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Today's Poll: Would you rather live in a big city or rural area?

By Howard B. Owens
Sarah Christopher

I don't know how to answer this...I live in the City of Batavia...which is not a "Big City", but I have also lived in the backwoods of Stafford and Pavilion, which is certainly rural. I hated having to drive 15+ minutes to get to a store or any type of civilization...at this point in my life I am too busy to waste time driving everywhere. But I would never consider living in Rochester or Buffalo.

Nov 7, 2013, 10:13am Permalink
Billie Owens

Big city -- been there, done that. Small town America and plenty of open space is sublime. Living way out in the boonies would be a little scary to me, being completely unaccustomed to that kind of living. The bears, bobcats, no hospital close by...but that's where I'd like to "visit" and stay a spell in a cabin and fish and stuff like that. That's more appealing to me than visiting a big city and its attractions, the exception being New York City, which I've never seen, and maybe Toronto, which I'm told is very clean for a large urban area.

Nov 7, 2013, 10:46am Permalink
Scott Ogle

Having moved to Batavia a year ago from a very large Midwestern city, I can only say I love the small town aspects here, and would never go back. (Although the caravans of semi-tractor trucks cutting through town seems unfortunate, and too big-city. Can nothing be done about that?) Still, I wished I'd moved years ago. It's been a year since I've heard the sound of gunfire outside my windows. It's been a year since I've had to fear going outside for a walk, anywhere, at any time, day or night.

Nov 7, 2013, 11:59am Permalink
Doug Yeomans

I grew up rural in Tyre, NY, moved to Rochester in February of 82, and then moved to East Bethany in July of 2003. I do not mind a 15 minute drive to get to a store and prefer the breathing room of being rural. Just yesterday I was able to get out a couple of firearms and do a bit a target shooting right from the porch of the house. The neighbors don't mind and it's all copacetic. Try doing THAT in the city! The neighbors cows have run through my lawn and so did their sheep when they had them. Sometimes a raccoon gets into the house through the pet door and that results in the odor of nitrocellulose in the living room, but, ahhh...that's country living. The odors of manure ponds I can do without, but when the silage trucks go by, that's heavenly. I'll take life in the country over a big city any day.

Nov 7, 2013, 2:34pm Permalink
Bob Harker

To the 100+ that prefer big city living: Why are you here and reading the Bativian?!?! The Buffalo News And Rochester Democrat and Chronicle realms are but a short move away.....

Nov 7, 2013, 6:35pm Permalink
John Simmons

I lived in Monroe County until the state of NY TOOK my house & property away to widen a road. I moved OUT of Monroe County & into Genesee County & won't ever go back to Monroe again.. Might not stay in Genesee County because they are getting just as bad as Monroe has been for a lot of years.. Maybe it was because a lot of people that lived in Monroe County decided that it would be good for everyone involved to have Genesee County be just like Monroe County, & IF that is the case, Then we should DEPORT all them dweebs back to Monroe County & never let them ruin our county again.. And stop trying to attract new businesses that only stay here until their tax benefits run out & then abandon their building & go set-up shop someplace else!! Oughta make them pay the full amount of taxes on their old buildings until they sell them to any interested parties that wanna buy them..

Nov 7, 2013, 7:28pm Permalink
Kyle Slocum

The city mouse should live in the city. The country mouse should live in the country. City mouse expatriates seem to be much more common than country mouse expatriates... I wonder why?

I had a tenant, years ago, who grew up in the appendix. He finally had finished his MBA over several years while living in WNY. He then took a job in Connecticut. Two weeks later he was back.

I asked him what happened. In his words: "I just can't live that way again."

Nov 7, 2013, 8:35pm Permalink
Tim Miller

I answered "rural area" because I cannot comprehend tolerating the big city again. I did live in what I consider a big city once, and it was hell. My new (now ex-, but new at the time) wife and I wanted to try our hand at the big city, so we moved from Ft. Myers, Fla. to Miami. We pledged to ourselves we would give it a year... we lasted 8 months.

I've lived in Rochester and now am in Raleigh, NC. I don't consider either place "the big city", as many residential areas of both cities allow for open spaces and (dare we say?) decent sized yards. Plus, any time I want to get away from it all, it is a quick 10-20 minute drive to the country.

A few years back I was at a sister's place on Long Island. Folks were sitting around talking about how nice it is to live in that section of the world - including one guy saying he moved to a section of NY along the Hudson, but he had to move back because it was too quiet. I responded that I could never live in NYC or surrounding areas - "there were just too many of you." I did clarify that I meant people in general, not the folks sitting in the living room.

Nov 8, 2013, 12:21pm Permalink

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