Big City Living

A friend once said that the difference between living in the country and living in the city is he can take a leak in his front yard. I told him I could do that also, the only difference would be the neighbors would look at me kind of strange. I don't get the point, wouldn't that be similar to standing inside the outhouse and peeing out the door!

Andy Griffith said:

Why is it, that people want to live right on top of each other?
I have never understood that.

It seems to me that closer folks live and the tighter you pack them, the more they don't get along.

Click to expand...

I honestly think most people are screwed up. They HAVE to have neighbors or things just don't seem right.

I'll give you an example. Years ago we lived on Hood's Canal in Washington state. My folks had a nice home on the water looking at Dabob Bay. One day my Dad, wife and I went out to spend the night on this 50 year old "boat" he had been working on. It did have sleeping quarters. Now, Hoods Canal has hundreds of miles of shoreline, some populated, but a lot totally deserted. We came into a small cove, not a soul in miles. We anchored and within a half hour another boat comes puttering into THAT cove and anchors about a 50 yards away from us. Not happy, we pulled up anchor and headed down shore about 5 miles, found another deserted cove and anchored there. After dinner, we hear another boat puttering in and I'll be damned if they didn't drop anchor even closer to us!

We gave up, pulled anchor, and made it home just before dark. People can be scary.

Trouble is Ingman,
Anymore in a city, it won't necessarily be YOU peeing in your own front yard? Much less birthing a brown trout...

Best argument against Big City Living is that too many of them are anti-gun. If the city is in a state where the RKBA is strongly supported-is in the state constitution as well-and cities are not allowed to practice Cafeteria Constitutionalism then it might be worth living in.

I would be terrified to live in a "Big City".

If the SHTF, the Cannabils will eat the good folks, es muy pronto.

Jungle Work

ingmansinc said:

I was spitting for three days trying to get that cousin taste out of my mouth.

Click to expand...

I'll bet you wasn't tasting any "cousin" WHILE you were kissing her, huh?

Glock 'em down said:

I'll bet you wasn't tasting any "cousin" WHILE you were kissing her, huh?

Click to expand...

Yeh, it was alright, kinda tasted like chicken til I found out it was cousin.

Haha.. sounds like most of you city folk have no idea what a small town is... Im including those who live in "towns" of 5,000 and over....

I grew up in a small town of about 4000 in the 1970's, later moved to a town of about 120,000. The move turned out to be a good one.

In the small town, yes, everyone knew everyone else, but that isn't really a good thing. The jealousy and envy was worse than anything I have ever experienced since.

My Dad probably had one of the better jobs in town. They had "friends" who obviously trash talked my parents behind their backs because their kids were always trying to pick fights with me. I had longtime friends turn on me because of their parent's jealousy. By the time we moved, most of my friends were gone.

Schools were terrible - forget about anything beyond basic math and science. I graduated college with an Electrical Engineering degree. I never would have been able to do it if we had stayed in Smallville.

No, I don't want to live in a megalopolis either, but I don't have to. I am outside of Cincinati now. There are a lot of suburbs that are quiet, but still close enough to the population center to satisfy all my needs and find prosperous work.

That old town is all but gone now. There is no future in the small towns any more.

Today I listened to an interview of one of the nine black students who bravely pioneered the integration of the Little Rock, Arkansas schools in the late Fifties, and was reminded that in the little (+/- 10,000 residents, then) northern Michigan town where I grew up, (Manistee), there was only one black family, who attended our church and schools, patronized our businesses, and as best I recall, were held in deserved high regard by everyone in the community. There was never the slightest hint of racial "tension", much less animosity, evident in that largely bluecollar, mostly Polish immigrant community. This sort of forced intimacy in small towns may have some beneficial effect...???

Model520Fan said:

First cousin isn't a problem in Florida, nor in most of the eastern and southern states.

Click to expand...

Other than illegal or immoral (Florida)?

I grew up in a town of 200, attended high school in a town of 1200, college in a town of 20000. Thanks to our striped pants uncle, I lived in several cities of over a million, both here and abroad. When we came home, we came back to my wife's hometown of 5000. If we ever move it will be out of town altogether. If it takes me more than 10 minutes to drive to where I can see a corn or soybean field I consider myself way too deep into the jungle.

Country Boy, sung by Mrs. Griffith's favorite singer- Glenn Campbell

Livin' in the city
Ain't never been my idea of gettin' it on
But the job demands that you make new plans
Before your big chance is gone.

You get a house in the hills.
You're payin' everyone's bills
And they tell you that you're gonna go far
But in the back of my mind,
I hear it time after time,
Is that who you really are?

Country boy, you got your feet in L.A.,
But your mind's on Tennessee.
Lookin' back, I can remember the time
When I sang my songs for free.
Country boy, you got your feet in L.A.
Take a look at everything you own.
But now and then, my heart keeps goin' home.

Talkin' on the telephone,
Settin' up another day of people to meet.
You've gotta do what's right,
You've gotta spend the night,
Stayin' in touch with the street.
When you're surrounded by friends,
They say the fun never ends,
But I guess I'll never figure it out
'Cause in the back of my mind,
I hear it time after time,
Is this what it's all about?

Country boy, you got your feet in L.A.,
But your mind's on Tennessee.
Lookin' back, I can remember the time
When I sang my songs for free.
Country boy, you got your feet in L.A.
Take a look at everything you own.
But now and then, my heart keeps goin' home.

Click to expand...

Lots of truth in that song.

By the way I just got off the phone with a good friend who said he owned gold to protect his assets if the economy really goes south. I told him I had invested in steel, lead, and gun powder and I would just stop by his place and take his gold if it got that bad.

The above statement was a joke, please lets not get in any arguments fellow forum members.

ingmansinc said:

Lots of truth in that song.

By the way I just got off the phone with a good friend who said he owned gold to protect his assets if the economy really goes south. I told him I had invested in steel, lead, and gun powder and I would just stop by his place and take his gold if it got that bad.

Click to expand...

Ah, there's the rub.
What makes you think that he didn't invest in steel, powder and lead too, and just didn't say a word.

There is something to having a few "hidden investments."

ingmansinc, curious about where you live around Orlando. We left Lake Mary 8 years ago and moved to the East Coast because it got so darn crowded. I guess it's all relative.

I do have to say in passing that Orlando is still one of the nicer metropolitan areas in the country.

Bob

Actually I live where you left, Lake Mary. For those that are not from here that is in the north end of the greater Orlando metropolitan area. Approximately 28 or 30 miles north of Disney. Some of the facts that a lot of people don't know about this area is that we have black bears, deer, wild turkey, and rattlesnakes in what you would call our city. Every few months somebody has a bear up a tree in the yard. We have a resident who has a small herd of cattle on his property inside the city limits. Prior to Disney, 1960's, most of the roads around here were dirt.

Bassamatic said:

I honestly think most people are screwed up. They HAVE to have neighbors or things just don't seem right.

I'll give you an example. Years ago we lived on Hood's Canal in Washington state. My folks had a nice home on the water looking at Dabob Bay. One day my Dad, wife and I went out to spend the night on this 50 year old "boat" he had been working on. It did have sleeping quarters. Now, Hoods Canal has hundreds of miles of shoreline, some populated, but a lot totally deserted. We came into a small cove, not a soul in miles. We anchored and within a half hour another boat comes puttering into THAT cove and anchors about a 50 yards away from us. Not happy, we pulled up anchor and headed down shore about 5 miles, found another deserted cove and anchored there. After dinner, we hear another boat puttering in and I'll be damned if they didn't drop anchor even closer to us!

We gave up, pulled anchor, and made it home just before dark. People can be scary.

Click to expand...

I think there is something to this theory as I've experienced it with RV'ers. There is state park on the WA coast that is literally steps from the ocean. It is essentially a big gravel parking lot with the campsites sort of marked with picnic tables. We were there one off-season and when we pulled in it was completely empty so we picked a spot and set up camp. That evening another rv'er comes in and sets up camp in the spot right next to us, despite there being many other prime spots available without having somebody right smack dab next to them. The next day someone else shows up and they of course park right next to the two of us. Doesn't make much sense to me.

It doesn't surprise me that you could find a sense of community even in a big city. Sometimes a sense of community is more about the people involved than it is about the environment they are in.

I've never lived in a big city, or any 'city' for that matter now that I think about it, just suburbia and rural.

What I learned about suburbia:
- People seem to like living in housing developments, often times where there is only 10' between the homes, and they have tiny fenced backyards, small front yards, and a 3" thick rule book listing all the things you can't do.

- Despite having neighbors not more than 10' away many people don't even know their neighbors names much less socialize with them. The only time people really see their neighbor is in passing while going to work or returning from work.

- Parents don't let the children play in the street or ride their bikes anymore because, "today's world is too dangerous". Thus eliminating one of the prime social aspects that used to bring people together (neighborhood children playing together and by extension bringing the adults together as well).

- The yards are too small to really do anything in, yet despite this people get big dogs and then the people drive the dogs to the doggy park everyday for exercise.

- Similarly the kids get driven to the park to play with other kids, usually kids from other neighborhoods.

- Oftentimes the kids get dropped off at daycare and both parents are working.

- Mom and dad need to work-out so they drive to the gym.

Is it any wonder that people in these developments don't know each other? They still have socialization but it has moved out of the neighborhoods and into every other place - gym, work, school, park, youth sports, clubs etc.

delete due to