Let's talk about Country Living

My wife and I have been dreaming of living in the country for most of our adult lives. We long for the serenity of our plot of land.. with a smaller (1-story) home.. an out-building or 2.. a place where we can do the following:

1. My wife was diagnosed with Pregnancy induced heart failure with the birth of our second child.. she has lost stamina to be able to hike the 3 flights of stairs to do laundry and keep the house as she says.
2. I would like more elbow room to be able to own my truck, trailer, breakdown scrap.. a bigger "man cave" to do the things I like to do. Pulling in a car and keeping 3 washing machines where I am currently at.. lends itself to limited space and a more claustrophobic state when scrap gets accumulated. My garage fills up quickly and I have to basically pack it to get a truckload worth my time and gas to go to the yard.

Currently, we live in "town" I make due with my scrapping.. but my neighbors are nearly on top of us.. I sometimes have this odd feeling about a vehicle being on the trailer for too long.. I worry about judgement.. even though I know I do it for my family and keep everything as tidy as possible, noise to a minimum, and it is gutted and gone as soon as possible.

Even still.. this desire for a greater ability to be away from annoying and sometimes nasty neighbors.. keeps this fire burning to leave the home we have spent 10 years creating, updating and restoring.

My question to all of you is this: I have only ever lived in a city or town. I'm no country boy. I admit that. I've never worked a farm, I've never lived on a well. I like my cable internet, I like being close to stores and my kids schools.. and I know there are plenty of things I know nothing about living out in the "country" But I wanted to get some feedback from all of you who have lived it- know what it is like- know what kind of equipment I would need to maintain a property. I don't own a tractor.. don't know if and when we go if I'd have to invest in one. This would be all new for me.. and I'd like to get the ball rolling to hear some ideas of what I'd be in for.

I take things bluntly, I need honest to goodness answers.. tell me the good of living out there.. tell me the bad.. because to be forewarned is forearmed!

Appreciate it ladies and gents!

i will be following this til tomorrow. then ill add my .02

sirscrapalot - city born but likes living away from it all.

Lived in rural areas as a kid but never as an adult. After starting our construction business in the early 90's we started looking at land to build a house but when it came down to it we couldn't pull the trigger. Too much driving for work, supplies and the kids activities. Kids are grown now but we feel fortunate to have found a place we love in the suburbs that has enough space for my biz.

There are good things and bad things about living outside a town or city.

I grew up on an orchard just on the outskirts of a small town. My wife grew up in a city and, later on a cattle ranch--both in grinding poverty.
My job took us to the city and then to a smaller town of 25,000. We couldn't stand the city and when we moved to the smaller town we bought out in the 'burbs where there were 5-acre lots. A little better but we still wanted further out. So we moved an hour away from town to a 160 acre spot that was lightly populated. We have our ups and downs but I wouldn't change it for much now and wished I could have done it years earlier, since we home schooled our boys anyway.

My boys were going to college by the time we moved and they spent two years commuting to town to go to school. I commuted for a few years until the company I worked for changed hands and the new company didn't use engineers--so I ended up out in the cold.

So the first downside is distance, which equals fuel cost and vehicle wear and tear. And when you get on in age, there is the concern of access to hospitals and such.

But you have the chance of building a house that is all on one level so your wife doesn't have to hack stairs all the time. In other words, designed for her.

If you tend to use outside contractors for any service on your home, such as washing machine repair, renovations, etc, you will pay more because of the distance. About all the outside help I use is a honey truck for sucking my septic tank. I do everything else myself. And if you want to drop off a vehicle in town for service, its a pain, 'cause now mom has to bring her vehicle to town to pick you up. So I tend to do all my own monkey wrenching on our vehicles. It's tons cheaper.

When we moved here, there was no internet except for dial-up and satellite, which is slow and expensive. I got involved with a local group and we formed a non-profit society to bring internet to the area. We got government grants and set up a wireless network so I'm sending this to you on high-speed broadband which we basically "home-grew". I worked on every one of the towers we set up.

You still don't get to choose your neighbors in the country. I have two neighbors, one who borders my property and one who is just a stones throw past another side, both of whom have been busted twice for grow-ops. Dumber than bags of hammers. We had to tell one of them to stay the **** out, because the old guy who used to own our property was lonely and let these druggies walk all over him. But distance helps, and you can control that when you are choosing a property to purchase.

But be aware that small communities can be clickie (SP). We don't fit in too well because we don't do dope. But we don't care because we don't need the socializing. Some people may not do well if you find you don't fit the local mold.

I wish my kids could have grown up on this property because it is a perfect place for a kid to grow up--they could take a 22 and head out into the bush and pot a few squirrels and grouse and the like. We have Elk in our hay fields and watched a big Grizzly on the back 40 earlier this spring. Not many of them but there are lots of black bears. And a few cougars follow the elk. There is room to dirt bike, lots of back country (logging) roads to blast up and explore and lakes to fish. They could have had horses (my wife is raising them) if they wanted.

If your scrapping is your 9-5, then you need to take a close look at the logistics of being away from the source of the scrap. That brings a focus on the fuel cost. Some people who scrap cars make it a point to reuse the gas from the scrapped vehicles which could save you a bundle.

Personally, I'm looking at cutting my travel costs by looking at using waste oil in a diesel pickup. As long as you filter waste oil down to a couple of microns, you can burn it directly in a diesel engine without having to make bio-diesel. There is lots of waste oil available around here and every scrap car should have a couple of gallons by the time you drain the engine, trans, and differential.

The power goes out more often away from towns, so you'll probably end up with a small generator and a way to power some essentials when this happens. I'm lucky enough to have gravity-fed water but we still need to power up our deep freezers and fridge, because our outages tend to be several hours when they happen.

Machinery can be whatever you need or want. I have to have a tractor for haying, so I've used it for snowplowing in the winter. I like my shop tools so I have quite a few and these are valuable when you have something break down. A welder and cutting torch doesn't hurt, either. This all boils back to how self-sufficient you want to be. Some people around here just pay a few bucks for the local guy with a snow blade on his 4x4 to plow them out. I can't afford that.

Living in the country can be a hassle or a blessing. You and your wife have to decide which way to look at it. Your own nature is what you need to understand. When the roof is leaking or the car won't start or the well has quit or the septic tank backs up....how do you react? The solution to these problems can be vastly different if you are in the country or city.

My 0.02.

Jon.

Jon-
Thank you sir for such a well thought out and written response. I am SUPER APPRECIATIVE for it.. and yes it gives me something to chew on for certain. I think right now we are crafting and discussing what we both want. After my initial post she and I have continued to talk.. she is saying "I just want the FEEL-- I don't necessarily need to live out in the boonies" So there may be some happy medium.. maybe an outskirt of town property (there is plenty around here) where maybe it is a 10 minute trip into town... and we can have our little "patch of land" without being in rough country. So I assume (with any woman) this will be a molded idea over time out of clay.. not a chiseled out of marble idea.

sledge - like i said in another thread. i am a classic example of going from 1 to the other. i was born and raised in niagara falls, ny. i lived there until 8 years ago when we packed up and moved to arkansas. now i am not in backwoods arkansas, but i can tell you for sure there is a marked difference. living on top of your neighbors comes with benefits and a cost. constant scrutiny by neighbors is never comfortable, and space is at a premium. you try not to draw too much attention to yourself because nobody has to look very far to see you. now the pros of living "in town" - gas. and a 2 minute run for a part or groceries or whatever. if you have younger kids, dragging them around is easier if you are only 5 minutes from where they want to go. oh... and internet speeds are faster... big **** deal.

living outside of town, especially if you have an acre or two, or more (careful about the or more part, all that property takes maintenence, and that takes a lot of time and more money) but aside from the extra gas and time, you feel like the shackles of society have been removed. you aren't worried about it being too early or too late to start tearing into a project. if you get up at 6am and want to start beating the hell out of a car on your trailer, you do it. you don't wait until 8 or 9. you can have space to add another trailer. an out building means more room to work, and you can make your hauls to the yard more efficient, which can offset some of that extra fuel you are burning.

but honestly, the biggest reason i would look to changing everything, you mentioned your wife was having a hard time. bro... take the stairs out of her life. you will thank yourself for it later.

I grew up on the outskirts of Boston but my family was from Maine. City life was never a good fit for me and ever since i was sixteen i dreamed of "moving home". When i was 22 i married a Maine gal. A couple of years later we just decided to take the plunge. Three days later we were settled here on the island.

It's pretty remote. Life is full of hard work and it's not easy to make a living in this place. Still .... we've been here for over thirty years and looking back i wouldn't change a thing.

If you had asked me a few years ago i would have told you without any reservation that this is the place where i want to spend the remainder of my days. Nowadays .... i'm starting to feel differently. Either the outside world is changing or i'm changing. Even in this faraway place it feels like the government is too much with us these days.

Here in the Northeast we've been trending left of center for many, many years.The quality of life isn't what it once was. The government has grown in size and scope. There are all kinds of complicated laws to regulate every aspect of life and the people sitting in the legislature don't seem to be showing any sign of slowing down on their rule making. We seem to be running to extremes.

I never thought the day would come that i was entertaining the possibility of leaving my home. :(

Phred-
Thank you my man.. All excellent points you make. I am a very social person.. but I can also be very withdrawn.. and CONTENT with being withdrawn. I have a great desire for autonomy and solitude at most parts of my day. The idea of beating up whatever and whenever I want without that "honey.. do you realize it is 9:00 PM" which I have had many times.. seems liberating. I also do.. what I always do.. which is "what is the best for my family" Luckily for me.. this is something I desire as well.. It won't be a "sacrifice" for me to live where I have more room.. with less floor levels for my wife.. in fact I live pretty minimally.. so the idea of "simplicity" in my home and property appeals to me greatly.

My kids are young.. and I know that things will only get busier.. the later on in life they get in school. Right now we do pretty well to plan our trip to the grocery store weekly.. none of that every other day trips.. so I know we have that down.. now the kids running here and there- well that is just life I suppose.

I also think of the nature. My FAVORITE family trips are when we go to the Smoky Mountains.. or a Lake.. or "Camping" I get up.. I smell the fresh air.. I see a deer and I'm awed by it. I went to visit a buddy in Denver twice.. and he was almost annoyed that I had him pull over so that I could snap pictures of the mountains.. a herd of Elk that was barreling down onto a plain.. a mommy fox and her cubs. These wonders of nature are something I wouldn't mind seeing more than I do today.

From the initial conversations we are looking to be close-ish to town.. just not "In Town" I think with some hunting and planning.. this could be very do-able. We know we plan to stay where we are, on the outskirts of the town we presently reside.. so that actually makes it better.. we like where we live.. our roots have been established here.. my wife's family live here.. so I know we won't be moving 100 miles or 1000 miles away. So in that regard, it narrows our choices. But I digress.

I think that this is exciting.. a bit scary.. I'm a big one for doing the best I can to gather information.. and then take that leap of faith. I'm a fairly sharp cookie.. I do most everything home-wise myself (its what I do for a living thanks to THIS house) so I have no worries there. I'm also becoming pretty established here.. with my business and my scrapping. I know the "Lay of the land" and have access to my yards, those relationships etc.. that I would never want to "start over" someplace else. For that reason I know we are good in this area and I like the area.. but hopefully she and I can find this "plot of land" somewhere close and it will be an adjustment.. not a "holy poop.. what in the he-double hockey sticks did we get ourselves into??"

Sawmilling did a great job of summarizing rural life. The higher cost of goods and services, added transportation costs, and self sufficiency are all concerns. I have decided to live in the country since college, but my present situation is in a metropolitan area. I feel comfortable in both environments and find advantages in both. Saws insight will be more valuable than my thoughts given your situation, but I wanted to share an extreme.

My wife and I own a cabin in the mountains of Wyoming 30 miles from the closest community of 1,500 people. The closest city is 90 miles away. This is new information to this forum. We also own a ranch in eastern South Dakota five miles from the closest paved road and 20 miles from the closest community of 1,300 people. The closest city of 50,000 is 120 miles away. This information is important only because of the next statements.

Although Saw has problems with his neighbors, survival in our areas requires cooperation among neighbors. No matter how self sufficient you are, pieces of equipment or tools you have, you will need help or information sooner or later that will make your life better or easier. If you have heard about a barn building party in the old days, they still exist. We still do not take our keys out of our vehicles for two reasons, one we do not want to loose our keys and two if the neighbor needs it they can use it. If their tractor or truck breaks down in the field, they might be several miles from home. Cell phones do not always work and during the winter a hike like that could kill someone. Unwritten law, if I have it and you need it, return it in as good if not better condition as soon as you can. This may sound corny, but that is the way we live at both places. We do not lock our doors on the house for the same reasons. If I am not home and someone needs to use the phone, they have access. I will not tell you I have not been burned, but the benefits out weigh the price.

The other social etiquette that is required in these situations is honesty, willingness to help others, and living up to your word. In rural areas, everyone knows everything that goes on. You might think you have more privacy in such a situation, but that is not true. If you earn a bad reputation, life is tough.

A couple of stories to reinforce these statements. At 5:30 one morning I buried my pickup in a snow drift after a blizzard. The closest neighbor was still at least a mile up the road. I was digging out the truck and trying to put on chains when I saw a tractor coming up the road. The neighbor saw my headlights and knew I would be the only one dumb enough to be trying to get to the paved road in the dark, so he came to help me out. This same neighbor's son broke down this summer close to my place (we live five miles from each other.) They knew I was out of town and his son took one of my trucks home to get help.

Long story short, our homes offer more freedom but less privacy. Take it for what it is worth.

i am from the country, i love my privacy, i have lived in cities and even apartment buildings when i was younger...((thinking about it every time i lived in the city i was chasing a woman or a job ))..i love where i live at...i own my land and any neighbors i have, ((which i cant see without driving a few minutes )) are either family or friends....i can be at wallmarts in 20 minutes and i can be at the grocery in about the same...i am just a few minutes away from a gas station..

in my opinion country is the best, but thats just what is in my blood....the freedom is great...i listen to some problems folks have on this forum about laws, zoning, and such and i feel so bad for them...i just cant imagine living any other way....

i can say from experience , moving a city girl into the country can have bad consequences,,,,make sure she is in for the long haul,,(( iu see you all have some kids so i take it your ole lady is)) ive had girl friends in the past move in with me and some just cant take the adjustment....

i think it all boils down to personell preference

I love this thread !
So this land rat spent many a year living in Baltimore city , I now live on a farm in the county but I am only 10 miles from the city line .
I don't miss the vagrants and general noise of the city , when I first moved I could not sleep without the traffic noise , now it's the crickets and frogs that ease me into sleep . Looking back I'm glad I spent the time in the city . But with property costs,beverage taxes,horrible schools ( casinos are going to pay for new ones , yeah right) crime and home invasions up . I don't ever imagine living back in the city . There will be diffrent factors in your area but I have a young one so the school system is the biggest deterrent for me.

P.s. You will need a tractor maybe 2 !
P.s.s never had better neighbors than I do now , last snow fall a neighbor came down our long driveway on his huge tractor and cleared out the entire thing , next door neighbor regularly mows our lawn or the common areas . Which is great because it's not expected or taken for granted . I remember walking home in fells point one night . I could not open my door because a homeless man was asleep on my stoop . I awoke him so I could get in and he reeked of urine . Guess he peed there to keep warm . Never had that problem out here thou

Patriot-
Yes sir.. see that is the kind of kinship I DO desire. Right now I have a neighbor that thinks my garage is his personal "Grand Rental Station" He borrows things and I either have to chase it down, some things have never been returned and in one case he broke my $140 Rotozip.. and gave it back without telling me so. My rule has always been: Return it as soon as you are done with it, if I break it- I owe him a new one- no questions asked. I remember that I borrowed a different neighbors compound miter saw. Somehow in one of my cuts I cut into the kerf plate. Before returning it I bought a new set of plates and installed them. He asked why they seemed to be new I said "I cut into them somehow.. I replaced them.. just as when the saw was lent to me"

Don't get me wrong.. I'm not a "people hater" I enjoy striking up conversations with people.. long conversations at times.. and all of the people I've ever met that came from "the country" have always been the kind of people I believe that I am- work hard, would do anything for ya.. unless you burn their trust, honest, good folks. If I had a "neighbor" that was 5 miles away. I'd be glad to get to know him, and work to not be a bother to him.. but also let him know I'll always keep an eye out on his property for him.

I think it is these simple values that I treasure.. that would allow me to blend in fairly well.. and not look like a fish out of water. I'm not fancy.. never have been.. don't like or do "flash" Just want to spend my time on this earth doing what I do.. experiencing life to the fullest.. and know when I'm gone I've worked hard to "do right" by everyone I ever came in contact with. It is a lofty goal.. but this to me seems to be a lot of what "country living" is about!

sledge i think you are on the path to realizing your entire family's dream. you are right on the money with a lot of it. i think it's just down to the "finding the right place for the right price" and when you find it, you will know.

as for the kids, i am currently in almost every stage of parenting there is. i have been with my wife for 21 years. we had our first way too young, then we planned one, and then a couple years ago we had an oops... my kids are 16,9 and 2. and we are constantly running around for them. I live on the edge of town myself, actually when i make a left off of the street to go back towards the rest of civilization, first thing I see is "Welcome to Fayetteville" and i'll tell you, i have the best of both worlds when it comes to location. Now i just need to find a way to knock the **** stairs outta my house too... im gettin old, ha!

Interesting thread. I can't think of anything good about city living as I was born under a tree (literally) while Harry Truman was president. Born into a farm family, we had an outhouse (optional), a battery operated radio and milked cows by hand, fed hogs and cattle and raised chickens along with all the various farm products. Our roads were impassible during snow storms but we had the only 4WD vehicle in the community and most neighbors never even had a pickup truck. Those remarks are immaterial to the purpose of this thread but it gives you an idea of what impressed me to dislike city living. I thought those things were normal and I enjoyed the freedom of chasing fish in the river, driving down country lanes at 14 years old, the solitude of quietness and the pets that ran free.

I still live in the same house and it's almost the same except we now have more recreational traffic on our roads. I actually have to look both ways now when leaving my lane as there's a chance of a vehicle on "MY" road.
I lived in the 'city' during college days and parked my old 49 Chev on the street for a couple weeks and got ticketed for a nusiance vehicle. I ran it out of gas one day and left it overnite on a residential street as I attended college the next day. After school I went back to get it and some old lady was furious that it was sitting on the street in front of her house. I vowed to never be a city dweller again..!!

The bad of rural living that you might experience: If you're in the climate for snowbound roads, it may take days to get opened up. If you're not on city water and sewer, it could be expensive and irritating for you. Trash removal may or may not be any different for you. We're 10 miles from our town of less than 200 people. Walmart is 70 miles away, but we actually have a hospital and a Dr. here. Sometimes we can't find the groceries we want in town but they can have them in a couple days. Scrapping iron is a plus for me as it takes me to a town of 3,000 nearly every day. If you need a nightlife, forget it unless you want to travel. It's basically what type of person you are, sledge, and it sounds like you would fit in quite well and your wife is in agreement. I wish I had a neighbor like you.....my good neighbors all died. I need someone to shut in my chickens at night when I can't be here.

Go for it while you're young!!!:)

Grew up in the city of around 400,000 and 9 yrs ago we decided to pack up and move 30 minutes north of the big town. We now live on the outskirts of small village of 600 ish.

The only thing we purchased extra was a riding lawn mower

We only have neighbors on 1 side and we are on 1 acre lots. Behind and to the side of us is a "abandoned" gravel pit that we have free roam of for approx half to 3/4 of a mile.

It did take time to get used to the small things such:
~ as never seen real dark before (city we had street lights, sign lights, and every other kind of lights)
~step back in time style grocery store closes at 6pm and not open on Sunday
~ unable to use debit card at alot of the stores, nothing open 24 hours.

We also have several advantages that help make the cost of gas balance out
~saved approx $300 month in house payment
~well/sewer do not include monthly bills. and our water isnt that nasty country well water. drink straight from the tap and no water softner
~taxes only run around $900 a year vs $2000-$3000 in town
~safer and smaller schools. the only negative about the smaller school is that they dont always have the resources of the larger school.
~able to raise chickens and other small animals as well as a garden

We have never had any problems with neighbors, township, county or anybody else and we pretty much do what we want
~burn trash/furniture
~ride go carts up and down the streets
~make all the noise we want

With 8 kids now we definitely would not move back to the big city. But there are times when it can take its toll
~dr appointments
~work shop is 17 miles away
~walmarts is 20 miles away
~rough winters and snow
~storms providing power outages

But i wouldnt change it for anything

The only add on to some outstanding information already offered is rent at first. You will not be living in your dream home and it will still belong to someone else but you will experience some of the good and bad of country life. Six months plus and you will be fairly certain that this is the life for you.. You will also have a better idea of where in the country you want to put down roots. This is not a requirement and if you and the wife want to make the bid commitment then there's nothing like signing a 30 year mortgage to get you motivated to carry through. Best of luck and include photos. Mike

PS there was a comment before about an outhouse being "optional", we had the same thing at our house. Us boys rarely bothered with the outhouse with a #1. Mike

Ok gents.. A lot of you have given out a lot of your personal dug down deep information here.. and I am truly grateful. I'll make an admission of my own as far as the "outhouse" We have 2 bathrooms in our house.. When I was gutting and custom building the one downstairs, I took on a habit of going outside and just wizzing in the yard. The bathroom has been finished and functional for over 2 years.. and I'll admit I just took a wizz out there before I came in here to type this.


Yunkman.. Well I appreciate the compliment man.. Over the course of my adult life I have been blessed (for the most part) to have good neighbors.. some of them were great.. some of them.. not so much.

Other than the fact I cannot listen to country music.. I nearly feel like this nature lovin part of me has always been there. I grew up in a neighborhood.. but it was largely undeveloped.. I spent my days as a kid playing in the pond, catching frogs, making dirt bike tracks with the neighbors, playing on the dirt piles (we called them our mountains) building tree forts. Had the run of about 150 acres as the guy who owned the land was cool with all of us playing there.

As far as the dark- yep.. when I go to "get away from it all" that ability to see the true sky as intended without any light pollution is something I never fail to observe and take in. A Campfire- I could sit at one all night. So I think there is this "country streak" in me that has never come out.

I concur with everything everyone said and only have a couple things to add.


1) Invest in an outside cat! I know it sounds silly, but you will NEVER Get mice if you have a cat. Only feed it once a day and not enough o fill it. It will find its own food i.e. mice

2) Riding lawn mower. The bigger the better. Zero turn turn if possible.

3) There is definitely the concern of increased fuel consumption. Things we do to help this is do all our errands all at once, once a week. Try to either grow as much of your own food as possible or find a source for bulk food. We used to live close enough to a store owned by Mennonites. It was the cheapest store we ever shopped at. Was a shame we moved too far away from them. I also got a diesel truck and it was way better on fuel than my gas truck.

4) Make sure you have a 4x4 vehicle. When moved into our current house we had a front wheel drive van. We are so BFE out here we are the one of the last roads to get plowed. Also our first year here, even if it was plowed we couldn't make it up the two hills on our road to get home. We'd have to leave it for the next day and walk home with 2 small girls and a newborn.....up those two hills then up our long driveway as we live on a hill also haha. Wifey doesn't like that!!!

5)invest in motion activated outdoor cameras. Someone has let my cows out several times. Once by ramming into a gate post that is NOT accessible from the road!! Then we have to go find them.....usually they stayed home but a couple times they went into the woods and into the fields behind our property.....hope you know how to follow tracks and can tell the difference between a calf hoof and a deer hoof! Just the other day I noticed more tire tracks up through my yard.....I have no idea who it was.

6) if you do raise animals, make sure you are as prepared as possible. Type of fencing is crucial!! Lol!


I love living out here though! I get to do whatever I want. It's great. I can take a deer in my back yard and two years ago I watched a doe give birth in my pasture. It was a nice thing to see. Now I did go on a crow shoot a couple of weeks ago and we started on my property. I heard crow just a few trees in the woods and headed that way. I was almost there when I spotted a doe about 50 feet away. I stopped walking and she took off into the woods so I continued stalking this crow. I got about twenty feet to the woods when all of a sudden I hear this loud SNORT, STOMP, CRASH as a buck charged at me outta the woods..... He stopped just the edge but I about crapped myself I'll tell you what!! Lol!



God made the country, and man made the town. ~William Cowper

It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something. ~Charles D1ckens

Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds,
Exhilarate the spirit, and restore
The tone of languid nature.- William Cowper

I moved from a town of 60k and a PAC 12 university to rural South Dakota. The biggest change was learning to be comfortable with my family. It is amazing how little time we spent together before. There are months where every second I'm not at work I'm with the family or at least one of them. It was hard but we adjusted and are better for it. Everyone has already made good points. The bottom line is you already have all the tools needed to be happy in the country all you have to do is work hard and be true to yourself, just the same as in the city. :)

I'm also loving this thread. This is the kind of helpful informational threads that make this forum a good thing. I know it's not about scrap metal, but scrap metal to me is not just making extra money; it's more about being able to choose your own way of life. I'm encouraged by Sledge's questions and his desire to make good, informed decisions for his family along with his wife.

Here's my situation. I'm out in the country 4 miles from town (1200) 15 miles from Wal Mart and 28 miles from FedEx.

The good:
My back yard is 510 acres of cotton, peanuts, sesame, soybeans and pasture with a fish pond and woods with squirrels and deer. We schedule dove hunts over the sesame fields and all the local guys love it.
Anyone around here can come hunt or fish on our land as long as they are nice and safety and game laws are followed. That's true with several farms around us.
I can grow my own food. I have corn and peanuts that we eat as well as canola for greens, but I don't grow a garden like my mother has. We do have cows and occasionally, we'll go in with friends and have one butchered for the freezer. We also have pecan trees and let people pick them up on halves. They can pick up a few to make a pie or a ton to sell. My Dad makes fig preserves every year from our 4 fig trees.
My kids can walk out to go hunting, ride the Mule, or go frog gigging at night without me worrying about them.
Well water.
Just about everyone knows each other in my town and my church family is great.
As Patriot, the keys are in everything around here, mainly so I don't lose them. It is not uncommon for us to wake up in the morning with from 1 - 6 extra teenagers watching TV, sleeping in various couches or beds or even
cooking breakfast (always welcome).
Neighbors are great and are around 1/8 mile away. They don't complain about loud music (Country is not a requirement) or me working on equipment or piling up scrap.
There aren't many restrictions to what I can do on my own land.
Noone bothers me if I'm standing in my yard shooting at coyotes.

The bad: I have to stand in my yard and shoot at coyotes.
Well, not often, Max my German Shepherd keeps them at bay pretty good.
Lots of places don't have high speed internet. I just got it here(medium speed really) last year. Before that, I would click on a youtube video, pause it and check on it in the morning to see if it loaded yet.
Kind of tough area to get a lot of scrap. I do pretty well, but it would be hard to make a living. Ewaste, which is what I love doing, is really tough to get and takes lots of networking to find and buy.
Beyond movies and resturants, there's not much to do in the nearby towns. You have to be self sufficient on entertainment.
Small town life is not for everyone. We feel the need for our kids to know what's out there in other places and try to take two trips per year somewhere very different.
When scrap metal theft gets going, it is very hard to police because everything is spread out. The Sheriff's department does the best they can, but I might not notice something missing for 5 or 6 days.
Our power went off today......again. That's way more common than people think and when there's no power, there's no water either. I do keep a reservoir of water for hurricane season.
Hurricanes. Snakes. Mosquitos.

I love it here and wouldn't change.....much.