Pros and Cons of Country Living
Many folks dream of living out in the country for many reasons: the scenery, the silence, the disconnection from busy urban or suburban life. Learn more about the great escape to small town, country living in today’s world in this article. Before you start planning on buying that cottage out in the middle of nowhere, take a look at this list of the upsides and downsides of such a country living and rural life.
Country Living Pros:
1. Silence. As mentioned previously, a quiet escape from an apartment on a city street or a home in a noisy cul-de-sac can be a major deciding factor in the purchase of a rural home. There’s nothing quite like the serenity of a home out in the woods.
2. Space. It’s rare when a country home isn’t accompanied by at least a few acres of land. This can be a welcome change from the complete lack of a backyard for apartment dwellers. Those wide open spaces will provide you with picturesque views right from the comfort of your own porch.
3. Wildlife. What kinds of animals do you see in cities and towns? Cats, dogs, rodents, birds, and maybe some deer in the suburbs. You’ll be able to see all manner of critters out in the woods, sometimes even up close.
4. More freedom with your property. Aside from the ability to burn trash in many places instead of worrying about garbage pickup, you most likely won’t have a homeowners’ association to answer to either. You’re free to add whatever your heart desires to your home or your yard, be it a deck, a hot tub, gardens, an artificial pond or another story on your house.
Country Living Cons:
1. Extra yard maintenance. Country living comes with a price in the form of additional landscaping. That postage-stamp-sized front yard might start sounding really fantastic if you’re looking at a five-acre lawn to maintain. Even with a riding mower, it’ll take you a while, and this doesn’t take any possible flowers, trees, shrubs or gardens into account. If you’re not quite as young as you used to be, you might need to hire someone to care for your yard for you.
2. Being far away from civilization. While this can be a wonderful thing, the complete separation from everything and everyone else can also present problems. You might find yourself needing to drive many miles just to get groceries, and in the event of an emergency, the police or the fire department might have a tough time figuring out where you actually live.
3. More winter risks. Winter driving can be dangerous anywhere if the conditions are bad enough, but rural areas have it a little harder when it comes to icy roads. Dirt roads are often plowed last, or not at all. You might need to invest in a vehicle that has the power to climb a steep, icy driveway. Due to the lack of plowing, you may find yourself trapped in your own home after a particularly heavy snowfall.
4. Wildlife. Yes, this was also listed as a pro, but sometimes wildlife can present problems to homeowners. There will be far more deer out in the woods, meaning they’ll not only be chowing down on any flowers you have in your yard, but there’s a higher chance of hitting one with your car. Not to mention things like skunks, bears, coyotes, snakes, turkeys, geese and sometimes even larger things like mountain lions depending on your area.
Whether or not a country home is worth the hassle is going to boil down to personal preference. How many of the cons are you willing to put up with for the sake of the pros? Country living isn’t better or worse than urban/suburban life, but it may be better for some and worse for others.