Scared to live rural?

[run faster]

So we're looking at a house that has 5 acres and a well. score! Also its a good price. Needless to say Im very excited and hope it goes through. Anyways I was thinking last night, that being in a rural area seems kinda scary. I hate living in a neighborhood, makes me feel trapped and vulnerable with all those people around. Now in a rural area I like that there arent people around, well as close, but in a PAW, the idea kind of scares me. Safety in numbers is a hard fact to dispute. Of course thats as long as those numbers are with you and not against you. Its a lot harder to hide when youre the only house on the road, ya know lol? Does anyone else have this concern?

[phil_in_cs]

Ferfal says rural areas in Argentina are much worse than urban/suburban areas today, as in the rural areas people can attack you without fear of someone seeing what is going on.

I know any many rural areas you could live there 30 years without being considered a local.

Do you have the skills to make a living there? If you only visit the place on a vacation basis, you will never be considered a local by the locals.

[BullOnParade]

Ferfal says rural areas in Argentina are much worse than urban/suburban areas today, as in the rural areas people can attack you without fear of someone seeing what is going on.

I know any many rural areas you could live there 30 years without being considered a local.

Do you have the skills to make a living there? If you only visit the place on a vacation basis, you will never be considered a local by the locals.

There was an episode of The Survival Podcast about a year ago where he broke down buying homestead/survival property on a state/division basis. He said one of the worst areas for what you're talking about is Tennessee, in my limited experience in Tennessee, I would probably agree with him. I stopped into Lynchburg to do the JD distillery tour. Ended up walking through the village afterwords, it felt like the whole town was watching us. I thought this was pretty weird considering the number of tourists this small town must get for the one attraction.

OT: I would definitely read some of the threads around here about hardening your home, there are lots of bonuses and downfalls to being the only house on the street. Possibly look into early warning systems, like MURS radio has traffic monitoring units. Set up a traffic sensor at a distance you feel safe/the radio still works.

[run faster]

It would be our home, its not totally rural, its surrounded by a worked field and theres another house within sight, but Im calling it rural because the towns on either side are a 15 minute highway drive away, so like I said not very rural but on its own on the highway.



Yeah thats another thing Ive been thinking about, but I dont think my wife will let me do the motion activated floodlights lol

[DannusMaximus]

Does anyone else have this concern?

There are definitely pros and cons to living in a more remote area. From an everyday disaster standpoint (which = anything besides a ZPAW), the following concerns me about living out in the sticks:

1. Your house will likely be very low on the priority list for utility companies and road crews if there is an area-wide outage due to storms, etc. Cities generally come on line much quicker because it's more densely populated and more bang for your buck by the utility crews (repairing just a few downed lines can get a large grid back up and running). If you're an outlier, you're kind of screwed until they get around to you. We had a large ice storm a couple of years ago, and most city dwellers were back on line within a week. In the sticks, some houses were out for over a month!

2. You are likely thinly covered from a police/fire/EMS standpoint. Rural areas have some inherent difficulties when it comes to emergency response, not the least of which is extended response times and longer transport distances to hospitals. Fire coverage will likely be by volunteer companies, many of which have manpower issue and response time issues. Likewise, police coverage will likely consist of very thinly spread state or county LEO's, with subsequently long response times.

There are other issues to living rural, of course, but those are two of the big ones in my mind. You can help mitigate these issues by having a solid backup power plan or ability to live 'off the grid' for extended periods, and by simply being aware that emergency services probably can't be there 3 minutes after you call 911. A knowledge of first aid, smart planning for house fire prevention and mitigation, and an eye on physical security will all help you deal with those issues.

All in all, I think living urban/rural is pretty much a wash when it comes to prepping for run of the mill disasters, with the edge possibly going to the urban dweller. A smart prepper can make both situations work very well for them, however. If you're prepping for a no-shit end of civilization scenario, I would give the edge to the rural dweller. Depends on what you're planning for.

[BullOnParade]

It would be our home, its not totally rural, its surrounded by a worked field and theres another house within sight, but Im calling it rural because the towns on either side are a 15 minute highway drive away, so like I said not very rural but on its own on the highway.



Yeah thats another thing Ive been thinking about, but I dont think my wife will let me do the motion activated floodlights lol

Motion activated floodlights are pretty normal out in the country. You'll realize how great they are the first night you come home after dark and realize you don't have street lights to see the drive way. The location sounds similar to my parents house, they have a light over the garage, shining over the driveway, it lights up the entire driveway, and has a switch behind the front door.

The house in sight, can they see your front door from theirs? Best thing you can do is make friends with these people. They can look over your property when you're away, get to know what's normal for you and yours, and can alert you or the authorities if something seems at odds.

[duodecima]

The house in sight, can they see your front door from theirs? Best thing you can do is make friends with these people. They can look over your property when you're away, get to know what's normal for you and yours, and can alert you or the authorities if something seems at odds.

I was just trying to write a much longer post that said the same thing. Also, be involved in the community - school, church, kids, sports. Working there's great if you can manage it - someone who lived in my old town and just commuted would have been less "in" the community that me, the total newcomer with no family ties, with a job right in town, kids in school and sports, church, and eventually friends in town and among the near neighbors. I live in a city now, the community's much bigger, and there are a LOT more neighbors to know, and we don't all go to the same events anymore.

My experience of violent crime in a rural area was that it was almost, if not entirely, exclusively a family/"friends"/business partner as attacker. A little burglary, but not much. I don't think you need to be too scared if this is what you want.

But do make sure the flood lights have an off switch - the stars are incredible out there!

[TacAir]

LOL

Must be pretty rural, if you live in Richfield and think that's the city....

For those not as familier with the area:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richfield,_Utah

Check your PMs

[run faster]

Oh I know what the city is lol, I spent 10 disgusting years in phoenix and a 1 1/2 in salt lake. Im very glad to be here now

[BullOnParade]

The house in sight, can they see your front door from theirs? Best thing you can do is make friends with these people. They can look over your property when you're away, get to know what's normal for you and yours, and can alert you or the authorities if something seems at odds.

I was just trying to write a much longer post that said the same thing. Also, be involved in the community - school, church, kids, sports. Working there's great if you can manage it - someone who lived in my old town and just commuted would have been less "in" the community that me, the total newcomer with no family ties, with a job right in town, kids in school and sports, church, and eventually friends in town and among the near neighbors. I live in a city now, the community's much bigger, and there are a LOT more neighbors to know, and we don't all go to the same events anymore.

My experience of violent crime in a rural area was that it was almost, if not entirely, exclusively a family/"friends"/business partner as attacker. A little burglary, but not much. I don't think you need to be too scared if this is what you want.

But do make sure the flood lights have an off switch - the stars are incredible out there!

This note on rural crime is a big one. When I was about 10, I remember my stepdad going out to start his truck in the middle of winter, when he came back in he told me that someone had walked down the driveway, checked the two car's doors, and walked back out the driveway. A neighbour a few houses down (maybe a half mile) had a snowmobile stolen, it was found later that day parked in town, someone called it in complaining it was left on their front lawn. Obviously someone was walking home, and didn't want to walk that far (maybe an hour hike in the winter). It could have been the guy who called it in, no one was ever charged. Moral of the story: Keep shit locked up, just because no one's around, doesn't mean no one's comin' 'round.

[duodecima]

This note on rural crime is a big one. When I was about 10, I remember my stepdad going out to start his truck in the middle of winter, when he came back in he told me that someone had walked down the driveway, checked the two car's doors, and walked back out the driveway. A neighbour a few houses down (maybe a half mile) had a snowmobile stolen, it was found later that day parked in town, someone called it in complaining it was left on their front lawn. Obviously someone was walking home, and didn't want to walk that far (maybe an hour hike in the winter). It could have been the guy who called it in, no one was ever charged. Moral of the story: Keep shit locked up, just because no one's around, doesn't mean no one's comin' 'round.

Yeah, a significant amount (guessing half?) of the property crime was also committed by people you knew. But in a small town, that doesn't limit the suspect pool much.

[Anianna]

No matter whether you are talking rural or suburbia or city, it all depends on that particular location. We're rural, and it's awesome here. People are friendly whether you grew up here or just moved in. When my lawnmower broke down, my neighbor came and bush hogged my yard without me asking and without any expectation of anything in return. When Irene hit, everybody in the neighborhood with the tools to get the job done cleared everybody's driveways and made sure everybody could get out. Neighbors went door-to-door to make sure everybody was ok. I don't have to worry about neighbors being bothered by my roosters or if I choose to trash up my place. We gave the local hunters permission to park on our property to access the neighboring property they have rights to and, though we ask for nothing in return, they keep us well stocked in meat to show their gratitude. The worst crime we've had here in years was one of the neighbors getting drunk and shooting at some hunters and there was one guy caught spotlighting deer.

I've moved around a lot in my life and found most places to be at least amicable. I have found a greater consolidation of criminals in suburban type areas than anywhere else in my personal experience. YMMV, of course, but it would be silly to stereotype one place or another more criminal simply by whether it is rural or suburban or metropolitan. Every place has its own type of community.

[Blacksmith]

I'd be scared too.

Unless you know, I was planning on becoming a member of the community so that if tough times ever did come I would have people around to be interdependent with. This isn't going to the county board meeting and yelling either.

But maybe joining the local organizations that are the heart and soul of the community, what ever they maybe where you are going. One thing that many people from cities and suburbs don't understand is that in most rural communities the church is central to a lot of social and community activities other than worship.

If your religious affiliations and beliefs do not allow you to join you likely will remain an outsider. That is just reality. You can do other things that can help offset that. After twenty years people might even know your name.

- shopping locally a bit instead of exclusively at China mart or the internet.
- other organizations such as the VFW, American Legion, Shriners, Masons etc, if you are eligible may be important or not.
- respect for people and politeness go a long way in rural communities. Since most people expect people from cities to have foul mouths and be generally rude; not being that helps a lot. Just about everyone I run into in rural areas with a foul mouth lives in a house with wheels on it.
- keep your word and be timely everywhere you go. Because you will be watched and talked about for some time to come. You tell a lie or break your word and word will get around pretty fast with the small town gossip. Your behavior will be watched too.
- Most rural areas are very conservative. If you are not, better to keep it to yourself. I know some people who will literally not allow a known Democrat in their house.

From a simple security standpoint living out in the country with no neighbors in sight does not make you more vulnerable. A simple security system with remote internet monitoring will help a bit. Keep in mind that police response times might be 20-30 minutes. So you might keep that in mind and think about what you will do in a tight spot.

[RickOShea]

Maybe I'm just in a better rural area than most. I've got neighbors of all races, religions (including non), political affiliations, and age groups. Some I've known all my life and some have only been around for a couple years, and we all get along fabulously.

[DarkAxel]

My family relocated from Dayton, OH to Jackson, Ky when I was 7. Even though Breathitt County is my ancestral homeland and I am related by blood to almost half of the county's residents, I was still treated as an outsider for a long time.

One of the things that marked me as being "from away" was my accent. The folks around here don't have a real deep southern twang, but even after 20+ years of living here, I still don't sound like "natives", and locals still ask me where I'm from. The Intart00bz and the mass influx of foreign-born professionals (like doctors and other business owners) has made this less of an issue in my AO, though.

The residents of my AO are well aware of the long emergency and police response times. As a result, law enforcement isn't strictly "by-the-book", and in most cases it's faster to drive an emergency patient to the hospital vs waiting on an ambulance. LEA-wise, most police functions are performed by the Kentucky State Police and the town PD. The local sheriff's department rarely gets involved unless there is a warrant to be served, a roadblock to be manned, or an election is coming up (even then, there's almost always a State Trooper in the background doing most of the police work). In my experience, rural areas are more receptive to pro-firearms issues than big cities, and are more receptive to self-defense claims because of the LE situation.

Since the population density of rural areas is much smaller than the big cities, societal problems seem to be much more magnified and urgent than more densely populated areas. Drugs (and all of the peripheral crimes that drugs bring) seem to impact the area harder than they do in the big cities. For example: There were roughly 500 students in my graduating class (1998). More than half of my fellow alumni have either died of drug overdoses, been in drug rehab, or have been jailed for possession or distribution of drugs.That might not sound like much to city folk, but there are only two public school districts and one private high school in my county, and my high school enrolled more than 80% of all the county's HS students. Five homeless families = a homeless problem. If a person runs afoul of the law or a prominent family, almost everyone in the county will know the details by sunset of the next day (and this was true long before the dawn of the Information Age). Gossip is a bona fide sport and well accepted means of killing time.

More than half of my county's population are on some sort of government assistance, and locals are well aware of that fact. A lot of community events are scheduled around "The first of the month" when SSI and Social Security checks come out. Local businesses tend to increase prices near the first, and lower them around the middle of the month (when the folks on the .gov tit run out of money). Lots of folks will roadside-peddle/flea market/yard sale on "check day", and you can find some bargains on stuff like used clothes, tools, and crafts.

I'll add some more later. It's getting late, and I have to work in the morning.

[MVegas]

My $.02 for what it's worth-

I've lived in all of the above. I'm in the straight-up suburbs, now, but moved here from a much more rural area (couldn't be helped, unfortunately).
Before that it went, in reverse chronological order,
-newish suburban subdivision
-shitty urban neighborhood I should have looked much more closely at before I moved there
-urban hipsterville type neighborhood
-urban working-class neighborhood where I grew up

The only one I personally miss is the country. But here's the one thing I've learned having lived in the city, country, and everywhere in-between:

It's the people that make a neighborhood. Find good neighbors. Be a good neighbor and it'll be great.

(unfortunately none of this applies in the city, but that's a whole other discussion, and it sounds like you already know )

The services thing? Yeah, it's something one needs to be prepared for, but that's why we're here, right?

[Rev]

I like being in the sticks. Sad thing is a lot of people have been moving to the country and just bringing the suburb with them. Although I will take them over the people from god knows where forming their little slumvilles.

[RickOShea]

I like being in the sticks. Sad thing is a lot of people have been moving to the country and just bringing the suburb with them. Although I will take them over the people from god knows where forming their little slumvilles.

Yeah, about five years ago a couple of guys bought 500 acres of woods and farm land just to my southwest, with the intention of building a housing subdivision.

But they were "Johnny-come-lately" to our building boom and the bubble burst before they could develop it. So they turned the land into a hunting club. They gave me a key to the gates and still let me hunt coyotes on their land just so long as it's not deer or turkey season.

All I have to do is call and let them know if I see any high-schoolers or ne'er-do-wells trespassing on the property.

[run faster]

Im not too worried about it during present times, my wife is a local and I fit right in. What worries me more is the theoritical. You know if
"something" happens and there isnt much law, I dont want to be ripe for the picking for friends turned scavengers because we're out on our own.

But Im sure itll be fine, and so we're still pretty excited and doing everything we can to get the house.
Speaking of which, has anybody worked oil fields? I might have an oppurtunity to do that but have never been around it. My family is all loggers and mechanics.

[ZombieGranny]

More than half of my county's population are on some sort of government assistance, and locals are well aware of that fact. A lot of community events are scheduled around "The first of the month" when SSI and Social Security checks come out. Local businesses tend to increase prices near the first, and lower them around the middle of the month (when the folks on the .gov tit run out of money).

Bold text mine -
Most of your post was quite nice, but after more than 50 years of paying in to Social Security every payday, I don't appreciate the implication that now that we are finally retired and getting some of that back, we are taking money we aren't entitled to have.

We are not parasites,
WE PAID IN OUR MONEY FOR 50 WORKING YEARS TO HELP SUPPORT ALL YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS, IT'S OUR HONEST TURN. And I don't think we'll be around for another 50 years, so you'll be money ahead.
/end rant

[MrUgly]

Bold text mine -
Most of your post was quite nice, but after more than 50 years of paying in to Social Security every payday, I don't appreciate the implication that now that we are finally retired and getting some of that back, we are taking money we aren't entitled to have.

We are not parasites,
WE PAID IN OUR MONEY FOR 50 WORKING YEARS TO HELP SUPPORT ALL YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS, IT'S OUR HONEST TURN. And I don't think we'll be around for another 50 years, so you'll be money ahead.
/end rant

I think he was referring to the disability claimants, rather than the retired. As I try to adhere to the 'No Politics' rule, I can't continue with the line of questioning. Given the obvious sore spot, I'm guessing you have heard that before?

so you'll be money ahead

I highly doubt that.

[ZombieGranny]

Bold text mine -
Most of your post was quite nice, but after more than 50 years of paying in to Social Security every payday, I don't appreciate the implication that now that we are finally retired and getting some of that back, we are taking money we aren't entitled to have.

We are not parasites,
WE PAID IN OUR MONEY FOR 50 WORKING YEARS TO HELP SUPPORT ALL YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS, IT'S OUR HONEST TURN. And I don't think we'll be around for another 50 years, so you'll be money ahead.
/end rant

I think he was referring to the disability claimants, rather than the retired. As I try to adhere to the 'No Politics' rule, I can't continue with the line of questioning. Given the obvious sore spot, I'm guessing you have heard that before?

so you'll be money ahead

I highly doubt that.

You bet, we hear it every month.
50 years of paying in, 30 years at most taking out before we keel over; add in interest and yeah there is a net gain from us of quite a bit.

[RickOShea]

I highly doubt that.

[connecticut_yankee]

http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=83365&p=1851480#p1851480