Perspective: Rural Life. City Life.

I am always interested in who is reading my blog and what they think of it.

Today my rural life ramblings inspired a blog post from a new friend I made during my move across the country, her name is Anne and she lives in Arizona. Her blog post talks about perspective; how she considered Stratford, CT, (her home town and the town I just moved back from) a small town. Turns out she is very wrong. :)

So this blog post is in response to hers. A little more food for thought for Anne and my other big city friends.
Here is a link to Anne's blog post, to give you some reference:
http://mcauleyfreelancewriting.com/perspectives-turns-out-my-small-town-is-heidis-big-city/

A few comparison stats about Oregon and Connecticut:
Connecticut is 5,544 square miles in size with a 2010 census population of 3,574,097 which is 738.1 persons per square mile.

Oregon is 98,386 square miles in size with a 2010 census population of 3,831,074 which is 39.9 persons per square mile.

Distance from Ione to those big city conveniences-
To a movie theater, fast food and Starbucks: 40+ miles
To a mall: 75+ miles (in Washington State)
To a major airport (not the small one that is closer): 174 miles

My observations of some key differences between city living and county life:
City life traffic jam: Too many cars on the road all going in the same direction at the same time, typically occurs weekday mornings and evenings.

Country life traffic jam: A farmer moving a piece of machinery from one field to another that slows you down for a brief period of time until you come to a stretch of road where you can pass or the farmer pulls over, typically happens in the spring and summer.

City mentality: Distance is measured by time it takes you to get there, usually given in a range as the amount of time depending on traffic. For example a commute to work that is 23 miles in distance will be described as taking 30-45 minutes depending on traffic.

Country mentality: Distance is measured by miles. "It's 40 miles away." Time is typically not given as it generally takes as many minutes as there are miles, or less, depending on how fast a driver you are.

City mentality: What's in it for me? (there are many people who are the exception to this thinking)

Country mentality: How can I help? (exceptions here as well)

So yes, it is all in the perspective. After living in the city for 14 years, it became harder and harder for me to accept the "city mentality" when I knew there was another perspective out there. There was a time in my life when the city was right for me, but that has passed. While the conveniences of city life are extremely nice to have, I am finding that the country life perspectives outweigh the conveniences that I miss... at least for now. ;)

Also check out Anne's other blog: http://beyondthewetnose.wordpress.com/