Suburbs vs. Country

[OrionGrad]

DH and I have started looking at houses in our next location, and we're really torn between houses that are in more traditional neighborhoods vs. houses on larger pieces of land (2 or 3 acres). It feels like there's such a huge difference in terms of lifestyle, but both options seem intriguing.

Some of the things I'm considering: Prices are similar, although the larger properties would require more time/money for upkeep. The neighborhood houses are closer to shopping/hospitals (5 minutes vs. 15), but the "country" houses are in the better school district, so a shorter drive to school each day. We enjoy going on family walks, and I can't imagine walking around an without sidewalks. We don't have animals, besides a small dog, but I would love to have my own gardens some day. As you can see, I'm really torn.

For those of you who grew up in the suburbs or country, or live there now, which do you prefer?? Will I miss sidewalks if we move to the country? Is not having close neighbors enough of a benefit to outweigh everything else?

[MrsC]

DH and I have started looking at houses in our next location, and we're really torn between houses that are in more traditional neighborhoods vs. houses on larger pieces of land (2 or 3 acres). It feels like there's such a huge difference in terms of lifestyle, but both options seem intriguing.

Some of the things I'm considering: Prices are similar, although the larger properties would require more time/money for upkeep. The neighborhood houses are closer to shopping/hospitals (5 minutes vs. 15), but the "country" houses are in the better school district, so a shorter drive to school each day. We enjoy going on family walks, and I can't imagine walking around an without sidewalks. We don't have animals, besides a small dog, but I would love to have my own gardens some day. As you can see, I'm really torn.

For those of you who grew up in the suburbs or country, or live there now, which do you prefer?? Will I miss sidewalks if we move to the country? Is not having close neighbors enough of a benefit to outweigh everything else?

I grew up in the country, on a farm, so I'm pretty biased but I would pick a 2 to 3 acre lot in the country any day if you're that close to amenities. Our first house was on 1.5 acres in the country and we miss it soo much. This house is nice and all. It's on a half acre lot so I can still grow some veggies but we're already looking forward to moving somewhere more private in a couple of years. Sidewalks are a plus if you're pushing a stroller but you can do much more than just walk if you have all that space.
There's nothing quite like that feeling of sitting in your yard and not being surrounded by neighbors. So private and peaceful.

[medpedspouse]

Did not grow up in the country but do like to garden/grow my own vegs. Still, just maintaining 1/2 an acre was too much for me. It really depends on how much time you wish to spend maintaining said property. DH grew up in the country. Initially, he wanted 1 mile between our neighbors. Ha!! Now that we live 5 mins from the gym, grocery store, hospital, etc., dude has changed his tune. I've decided that I am more of a smallish town with easy access to big city type instead of big city, burbs or country type.

[spotty_dog]

When we looked for our first home, we were hoping for 5 acres or so and lots of privacy. But then we stumbled on our current place. I am thankful every day for being able to walk to the library and the farmer's market and the toy/candy store with the kids, for having neighbor kids they can run meet, and for hubby's commute being insanely short. The grocery store, post office, schools, basketball court, even the pet food store are within walking distance. And now that we're in the thick of it I am thankful for only .4 acres to weed and mulch and prune, and only a 2000 sf vegetable garden to keep up (it's MORE than enough for the amount of time and energy I have for gardening!) Finally now that the kids are both in school full-time, I MIGHT actually be able to stay ahead of the season, LOL. Basically, when I thought we'd live on land, my eyes were bigger than my stomach in terms of anticipating the time and money and energy that would be available for gardening and commuting. We may still move to acreage one of these days, but not soon.

Also, I don't know how water access works in your community, but another unanticipated perk for us of living in town is being on city water and sewer. Wells and septic are all fine and good but I can't imagine having to deal with emergency septic pumping and annual well testing and what have you when my kids were small and my husband working a ton!

[gcuthbe1]

I grew up on 7 acres. Honestly I never felt isolated from our neighbors. We could still see them. The lot was long but not all that wide. Last year I sought out a rare apt with a private backyard in our current location. I love having privacy and greenery.
Long term we both want acreage, animals, etc. But I don't want us to be longer than a 30 minute commute each way. For fellowship location, we'll happily do suburbs for shorter commute, ease of exploring our new city and not feeling isolated, and for less upkeep (like you described).

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[SoonerTexan]

We lived in a neighborhood on 3 acres when I was in middle school. When we moved to Dallas my parents settled in a normal neighborhood close to everything, but they were itching to get more land the whole time. Now they live in a high end neighborhood on an acre, but still bitch about their neighbors

The maintenance on these large lots is crazy. Granted my parents are crazy and do it all themselves (and used us as child labor in the first house haha), but at the same time it is really nice.

I used to think I wanted more land, but kids means a lot of driving and we are always driving driving driving to stuff. I think my new ideal is a house with a large yard backing to a green belt woods.


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[Thirteen]

We are currently eyeballing larger lots in mature neighborhoods within walking distance of some amenities that we enjoy.

I grew up on about 3 acres in the country, and have fantastic memories of it. However, we were always in the car driving everywhere to get to things.
I'd like to avoid that. Additionally, I enjoy walking out my front door and immediately being able to go for a run.


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[ballibeg]

We're very close to our town, 5 mins walk, but it doesn't help that the town is tiny. Just found a great job I'd enjoy but it's in the city, 2 hours away. So frustrated. Burbs bring opportunities.

[gem]

We toy with the idea of living out in the country from time to time, but the following keep me in town:

-We frequently enjoy impromptu get-togethers with neighbors, just crossing paths when people are out walking dogs, taking out the trash, sitting on porches. Some of my kids' best friendships are forming that way, and it's just been a great resource for us to learn about things going on in our community that I may not otherwise hear about. Especially with little kids, it's really nice to have social interactions that don't require prearranged meetings. As much as we love wide open spaces, I'd miss having neighbors in close proximity.

-DH works a lot of nights, and I feel safer knowing there are other people close by. When an alarm goes off on our street, our neighbors text to make sure we're ok since they know I'm often alone with the kids. If I needed to grab the kids and run out of the house, I could bang on someone's door in 15 seconds. Unlikely, hopefully, but it helps me sleep at night. When I'm at my parents house in the country, it's soooo quiet; I get freaked out.

[OrionGrad]

This is exactly my problem, there are so many good points on both sides!!
I grew up in the "country," but I haven't lived anywhere that wasn't within walking distance to stores/libraries/etc. as an adult. Having to drive 12+ minutes to the gym (which means I probably wouldn't go) is a major factor for me.
On the other hand, DH and I are both introverts, and the peacefulness of the country would be a major plus. The problem with living in a neighborhood is that so much of your happiness with the living situation depends on whether you have good neighbors. (We have LOUD neighbors this year, which is probably where some of this is coming from...)
I wish there was a nice neighborhood that had both sidewalks and 1+ acre lots, but that doesn't really exist where we're moving.

[medpedspouse]

I wish there was a nice neighborhood that had both sidewalks and 1+ acre lots, but that doesn't really exist where we're moving.

This was our hood in our last city. We were an alley way away from the city limits. The neighborhood had .5 and one acre lots. We were on well water and septic but did not really have many issues. Our neighbors were great - and that makes a huuuge difference. You could live out in the country and have human jack-asses for neighbors and the distance would not mean much.

[MDPhDWife]

I wish there was a nice neighborhood that had both sidewalks and 1+ acre lots, but that doesn't really exist where we're moving.

This perfectly describes the neighborhood I currently live in. Every lot has at least .5 acre, many have 1 acre. We have sidewalks, a private community lake that can be used for boating, water skiing, or swimming. There is also a small community pool that has grills and overlooks the lake. I'm within 10-15 minutes of all the amenities if I go one direction, but if I go the opposite direction it's farmland for miles. The school district is not part of the city schools and is highly rated. Although we are on city water, we have a septic tank. That would be my primary gripe about my neighborhood. When we were interviewing here for the job and the realtor took us to various neighborhoods, I knew instantly this was the neighborhood for us. I feel like we have a nice balance between a country/suburb feel. I only wish my city was slightly larger and had more amenities. I miss having a Trader Joes and a comedy club.

[ides]

I don't have much advice as I'm a city person and even the suburbs make me queasy. That said I would like a one acre lot in the middle of a city just for the added space. I did want to add that not all suburbs have sidewalks. Sidewalks are rare here even in the middle of a city and the suburbs.

[gcuthbe1]

[MENTION=1924]OrionGrad[/MENTION] have you thought about biking options? I'm always checking out bike lanes in our potential new cities! Or, you could budget in buying some gym equipment for your new larger property?

I agree you really can't control your neighbors and their personalities, their kids, pets, activeness in the community, etc. Kind of the luck of the draw. It would be awesome if you could though! And I'm sure certain areas attract a certain type of person, but idk how you'd know that without being very familiar with the area already.

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[spaz]

Boy, that is tough. The good schools are part of what makes it hard. I know you are not talking about the 50 acres like we have, but I will give you some of the pros and cons to muddy the water more:

Pros of living in the country: Great place for the kids to explore, great place to have people and the kids out, great to have wide open spaces for football among their friends or basketball, etc. Lots of room for the kids to play. I feel completely safe here because we are on a big road, so I don't really feel isolated in our location. Sounds like you said it was closer to the school than the one in town and that will be huge as you go back and forth for various activities.

Cons- Upkeep...who will be mowing the lawn, taking care of the fences, etc.? I remember mowing the lawn when we first moved her during naptime for the boys. ( they were 18 months and 3 1/2) It took me a couple of days to get it done, since I could only do it then. Hubby took care of the cows, the tractor work, etc. You probably won't have all of that, but you need to talk seriously about who will be responsible for what. If he is busy, who will do the lawn?

Gardens are both pros and cons. They are a lot of work, a lot of work. However, I LOVE eating my produce in January because we put a lot of ours up. We haven't had a garden since he had his bleed and won't until he retires because he doesn't have the energy to do his part of the work. I remember being so sick of tomatoes in July as I was canning all the hot sauce and tomato sauce.. Gardens sound like a lot of fun, but putting up all the produce is work.

Don't know if I helped or not, but those are my thoughts.