advantages&disadvantages of countryside living

S

speedy

Registered User
Messages
90
we have lived in a city for the past 8 years and we are now getting to the point of wanting to trade up(1 toddler and baby due next year). i was brought up in the countryside myself whereas my husband's a townie. he's unsure about moving into a rural location but said once he has sky sports and broadband he'd be happy.

i'd love some opinions from anyone who has made a similar move. we are interested in moving to a local village(10miles from city) with a primary school, shop, pub and church. there's a community centre there and an active gaa club.we won't have any family close by but we've had none in the city either.

i've brilliant memories of countryside living but they consist of roaming fields and roads from early morning till dark, i think ireland's a different place now though so i want to make sure i'm realistic in my expectations.

here's my list, please add to either side

disadvantages:
1. no bigger shops closeby like tescos
2. as children grow up we'll be in the car continuously bringing them to activities in the city
3. children will have to get bus to secondary schools
4. very few children closeby to play with
5. smell of slurry (one of my husband's reasons)


advantages:
1. more of a sense of community
2. more space and quietness
3. no worry of who is going to rent next door to our semi detached house
4. smaller primary school
 
disadvantages:
1. no bigger shops closeby like tescos (I get by fine, 20 miles to supermarket from my house. Do a weekly shop and pick up small bits locally)

2. as children grow up we'll be in the car continuously bringing them to activities in the city (Worth it!)

3. children will have to get bus to secondary schools (I did, it gives you more time to meet new friends and locals. No problems at all)

4. very few children closeby to play with (You'd be surprised!)

5. smell of slurry (one of my husband's reasons) (Once a year!)


advantages:
1. more of a sense of community
2. more space and quietness
3. no worry of who is going to rent next door to our semi detached house
4. smaller primary school
5. Peace and Quiet. You are able to hear the birds and other animals of the wild. Very, very peaceful.
6. Sky. You get a great view of the stars/moon and clouds on nice days. Nothing like relaxing in the garden!
7. Cleaner air, definatly.
8. Less stress than city living.
 
we live in the countryside and one of the best things is you get no strangers knocking on the door trying to sell things. haven't even had a local politician yet this year!

we don't even have a local shop within walking distance which is great when you get a chocolate craving because you'd have to get in the car and drive to buy it. :D

it is exceptionally peaceful and you will see and appreciate so much wildlife. we had three hedgehogs last year for the whole summer and into the autumn. they visited every night. I've also seen a beautiful otter in the river.

regarding having to drive your kids to and fro to activities.. We made our own fun as kids, and i do think that kids these days expect to be allowed to do a hundred and one extra curricular activities. sometimes it's just as important to have to use your imagination as a child.

good luck with the move.:)
 
If you are only 10 miles from a city it shouldn't be too bad in terms of travelling to do things. It would be worse if it was 30 or 40 miles - you sometimes end up not bothering going places because of the time taken to get there and back.

Small schools - can be good - but many rural schools still have as many as 30 in a class (maybe more) with a few age groups being taught by the one teacher. Don't assume small is better all the time.

The sense of community is still good - but not as good as it was say 20 years ago.
If you're into GAA and/or the pub - then you'll probably be fine. Otherwise it can be a bit more difficult - but with kids at the school you are bound to get to know other parents. (Although at our local school all but 2 or 3 kids get driven to school because of the distance and it's harder to chat to other parents)

It may not be as easy for the children to play with friends - because of distances. It usually means more organising and driving . But it means you have a bit more say in who they play with .

Overall - if you want a quieter life then the move will be right.
 
thanks for all the answers. they confirm what i thought too. hadn't thought of tescos delivering:eek:.......
 
speedy said:
thanks for all the answers. they confirm what i thought too. hadn't thought of tescos delivering:eek:.......
Click to expand...

Having done both I will tell you my views..

Country living can be great in theory,but really it has its drawbacks and i honestly believe that a lot of people who make that jump are not prepared to say how difficult it can be,of course this can also apply to city living.
Country ;having to drive kids everywhere may seem like no problem,but have you thought,
that petrol/diesel is very expensive,
Roads are dangerous,most accidents happen outside main citys.
You may have to drop off one kid but that may mean taking 1/2/3 other kids with you.And that can be a real pain for the kids and you.
It may not be worth your while to drive home as the time it takes means you would just be home and have to go back out,pack kids in car again.
The alternative is the other kids are bored while you wait.
The baby may need to be fed or wont settle or needs a nappy change,one of the other kids may be ill or not want to go out again.
When you have teens they want to go into town and again you are the driver ,teens get bored ,if they want to go to the cinema you are out late collecting them,maybe ok in the summer but in the fog /cold icy roads this is a nightmasre.there are no shops to walk too,and that may be fine but in the middle of winter when you have to pack all the kids into the car its not so amusing.
You may not get on with your neighbours and this is more pronounced if you only have one.
YOu will find it hard to go for a walk,there are no footpaths,there is little if any street lighting.
Letting the kids roam the fields was grand years ago,but now there are so many dangers that its not to be recommened.either way its likly they would have to go on a dangerous road to get to the fields and the owner of the fields may not be too happy to have them on their land,plus they usually have large dogs.
When the kids get older and go to college ,you wil have to pay for their accomadation.
Also the chances of employment are greatly reduced as opposed to the city.
If you or your partnerkids got ill,traveling to get to hospitals can be very trying.
The pool of people you and your kids can choose to befriend can be very limited and if the kids fall out with each other,then the parents can and usually do fall out,and thats difficult when living in a smaller community.


Im back in Dublin and heres my two pence worth.


The gardens are tiny and it seems so concrete as opposed to the open countryside.
That being said,the kids now have loads of other kids to play with,the teens get the luas into dundrum or town.Its 5 mins to the cimema and a hop skip and jump to the shop.
I have loads of neighbours who help out and vice versa if needed.
They can walk home from school,and have friends over and they go to their friends and can walk there too.
When they go to college i will not have to pay for accomodation.
Hospitals are near and if they/we get ill we dont have the added disadvanage of having to travel for hours.
There is every ameinity within spitting distance.
My sis in law is living in the county with her four kids and hubby and is cracking up trying to amuse the kids ,while mine are out on the green with their friends.
Obviously there are great advantages and disadvantages to both but that was just my experience..
Best of luck with whatever decision you come to..
 
meant to add to my post,thatwhere I live now in Dublin is exceptionaly quiet and peacefull,but id imagine not everyone can be so lucky.We have an intercom for screening callers to the house(.ie;if its Fianna fail they get a "go away":).)
There are only so many times you can see a sheep/cow and be amused by it,and our garden here in Dublin is full of birds and we see squirells and foxes plus the big thing for us is being so near the sea espically in this weather,when i lived in the country i had to travel an hour and half to get to the sea,now I can see the ships coming into the bay and hear the fog horns..
 
living in the countryside is a completely different way of living, but the fact that going to mass 3 miles away, or the junior footballers playing on sunday are your main meeting places for the week , is something i wouldn't swop.
Living in rural areas may have it downsides such as shops,schools, etc. but isn't that part of the attraction of wanting to live in them ???
 
I think that best you should also consider the small towns on good commuter routes where you can have neighbours that are close but not too close. There are many towns that have lots of facilities that children can walk to but do not have a big city feel to them.

IMHO now is a good time to look at commuter towns as the growth rate has 'stabilised' so you can see which towns have a reasonable balance between housing, schools, shops etc. You can also identify areas where there is good integration between locals and 'blow-ins'.

This gives you the balance between the claustrapobic city and the isolation of the countryside.
 
Hi,

I have lived out in the country for 16 year - nearest town 2 miles, dublin 63 miles - so you could say we are out in the sticks. Kids school is 2 miles away. I grew up in a town which we now live 2 miles from, I lived in Dublin for 4 years, I lived in cities in Australia for a year and a half.

After moving back to the country from dublin what I missed were alternative movies, different array of restaurants and moving away from friends I had made - also where I lived I had lovely neighbours it was a terraced cottages and they would pop in and out for coffee but not live in your ear - that is one of the things I missed most.


Now I wouldn't live in a town, love the peace and quiet. Don't automatically assume that because you move to the country that the neighbours are all going to welcome you with open arms - people in the country tend to keep to themselves that's the reason the move there in the first place. Unless you live in a small estate in a village somewhere maybe you will have that community spirit. That is not only my opinion but most people I know who built once off houses out the country would say the same - some of them don't even know their neighbours - ours at least we exchange christmas presents. Just to bear that in mind. With regard to travelling you get used to it but 10 miles outside a city is not bad at all.

Good luck in your decision

Angela59
 
Some people consider country living to be an estate outside Dublin,but real country living is a one off house miles from anywhere and anyone.Not a 3 bed semi in athy.:),OK you are in the country but so then are thousands whom live in Gorey or Cavan in huge estates,or in holidays areas like ballymoney.Thats just moving to a different 3 bed semi with more grass around;)
I know people who have moved to the "country",and live in 3 bed semis,and its so funny to hear them go on and on about how great country living is!!.More often that can be interpreted as, I cant afford a 3 bed semi in Dublin so Ill say Ive had it with the city and am going to live in the country.
Now lots of these people sadly have lost their jobs and are stuck in a huge estate on the outskirts of for example ,|Gorey.\Thats not country living.
 
All the posts seem to be from a parents point of view. I moved out to the country at 5 years old and moved to dublin to start college at 19. I hated living in the country and so did my brother and sister. No friends to pop over to....everywhere we went had to be by car. Everything seemed to be an ordeal to do anything. Sure, it was peaceful - but name me one kid that wants that? As i got older i felt guilty asking my da, can i see my friend, who was a 15minute drive away.
Just to let ye know that all my family are now living back in the city and my father refers to our years in the country as the "wilderness years" and then says "thank god we're back in civilisation!"
I dont want it to be all negative, but christ it was so boring for everyone.
 
We are country people , living in a town, population 5,000 , and would'nt dream of moving back to the countryside .
 
We came from living in the city to living in the country (wife originally country girl) and the living is brilliant, easy and far more secure. More importantly it is much more cost effective to live in the country.
 
alana said:
All the posts seem to be from a parents point of view. I moved out to the country at 5 years old and moved to dublin to start college at 19. I hated living in the country and so did my brother and sister. No friends to pop over to....everywhere we went had to be by car. Everything seemed to be an ordeal to do anything. Sure, it was peaceful - but name me one kid that wants that? As i got older i felt guilty asking my da, can i see my friend, who was a 15minute drive away.
Just to let ye know that all my family are now living back in the city and my father refers to our years in the country as the "wilderness years" and then says "thank god we're back in civilisation!"
I dont want it to be all negative, but christ it was so boring for everyone.
Click to expand...

Im delighted that you posted ..
This is exactly how the children of my sister in law feel,I couldnt have put it better myself.:)
 
My parent bought a house in the countryside and I hated moving there as a child (and i'm very outdoorsy and love nature). As the other poster said, there's not that many places to actually play. The roads were extremely dangerous and weren't safe to walk on and there weren't many fields we were allowed into. The people weren't very open and there wasn't much stuff to do.

In contrast we also went on holiday to a north county dublin seaside town for a few months every year and absolutely loved it. the beach was a minute away and there were cliff walks, caves, bogs and loads of fields to explore. I felt I got a lot more freedom there as a child. Plus you could get the train and be in town in 20 mins. Sometimes you don't have to go to the wilds to get peace, nature and freedom!
 
alana said:
All the posts seem to be from a parents point of view.


I dont want it to be all negative, but christ it was so boring for everyone.
Click to expand...


I'm not a parent, I am single, 26 year old female. No kids.

And I don't agree that its boring.
 
I'm in a very different situation , but a nice one me thinks. I live from Tue to Fri in Dublin and from Fri night till Monday in the country side. I love both aspects. But mostly love Friday heading down, its a one off house out in the sticks on 2/3 acre. Our kids are young adults now, but they rarely come down at all, much prefer Dublin. I will always keep both, I imagine, keeping options open, as I do enjoy both aspects, so different, such a contrast. One garden is a postage stamp and the other a football pitch ! When you can go from one to the other at ease, it really highlights the contrast and I am lucky that I do not have to chose one over the other.


Secman
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top