to quality health care is one thing that would be not so great.
Bill 3 years ago (edited)
I have lived in parts of Asia and several US cities and I was happy as a clam moving back to the country and will never leave
Scyth 3 years ago
Me too. I've worked and lived in the middle east and south europe, but now I have settled in north Ukraine and would never want to move away.
Load More Replies... Teucer T 3 years ago
You can tell the Europeans on this list. In the US "being 25 minutes outside town" is called "living in the suburbs."
A.M. Pierre 3 years ago
Yep. I was talking to someone from Europe who said, "In American, 100 years old is old. In Europe, 100 miles away is far."
Load More Replies... marianne eliza 3 years ago
Actually going to a neighbor to borrow a cup of something. Or an onion.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
You find flaws in any situation, and human nature is what it is across the board ----- grew up rural, have lived urbansuburban and frankly prefer to just avoid humanity. *That* seems to eliminate most negatives ;-P
Katie Garr 3 years ago
another addition: coyotes. my mom heard one for the first time with me and my horse at our barn, and said "what is that?" my sister (not an outdoorsy person) told her it was a coyote. she didn't believe her until i confirmed that it was, in fact, a coyote, and that it was standing about 30 feet in front of us, in the pitch black, and that my horse was looking right at it and could see it better than we could.
Botox 3 years ago
Backing bread is not trendy hobby. Most of the time it's the only way to have fresh bread ) I love living in the countryside. I miss some "Citi's things", but it worth it. And I couldn't imagine real difference before, although I spent whole summers at grandma's house and thought I know everything about countryside. I did not. It's a true difference between tourism and emigration!
Mewton’s Third Paw 3 years ago
Why does it matter if bread is “fresh” though? Grocery store bread from a factory isn’t fresh but I think it’s what most people use.
Load More Replies... Joyce Blodgett 1 year ago
Lived rurally for a great many years. Can't buy the bit that if you hear a car (ortruck) door slam, it means something's wrong. People work all kinds of shifts, start at every hour of the day or night, so someone closing a car door could just as easily mean they've gotten home from work. Until 2020, it even meant that those of us who are night owls were just getting home from shopping, or the movies, or from a friend's house. People writing on BP really need to stop the insanity of writing dumb things meant to scare people. There's enough wrong in the world, nobody needs to add to it by writing half truths and full out untruths.
Sara Throndson 3 years ago
While there are some ignorant young white kids who talk trash, there are a lot who are being raised to know that all people are created equal. The people in these rural areas are not always the worst. We can be just as beautiful as the country we live in.
AlmightyOne 3 years ago
I know there are problems in the country, but damn I wanna move there now.
Tracy Sellars 3 years ago
The beauty in just watching the wedge-tail eagles sore on the thermals. Magnificent birds and so graceful. We have a mating pair 5 mins from my home snd I always get joy in watching them.
Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
I live in a village an hour from the city. If I come home by bus after nine PM, I can walk home in twenty minutes. But in the daytime, it takes either four minutes or at least an hour and a half. Four minutes, someone gives me a lift. Over an hour? Gotta talk to people! I love it.
Margaret O'Connor 3 years ago
Don't come here. You would hate it here. We don't want you. We are your worst nightmare. You are our worst nightmare. You just keep doing your Starbucks Tindr thing and leave us alone.
Mewton’s Third Paw 3 years ago
One thing not on the list is the drug use. Rural drugs are usually meth and prescription opioids. That’s unheard of in the city. City drugs are cocaine based.
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