This is how the town of Port Washington, Wisconsin looked about 100 years ago. I love this card. :)I'm beginning to think that I'm a city girl at heart. I like the compactness and efficiency of town living, which I grew accustomed to while living in Bloomington, Indiana; and I'm growing quite weary of driving twenty minutes or more to get to anything important--church, friends, family, grocery stores, libraries, parks . When I lived in Bloomington, most everything I wanted to do was within two miles; I bought a tank of gas once per month. Here, I burn through a tank of gas in less than a week.
That's not to say that there aren't aspects to rural living that I appreciate--there are; and I'm not so enamored of urban living that I would willingly sacrifice having a yard of my own. My dream home, I guess, would be a beautiful old house (a bungalow, or a foursquare, perhaps) in or near town, with a half-dozen chickens in a coop out back, vegetable plants tucked into every nook and cranny, a porch swing, and a cat sleeping on the windowsill. A big, fat cat.
Something like this urban homestead, maybe, only not quite to that extreme. You have to leave enough grass for the kids to run, you know? And for Elijah to do cartwheels (he just figured out cartwheels a week ago).
That said, if it's possible for a family to support themselves from the land, via a family farm, for instance--I would see that as an even more appealing option, even if it meant sacrificing the conveniences of city life. What better way to "train up a child in the way he should go" than to have your children by your side, assisting with the family business? Of course, in today's economy, that's not often an option.
Where would you live, if you were free to choose? City, suburbs, or country?
I really like where we live -- we have a nice sized yard and quiet neighborhood, but we're only a few miles from HEB, Kroger, Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, etc. Bay Area is not too far away either.
ReplyDeleteI hate traffic, so I wouldn't be so happy living in a big, super busy city. At the same time, I would be scared and lonely on a big farm out in the middle of nowhere. So a small-ish town that's close to bigger cities is perfect for me.
I think I really like where I live too! Though having grown up living on 2 acres of land, I sometimes still miss a bit of extra grounds around the house, and never have totally got used to having houses joined on to each other. I know some people like cities and want to live near them, but I actually am glad that we're a further 25 miles from Inverness (a city, though not huge compared to places like Glasgow/Edinburgh - but too big for me to want to live there! lol). Life seems quieter and a slower pace where we are now, people more relaxed and less uptight. But of course, having 2 small grocery stores here in town (less than 2 minutes drive), walking distance to church, and walking distance to shops with essentials like socks and other similar clothes, hardware, household goods, small craft shop (with yarn, thread, buttons, ribbon, & other sewing notions, few fabrics, and tons of scrap booking/card making stuff), 2 charity/resale shops, several bakeries, florist, and buses to Inverness/Dingwall every 30 minutes, it's really not bad at all!
ReplyDeleteI'm inbetween. I like the convenience, but must have space too, perhaps I like living more ruraly than urban though...but since I'm not the one deciding where we live I just need to be content with whatever we get! :)
ReplyDeleteA big fat cat eh? lol!
I don't drive, so am a city girl through and through. I love living where we can walk everywhere we need to go - or at worst take a bus. Our groccery store is 90 seconds' walk from the house, and the bank and the pharmacy are about the same. But (for this part of England) we have a reasonably sized garden too. (Big enough for cartwheels - but not for chickens :-))
ReplyDeleteAs for having your children working with you - my oldest works with his dad, and so far the rest are with me most of the time.
Hx
Thanks for the comments! Keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteI suppose I should clarify--I didn't mean that living in the country is the only way to have your children working with you; just that if the choice was between living in the city but not having the kids with their parents, or living in the country and keeping the family together--well, the choice would be obvious.
Rachel, I'd be happy with a small town too if it were as convenient as yours! Sadly, here in the U.S., that kind of "walkability" is hard to find. Sometimes you find a neighborhood where everything you need is within close distance, but it's rare that you'll also find safe sidewalks or walking paths to everything. You're forced to drive even when the grocery store is only half a mile away.
ReplyDeleteEvelyn, you might not be able to choose where you live, but at least you can be reasonably sure that you will always be close to church, and to your husband's work! We spend at least 3 hours a week driving to and from church, and Jesh and Ben each drive more than 5 hours a week to and from work. Imagine how much they could accomplish if they had that 8 hours a week free to do other things.