City living versus country living

I can honestly say I have had the luxury of living in both areas.  I grew up living in the city limits in a suburban neighborhood.  Approximately eight years ago, my family moved us out to the county.  Both areas gave me plenty of opportunities to make friends and to experience different things, so I have a certain amount of memories and affection for both.

Let me begin with the basic necessities.  No, I am not talking about food or water.  I am thinking on a grander scale here.  I am talking about cable television and Internet access!  In the city, cable television and Internet were readily available in virtually every neighborhood.  When my family moved out of the city limits and to the county, our television options were quickly limited to over-the-air or satellite.  Do not get me wrong, satellite television is a very viable option to cable.  Many city dwellers even prefer it to cable for its programming, but my personal experience was a lost signal whenever it rained or taking a broom to wipe the snow off of the dish when it snowed.  Plus, I remember my dad complaining about the $5 charge for each receiver needed.  

In the city, the Internet access is usually bundled with your cable access.  The cable company offers great speeds and generally decent reliability.  In the county, we were faced again with two options that did not quite compare.  Our first option was to get our Internet access from the satellite provider.  We quickly found out the big upfront expense and the lower speeds.  The other option at the time was a local Internet Service Provider that focused on the rural communities.  Again, there was a large installation fee but not as expensive as the satellite provider.  Also, the speeds were not up to par with the cable company.  Lastly, the quality was not quite there.  Luckily in recent years the cable company had expanded its range to us and we were able to get their services, but I will have to give the thumbs up to the city for this round.

As I mentioned, we were living in a tight suburban neighborhood before moving to the county.  It was the typical neighborhood where the houses were no more than twenty feet apart.  So close that if the neighbors were playing their music too loud you could hear it.  We had a decent size yard but you can only get so much yard space on a quarter size lot.  When we moved to the county, we also gained a bigger yard!  We had room for a basketball goal, and I had room to ride my bike since the road was not constantly congested with traffic.  We also had neighbors in our new place, but we were not “on top of each other” as it seemed in the suburban neighborhood. 

The frog's home and singing ground

At night, common sounds from the city neighborhood were of cars traveling by the nearby street with the occasional siren of a police car or fire truck.  Out in the county, the sounds were very different.  Our first week in the county home, we were treated to the cries of a coyote and the bellowing of frogs in the nearby pond.  I quickly began to enjoy these night sounds over anything heard in the city.  Therefore, round two will go to the country.

In the city, we were usually no more than fifteen minutes away from the grocery store, a gas station, the mall, or a movie theater.  When we moved, it was obvious that these drives would be longer.  But it was quickly apparent that although the trip was longer in distance that it did not mean it was that much longer in drive time.  It seemed that the city traffic would almost always add a delay to the trip.  In the county, we would often take back roads to get to these places with fewer traffic lights and fewer cars.  This would make the trips just as fast or close to it as in the city.  Driving to relatives or friends was not a longer trip either for the same reasons.  Over the years, grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants have been built with easier access from our county home, so driving into town was no longer needed.  So this final round goes to the country.

This gal here will head-butt you for food.

I do realize that there are other factors when comparing city and country residences.  One apparent one is public transportation.  This would be a big issue for a city dweller dependent on public transit, but in my experience it was never utilized so not discussed.  The luxuries of the big city are beginning to expand out but the hustle and bustle of the city can be avoided.  Even the local Internet Service Provider I mentioned earlier is now a major player in the area since their service has improved vastly over the past years.  I am currently pursuing a degree in marketing from Indiana University and would love to use my skills help smaller organizations like that local ISP or similar ones like Blaze Wifi expand out to more rural communities when I graduate.

The sights, sounds, and even the smell of the cow farm where I work have become sentimental to me. So therefore we have a winner!  Country, or county as we call it here, living it is!   

 Special thanks to BlazeWiFi for allowing me to submit this essay for your scholarship program!