If you’ve lived in a big city your whole life, moving to a small town can bring unexpected changes to your lifestyle. Moving from a metropolis to a rural town often means having to accept less choice when it comes to services, education, entertainment opportunities, leisure activities, seeking medical treatment, and eating out. However, the move also has some major advantages, such as less noise, cleaner air, a lower crime rate, cheaper prices, and friendlier locals.
Let’s have a look at some factors you should consider before deciding to leave your city.
Fewer things to do for fun
If you are, for example, leaving Miami and settling down in another state in a small town, you will soon notice there are fewer fun things to do. There are significantly fewer clubs, associations, theaters, cinemas, bars, cafes, and shopping malls.
When you move to a small town, your leisure activities will be relatively limited if you have been a city person for most of your life.
However, some of the limitations you experience will be due to your metropolitan lifestyle. Perhaps you have never ridden a horse or gone fishing. If you have an open mind and are willing to pursue new passtimes, you will find that there is quite a lot to do in the country and small towns.
Education and hobbies
If you have children, you might have to make do with the town’s only primary or secondary school. If your child has a special talent, such as playing the violin, opportunities to join a youth orchestra will be either non-existent or very small.
Services for children with special educational needs are significantly greater in large cities than rural towns.
Not much to do after midnight
In most towns, especially small ones, bars, for example, don’t stay open after mignight. You will find that the only place to buy things in the early hours might be the shop of a gas station.
If you are the type of person who goes to bed and gets up early, country living is probably for you. However, for a major proportion of city dwellers, it is not. That is why fewer people are moving home to small towns.
After a while, you will start to recognize people’s faces
Cities are anonymous places. Neighbors can go several years without ever greeting each other. In a small town, you will soon be on speaking or nodding terms with virtually every person who lives on your street.
Within a few weeks, you will start recognizing faces in different parts of town. Within a couple of years, every time you walk outside, you will regularly stop to say hello to people.
If friendliness, family life, and bieng part of a community is a high priority for you, you will love living in a small town. Many families with children leave city life precisely for that reason.
It’s much safer to live in a small town
The anonymity of city life is a contributory factor in its relatively high crime rate. If most people don’t know each other, it is easier to, for example, steal something and run away without being identified.
Some people move to small towns because of the lower crime rates, especially if they live in a dangerous part of a large city. Moving to a safer part of the city is not an option for many families because of budget constraints. The most desirable neighborhoods tend to be the most expensive.
Seniors, when making the decision to move out of their city, do so for two main reasons.
- They can buy a nice home in the country after selling their city apartment.
- They want to live somewhere with a lower crime rate.
It is also much cheaper
According to movingkings.com, the cost of living in most towns and rural communities is much lower than in large cities. The price of a home is a good example. You might find that property prices are fifty percent lower.
Towns and rural communities tend to have lower grocery prices. There are also nearby farms where you can pick your own fruit and vegetables at super prices.
If bars close at midnight and there are fewer opportunities to spend your money, your cost of living is bound to be cheaper. However, remember that for some people cheaper does not mean better.
Some things might cost more
If you move into a small town and buy a large house with lots of land around it, you will need to buy gardening equipment, including a heavy-duty lawn mower.
Your utility bills may be higher. Heating and cooling a large house during the winter and summer months, respectively, costs more compared to a city apartment.
Less stress
Country life is much more peaceful than city living. When you look up at the sky at night, you will be struck by how many stars there are.
Did you know that in some towns today, people do not need to lock their front doors? Not having to worry about burglars, muggers, and other nasty criminals is priceless.
When a member of your family walks home late at night, you do not have to worry about their safety.
All these benefits, and many others, are good for our mental and emotional health. Living away from the hustle and bustle of mega cities can reduce our level of stress considerably.
Conclusion
If you do decide to move out of your city, see if you can get family and friends to help you. Decide whether you want to transport all your furniture or sell some of it off, especially the very heavy items. Try to stick to a good packing schedule. You are more likely to get everything done properly, efficiently, and successfully if you use a specialized firm. Moving can be fun if you plan carefully. Good luck!