The differences between city folk and country folk.

Oldeagle66 said:
Pretty true, I live in an area where every three blocks is a like different neighborhood in some parts. Different flavor and everything. Kinda weird.
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Lots of examples in NYC - Hell's Kitchen (Irish); Bensonhurst in Brooklyn (Italian and Chinese); Chinatown (no explanation necessary).
 

I traveled a lot for the government and spent time living or staying in many large cities, mainly in the Midwest and Eastern part of the U.S. I was a U.S. Attorney for 18 years convicting drug dealers, human traffickers and (of all things) car smugglers to sell cars and small trucks overseas. I even did some undercover work, but only in the same city for a short period of time before being moved onto a different city.

I saw good and bad while living in both country and cities. I think things were calmer in the country, depending on what city was closest to us. NYC was full of crime, drugs mostly, however, murders and robberies were like an epidemic during the early 1980’s.

I would still prefer taking my chances on the country.
 
When I visit my sisters who live in a small town, I go for a walk every morning and as I do, I wave at every car and they all wave back even though they don't know me from Adam (Haven't lived there in many years). It's just what they do, and people are pretty friendly. As for the drugs and sex culture, I couldn't say. Most seem to have a more relaxed pace and aren't intent on impressing anyone.

However, I don't think they keep up with things as one tends to do in the cities. They just don't seem to care about that. It seems most don't care for change. It has been my experience that generally people in the city tend to keep more to themselves and like their privacy.

As to which have higher crime rates, I have seen conflicting reports, so I don't know what to think about that, except maybe it just depends on the area in which you live and how good law enforcement is there.
 

I grew up in the Rural midwest. We moved to Chicago burbs where we lived until we retired. To extremes in many ways. The two distinct differences I learned shortly after moving to the burbs.

Difference #1. When in rural areas you ask someone how far is it from point A to point B. You will always get an answer in miles. Like it is 10 miles or 30 miles. In urban areas you ask how far it is from point A to point B they always answer in time, like it is 15 minutes or 45 minutes.

Difference #2. When in rural areas you can expect it is factual when you are told it is 10 miles or 30 miles. When in urban areas you will find that distance given from point A to point B is never 15 minutes or 45 minutes. It is Always much longer. I'm not saying urbanites are all liars, I just think they hate to admit how bad (slow) the traffic is, so they like to fool themselves.
 
The first half of my life I lived in large American cities: Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York City, and Los Angeles. Then I moved to a very small town in far north California, which I loved. Since then I've moved to a small town in coastal Mississippi. Now I couldn't live anywhere else.

One of the main differences between small town and big city populations is wariness. Large city folks are naturally more wary of danger, so they're always consciously or unconsciously on the lookout for trouble. And people rarely look at each other in the eye. I've never felt or seen either of those in a small town.

The other element missing in a big city is friendliness, although people in Pittsburgh are pretty friendly. Where I live it's common for strangers to speak to each other. And I love that it's usual for kids to show respect for elders. One hears, "Yes, ma'am" and "Yes, sir" a lot.

Anyway those are a few of the things that make it very pleasing to live in a small town.
 
bobcat said:
When I visit my sisters who live in a small town, I go for a walk every morning and as I do, I wave at every car and they all wave back even though they don't know me from Adam (Haven't lived there in many years). It's just what they do, and people are pretty friendly. As for the drugs and sex culture, I couldn't say. Most seem to have a more relaxed pace and aren't intent on impressing anyone.

However, I don't think they keep up with things as one tends to do in the cities. They just don't seem to care about that. It seems most don't care for change. It has been my experience that generally people in the city tend to keep more to themselves and like their privacy.
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That was the one thing that was very noticeable when I moved to the country...no-one cared about the lastest fashions, or latest cars et al... People wore country clothes, good quality but they were not fashionable... altho' many cars here were very expensive models.. the first neighbour we had when we moved here had a RR silver ghost...mostly they used second cars to go shopping or generally running around, and they would be low cost standard vehicles .. which might be covered in mud every day because they were working cars.. as well as Range rovers and Land rovers ...

.....this is still very much the way of life for the Upper classes in the uk.. but when I moved here to this upper middle class area.. it was very much the case here too..

Since then however, much of that has gone and only certain prominent families still remain, and as lower earners moved into the greater area.

Ironically much of the general population now have expensive cars which they use on a daily basis.. and fashion has become more important, albeit not quite on the level of the cities

All in all everything taken into consideration... the poorer the people the more proud they seem to be... well dressed, clean cars, .. and so on... the higher the class, the less they care about clean cars and clothing..
 
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I live in the country part of my city but the area where I live is almost city by the growth in businesses that are taking over the area. The traffic is heavy now on the road.

I grew up in some cities and some country areas. I like the less populated areas in the country.
 
bobcat said:
Most of us have probably lived in both at one time or another, and noticed differences between the people who live in each, and most likely you have a preference. Part of my family lives in the country, and part lives in the city. Sometimes it hard to explain the differences when you encounter people, but there are most likely noticeable behaviors that we perceive: Their demeanor, values, friendliness, home designs and maintenance, their attire, pastimes and way of life, etc....
I also wonder if those moving from the city to the country want to bring their culture with them, or if they just want to live a different kind of life, and do those moving from the country to the city want to adopt the lifestyle there?
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We live in a Rural area surrounded by fields of crops and other homes.
Gradually the fields of crops, lots of Horse Radish, corn and beans but
are turning into more homes and businesses.

It seems heavy equipment and construction are everywhere. It's like
every Bridge, Highway and ditch is being torn up and repaired.
Maybe tear out the run-a-rounds too!

20 minutes from the mega metro areas but a couple miles from town stuff
spread out for miles. Fast foods, tire places, USP / Fed Ex. Shopping etc.

2 miles from the Interstate, main State and federal roads criss cross near by.
8 pm go outdoors and hear the howl of 18 wheelers non stop. 1000's a day.
Jets constantly overhead to and from Lombard and regional airports.

30 minutes from Scott Air Base so the howl of Fighters, Helicopters and Fuell's
fly over a lot.

The positive is 150' above high River valley flood levels. We suspect future
generations will experience many changes with the River Valley.
 
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papa tiger said:
Traffic on our street goes bumper to bumper around 3 PM.
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the same thing happens now in our nearby small market town , now that it only has coffee shops and bars mainly, it's become a dormitory town with major roads by-passing the town going to and from the North , east and west... so traffic coming to and from London to other major cities are now going through our little town, that combined with the 20,o00 people who live in the greater area, going to and from work and schools and the traffic is not moving more than a 1 mph from 3pm onward on a weekday...
 
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I greatly more trust people in rural country areas that have lived there all their lives and which have not had many outsiders move to those areas. In other words, I don't trust rural people in many areas any more than urban people because significant numbers of those living there now at least in this region are not lifelong country folk but rather urban refugees that brought their urban behaviors along.

Here in Northern California urban areas, large numbers have moved out of core areas into smaller satellite region communities because of impossible housing costs and changes in employment skills necessary to make enough income to live there. And that includes many urban types with criminal pasts, like bikers and drug dealers. As a many decades landscape photographer, have traveled through much of the less visited parts of California, meeting different cultures. I tend to like rural people and they tend to naturally like me as a small person with a smiling folksy conversational style. Urban people are also a lot more scary to true rural folks than when I grew up so how they interact with outsiders has changed too.

Large percentages of a long list of different foreign immigrant groups and emigrants from other states have displaced many of the urban people that once lived in the cities. Much worse in Southern California where there are almost no areas that have remained isolated due to real estate seekers buying up land anywhere.
 
Out here in the "country" "everyone" is very friendly, but they're all armed to the teeth. Hmmmmm.

Down south they're all "how ya'alls doin' ?", next words out of their mouth, "Whose that Yankee you got stayin' wit cho?"

Deb said it best there are good and bad everywhere and it's got nothing to do w city or country origin. I've been bouncing back and forth btwn the city and country my whole life, ime "you find what you seek." If you're looking for good that's what you'll find and vice versa.
 
againstthegrain said:
Out here in the "country" "everyone" is very friendly, but they're all armed to the teeth. Hmmmmm.

Down south they're all "how ya'alls doin' ?", next words out of their mouth, "Whose that Yankee you got stayin' wit cho?"

Deb said it best there are good and bad everywhere and it's got nothing to do w city or country origin. I've been bouncing back and forth btwn the city and country my whole life, ime "you find what you seek." If you're looking for good that's what you'll find and vice versa.
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I don't agree with that statement... When I first moved to the country I had no expectations, it was not my planning I had no say in it... so as I had my whole childhood I just accepted yet another move... no problem... I just presumed people were people, I didn't expct the vitriol ... that came as a shock...

Since than I've continued living in many places during my married life... as far west... South and and east... of the country... I didn't expect anything of the people because I was always acutely aware I was the newbie ... but in some of those places there was some really nasty inbreds !
 
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With the exception of my work which was mostly in cities, I have always lived in small towns or villages. The main difference I observed was not town vs. country, but a north / south divide. In general, northerners are much friendlier and approachable than southerners who tend to be more reserved. When I lived in Hampshire, I sometimes felt that you needed a letter of introduction just to say 'hello'.

Strangely, I discovered that while 'outsiders' are welcome, there can be a long seated animosity between villages - probably a land dispute dating back to Roman times :unsure:

This village, in spite of the lack to amenities, is a good place to live. People round here are friendly and helpful and you can easily get drawn into conversations with total strangers. Some people like a good 'blether' and you can get the feeling that they may be a bit lonely.
You don't really notice 'class' here except maybe in larger towns and cities - and there aren't many cities. Rural housing isn't too expensive, so you can enjoy a decent standard of living. People don't talk about money, but most appear to be comfortable financially. Of course people complain about costs and tax, but farms round here are selling for millions, and new fishing trawlers are being built for 10 million plus price tags.
 
Growing up on a dirt/gravel road I learned to do a thing called, what I want.
Some called it the middle of nowhere but we found it to be the center of everything.
The city is a symphony of sounds and distractions where millions of jaded people are lonesome together.
Some feel at home in one and some feel at home in the other.
 
My early years, up to age 8, were lived in the country .. well water, no heating, challenging times.
The big city, in another part of the country, was a welcome change.
We made/found fun wherever we lived. The early years gave me an appreciation for things normally taken for granted.
 
From a felonies aspect, I would have to say the crime rate, especially felonies, is higher in an urban area compared to a rural area per 1000 people. Murders and rapes are higher in cities because there are more people. Thefts and drugs can happen anywhere at anytime.
 
Pepper said:
I have found country people have more drug & sex problems than city people; also drunk driving. City folks tame in comparison. Just my experiences. Maybe there's something different about Wisconsin and New Hampshire, though I doubt it.
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That’s been my experience too in both Wisconsin and upstate New York. I think it’s because there’s not enough to do and also a lack of decent job opportunities.
 
My experience between rural and urban is that rural people have more prejudices because they don't have as much experience with different types of people. Though suburbs can be just as insular if not in an area with a lot of different people moving in. I remember in the Kansas City (Missouri) suburb that I grew up in, a family from California moved there and when the daughter started at my school we thought of her as a complete foreigner, somewhat in an exotic way but also in a suspicious unfriendly way.
When I lived in Nebraska I had a coworker who had never traveled anywhere and was completely sure the type of community she'd lived in all her life was the only legitimate way, I think she even thought of Iowans as suspect strangers.
 

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