What does it mean to be Rural?

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

I was pondering...

What are the tangible (measurable) ways that rural is different from "non-rural?"
What are the intantible (difficult if not impossible to measure) ways that rural is different from "non-rural?"
What are the tangible (measurable) ways that rural is the same as "non-rural?"
What are the intantible (difficult if not impossible to measure) ways that rural is the same as "non-rural?"

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

Rural different - generational attachment to PLACE. Can I teach someone to make a homestead? A place where, if you are new, will create a "story" where individuals of subsequent generations would value, invest in, and continue?

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

National Geographic on definitions of Urban and Rural. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/urban-area/ 

Rural areas are the opposite of urban areas. Rural areas, often called "the country," have low population density and large amounts of undeveloped land. Usually, the difference between a rural area and an urban area is clear. But in developed countries with large populations, such as Japan, the difference is becoming less clear. In the United States, settlements with 2,500 inhabitants or more are defined as urban. In Japan, which is far more densely populated than the U.S., only settlements with 30,000 people or more are considered urban.

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

From the Internet: https://brainly.ph/question/12360251 

5 differences and 5 similarities between rural and urban livelihoods:

Differences between rural and urban livelihoods:

1)Rural livelihoods are based upon primary activities like farming and fishing.Urban livelihoods are based upon secondary and tertiary activities like manufacturing and services.

2)Rural livelihood involves living with and being sustained by nature.Urban is city based living and involve a range of activities like IT,jobs in the government or private sector,clerial and professional jobs.Urban areas have a large migrant population.

3)People generally inherit jobs in rural areas like carpenter,blacksmith etc.In urban areas job inheritance is not common.

4)Rural areas provide less opportunity to earn income as compared with urban areas.

5)Rural areas lack industries, infrastructure which is found in urban areas.

Similarities between rural and urban livelihoods:

1)Poverty continue to exist in both rural and urban areas.

2)Some common jobs continue to exist in rural and urban areas like teachers,shopkeepers,traders,barbers though scale of operation may differ.

3)Daily wage laborers exist in rural areas who may be employed in farms and urban areas they employed in a factory.

4)Women constitute a major work force in rural and urban areas.Though, in the former they are engaged in agriculture and in the latter in professions like teachings,IT,medicine,BPO's.

5)Both rural and urban areas will have dependent, population not engaged in any work that is elderly population and children.

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

Benefits and stresses of living in a rural community - https://www.livegulfshoreslocal.com/2017/01/26/pros-and-cons-of-rural-living/ through the eyes of a real estate agent.

PROS OF RURAL LIVING


Privacy

Living in a rural area provides another layer of privacy simply because there are less people around. I know that sounds obvious but, when you don’t have to worry about nosy neighbors gossiping about you, traveling salespeople, or people generally getting in your business, you will feel a sense of privacy that an 8- foot fence can’t deliver.

Larger home sites

In the city or suburbs, you may be lucky to have a yard that comes anywhere near a 1/2 acre. Rural areas typically offer homes that sit on multiple acres, giving you the ability and freedom to do whatever you want, even if it’s nothing.

Distance between neighbors

This goes along with privacy, but living in the country puts a stop to peering eyes since most of the homes are far apart, separated by trees, or aren’t even in shouting distance from each other. In many cases you may not even be able to see another house from yours. Yes, you will have fewer neighbors, but they often tend to be better neighbors.

Serenity

There is something to be said for peace and serenity. You can walk outside at night and actually see the stars. The only noise you may hear is the sound of crickets and frogs. When you can take away light and noise pollution, traffic, stop lights, and everything else the city offers, it really helps one to relax and de-stress. Also, the very backdrop of your surroundings can bring peace. You can actually watch the sunset over a tree line versus a building. Nature alone can bring with it a sense of serenity that is unmatched.

You can have more toys

Living the rural life provides you the opportunity to own things that you couldn’t operate in the city like mini-bikes for the kids, guns, ATV’s, drones, or whatever your heart’s desire. Activities can be endless, as well. For instance, most people can’t play paintball in their suburban backyard.

It can be a safer lifestyle

Yes, there is crime in rural areas, as well, but the more people that you can take out of the equation the less chance that you’ll have to worry about it.

Cost of living is typically cheaper

This is simply a supply and demand issue. Rural properties tend to be less per square foot due to the fact that the masses of people choose to live in the city, thus driving up costs.

More animals

Well, if you have ever wanted to own something other than a dog, cat, bird, or snake, living the “country life” affords you having whatever you want, be it horses, chickens, goats, or even llamas. Most Homeowner’s Associations for city and suburban neighborhoods have provisions that disallow owners from having “farm animals”. This is usually not the case in rural areas.

Cleaner air

I don’t believe that anyone has ever complained about having cleaner air, and most people would probably agree that country air is cleaner than city air.

You can have a large garden

City dwellers who have a green thumb often grow herbs or may have a tomato plant or two; however, with more land you can grow as much of your own food as you’d like.

You can be as self-sufficient as you want to be

Whether it’s growing your own vegetables, raising your own beef, producing water from a well, or even using solar panels, living in a rural area allows you to rely on yourself as much as you would like. You could even go off the grid altogether!

CONS OF RURAL LIVING


You’ll have to get used to the quiet

Believe it or not, it took me several days to get use to the isolation of living in the country. Literally, the only thing you will hear is the sound of bugs, wildlife, and the sound of your own voice running off wildlife, in some cases. Even though it may take some time to transition from your “suburb” nervous system to the sounds of the great outdoors, you will eventually settle in.

Distance to important places

Are you good with being an hour away from a hospital? Although distance from humanity may be the pull for moving to a rural area, it may be frustrating if your spouse needs a loaf of bread and the nearest store is 20 miles away.

School

If you have school-aged children, they may have longer rides on the bus, even more than hour each way.

Slower internet

Most people today rely on their internet on a daily basis, and living in the country will not provide lightning-fast service. More than likely, you’ll have internet access provided through a dish, which works, but if you’re used to speed, you’ll have to get used to it. Also, for all those who are used to a dish for cable or internet, pray it doesn’t rain hard during an important moment.

Amenities

If you are someone who needs constant stimulation in the form of restaurants, movies, Starbucks, Target, etc.., you may feel that living the rural lifestyle will be frustrating. Going anywhere will involve more time, expense, and planning than if you live in town.

More bugs

While living in a rural area, you will have to be okay with dealing with more bugs. There are absolutely more insects in the country than in the city, and, I swear, they have to be bigger. You know it’s bad when you can feel the mosquitoes hitting you through your shirt! I think that, in time, most people can get used to it though.

Dealing with wildlife

Well, there is just a difference in what kind of wildlife you’ll find in the city versus the country and, depending on where you live, some people will have more of an issue with wildlife than others. When I lived in the woods for 7 years, I encountered snakes, possums, raccoons, bear, wild turkeys, and lots of deer.

Job opportunities

Employment is scarce in rural areas, so a lengthy drive may be necessary. On the other other, some cities are so large and traffic is so bad that the drive may be comparable to what you’re used to.

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

Cliches... 

Check out these reasons to choose the countryside over city living.

There’s Less Crime in Rural Areas


Looking for a safe place to raise a family?

Recent crime reports from the FBI showed that violent crime was significantly lower in non-metropolitan counties than in metropolitan cities.

For people raising families or looking for a safe place to retire, you can’t beat the countryside.

If you live on a larger plot of land, it will be harder for criminals to reach your property, and the overall rate of violent crime decreases significantly the further outside of the city you go.

Cost of Living is Lower in Rural Areas


Want a break from sky-high tax rates, food costs and insurance costs?

Move to the countryside!

Because there’s less traffic and lower crime rates in rural areas, car insurance rates for drivers who live in the country are lower.

Food generally costs less in rural areas than in cities, as well, so you can make sure your family gets the high-quality food they deserve. 

Tax rates are lower in the country, too. You can rake in that extra money for savings, discretionary purchases or paying off long-standing bills.

Childcare rates are also often lower in the countryside, which is perfect for families who need daycare services so both parents can work.

There’s More Freedom and Privacy in Rural Areas


Owning land provides you with the opportunity to really do you own thing:

  • Plant a large garden and diminish your food costs
  • Have pets! Dogs, horses, cattle, you name it. The countryside has the room.
  • Customize your home and land to your own tastes. Many laws in city areas prevent homeowners from decorating and altering their homes to their own tastes.

You can also have more privacy in the countryside.

City living requires you to be in close quarters with neighbors and the general public. If you want more privacy, rural living is the way to go.

Sleep Better in the Country


The city is notorious for being a place that never sleeps.

There are traffic sounds, noisy neighbors and construction. Add to that the general white noise of city living, and you’ve got a recipe for sleepless nights.

There’s nothing like the silence and serenity of nighttime in the countryside. Not only can you see the stars and enjoy the fresh air; you’ll sleep like a rock.

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

PEW Reserach Center on the differences between rural, suburban, and rural attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/05/22/what-unites-and-divides-urban-suburban-and-rural-communities/ 

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

Key differences between urban and rural life and living - https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-urban-and-rural.html

Key Differences Between Urban and Rural


The fundamental differences between urban and rural are discussed in the following points:

  1. A settlement where the population is very high and has the features of a built environment (an environment that provides basic facilities for human activity), is known as urban. Rural is the geographical region located in the outer parts of the cities or towns.
  2. The life in urban areas is fast and complicated, whereas rural life is simple and relaxed.
  3. The Urban settlement includes cities and towns. On the other hand, the rural settlement includes villages and hamlets.
  4. There is greater isolation from nature in urban areas, due to the existence of the built environment. Conversely, rural areas are in direct contact with nature, as natural elements influence them.
  5. Urban people are engaged in non-agricultural work, i.e. trade, commerce or service industry. In contrast, the primary occupation of rural people is agriculture and animal husbandry.
  6. Population wise, urban areas are densely populated, which is based on the urbanisation, i.e. the higher the urbanisation, the higher is the population. On the contrary, the rural population is sparse, which has an inverse relationship with agriculturism.
  7. Urban areas are developed in a planned and systematic way, according to the process of urbanisation and industrialisation. Development in rural areas is seldom, based on the availability of natural vegetation and fauna in the region.
  8. When it comes to social mobilisation, urban people are highly intensive as they change their occupation or residence frequently in search of better opportunities. However, in rural areas occupational or territorial mobility of the people is relatively less intensive.
  9. Division of labour and specialisation is always present in the urban settlement at the time of job allotment. As opposed to rural areas, there is no division of labour.
Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (USDA/ERS) maintains four highly related but distinct geographic classification systems to designate areas by the degree to which they are rural. The original urban-rural code scheme was developed by the ERS in the 1970s. Rural America today is very different from the rural America of 1970 described in the first rural classification report.

At that time migration to cities and poverty among the people left behind was a central concern. The more rural a residence, the more likely a person was to live in poverty, and this relationship held true regardless of age or race. Since the 1970s the interstate highway system was completed and broadband was developed. Services have become more consolidated into larger centers. Some of the traditional rural industries, farming and mining, have prospered, and there has been rural amenity-based in-migration. Many major structural and economic changes have occurred during this period. These factors have resulted in a quite different rural economy and society since 1970.

In April 2015, the Committee on National Statistics convened a workshop to explore the data, estimation, and policy issues for rationalizing the multiple classifications of rural areas currently in use by the Economic Research Service (ERS). Participants aimed to help ERS make decisions regarding the generation of a county rural-urban scale for public use, taking into consideration the changed social and economic environment. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

https://www.nap.edu/read/21843/chapter/6 

Deb Wisniewski
Deb Wisniewski
@deb-wisniewski
3 years ago
140 posts

wow! You have a lot here, Derek. Just skimming through this, one thing popped out at me. I actually felt like I had more privacy (and isolation) when I lived in the city, compared to the very rural area I live in now. I feel like people know a lot more about me now, pay more attention to what I'm doing, share info about me (gossip?) now that I live in a rural area. We have a joke in our family... when we drive around here, we don't need to use turn signals... why? because everyone already knows where I'm going!

Seriously, in the city, we had some great people in our neighborhood but it was really easy to disconnect from people. Here in our rural community, the typical greeting when we first moved here was "Now who are you and whose house do you live in?" People would stop and ask you that even at the grocery store. 

One other thought.... I see so many rural areas (including ours) increasingly moving away from farming due to the mega farms that are moving in and focusing more on tourism - people visiting from the cities and "getting away from it all" for a week or a weekend. Have other folks seen that as well? 

Deb

PS We definitely live in a rural area and we are a town (of 700 people), not a hamlet or a village. I wonder how those are defined and who decides....

Wendy McCaig
Wendy McCaig
@wendy-mccaig
3 years ago
24 posts

HI Derek,  As Deb shared, this is a very impressive analysis.  I think the one thing that I have found is a deeper connection to the natural world.  The daily sunrises, sunsets, droughts, floods, snow, the flow of the river, the fish, the wild flowers and on and on are far more a part of my life here then when I was in the city.  There is almost a spiritual connection to the land that I never felt in the city.  I think that is the greatest difference and benefit I have experienced. 

I had good, caring and deeply connected and generationally rooted neighbors in my previous community which was a historically African American community.  There were senior adults who had inherited the family home who had a lived memory of the place that is as rich as any rural community I have been a part of so I would challenge the assumption that non-rural folks are not as attached to place but I do agree it is more common in the rural environment. 

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

My work in the world is to thicken the web of support for increasing numbers of children, teens, and their Anchoring adults. And, I am wondering, when considering rural, suburban, and urban communities and neighbhors, which differences make a difference.

Here's the Napkin Talk (elevator speech) of how I understand the whole world around a whole person. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx2GMbs99FU 

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

Good morning Deb and Wendy,
Reading your insights and experiences compels me to ponder the variables of personal motivation, interpersonal competence, ability to delay/prolong gratification and think differently about the transactional nature of relationships, having an intellectual AND vicseral experience with "enlightened self interest" and the deep value and fungibility of social capital, a wider perspective of time and it's value, a wider comfort zone for temperatures, pain, physical movement and discomfort, and the speed/velocity of preceived personal growth.

Having lived and worked throughout Alaska for 25+ years (173 different communities/villages/camps) that are remote, and, depending on the anthropological history of humankind that one subscribes to, have been inhabited for 22,000+ years, I have come to understand why people have remained, and suffered/survived/thrived.

Thank you for playing in the sandbox alongside me.

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

Three Focus Groups - Over the 4th of July Holiday, with three different groups, all who were sitting around chatting, I asked the question "What does it mean to be rural? What defines us?" The first group were neighbors and their extended families to our farm - 9 people. The second group was my extended family - 8 of us - around a fire ring. The third group was a small group of people at the local lumberyard - 7 of us.

What I learned:
1) We immediately go to our cultural myths. 1) Clean air - even though we spray 24D and RoundUP EVERYWHERE twice a season. 2) Clean water - even though all of us are on Rural Water because the farmers poisoned the groundwater with arsenic back in the 1930's because of grasshoppers, 3) know your neighbors, 4) better values, 5) and other cliches...

When pushed to go deeper we talked about: 1) Dark skies - no ground light. You could see the Milky Way. 2) Decibels of sound. That when you are NOT in a tractor, NOT working the elevators and corn dryers, and other equipment on the farm, you could hear the train wheels on the rails 6+ miles away. 3) Time - that they owned their own time, and even employers understood that. (Some joked that they had the TIME to ponder and answer my question. 4) Jack of all trades - had to do everything by themselves - unless neighbors helped - could not find labor, and if they found it, they could not afford it. 5) Distrust of strangers - not too sure about the over-exuberant extroverted city people. 6) Their machinery is always better (newer and more valuable) than their homes. 7) Broken down bodies - men, women and children all had stories of long term effects of injuries sustained long ago. (I lost the tip of a finger, a deep scar on my left wrist, burn marks on my arms, etc. We all agreed that is the price you pay for being rural.)

Finally, after the laughter and truly, moving beyond the cliches, it was generally acknowledged that: 1) Place matters, 2) every place is different, 3) if your place fits you, like a pair of boots, you can go far because your walk will be more comfortable. 4) if your place does not fit you, then you'll be bitter, and not very effective, 5) that urban and suburban areas are places too and that good people come from there too, it's just that they have different "comfort zones."

There is more here... but this is just a short capture, so that I wouldn't forget.

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

Some other things I remember: 1) We spoke of the cost of specialty coffee(s), 2) that most restaurants are not worth the money because "we can make it better at home." 3) My words here - of old-school financial literacy - but not our wealth nor money, 4) the changing weather - but not climate change. We did not talk politics - but "almost", we did not say negative things about others, and we didn't talk about our churches, but we did talk about faith and death.

John Hamerlinck
John Hamerlinck
@john-hamerlinck
3 years ago
50 posts

[quote="Derek A Peterson"]

From the Internet: https://brainly.ph/question/12360251 

5 differences and 5 similarities between rural and urban livelihoods:

Differences between rural and urban livelihoods:

1)Rural livelihoods are based upon primary activities like farming and fishing.Urban livelihoods are based upon secondary and tertiary activities like manufacturing and services.

2)Rural livelihood involves living with and being sustained by nature.Urban is city based living and involve a range of activities like IT,jobs in the government or private sector,clerial and professional jobs.Urban areas have a large migrant population.

3)People generally inherit jobs in rural areas like carpenter,blacksmith etc.In urban areas job inheritance is not common.

4)Rural areas provide less opportunity to earn income as compared with urban areas.

5)Rural areas lack industries, infrastructure which is found in urban areas.

Similarities between rural and urban livelihoods:

1)Poverty continue to exist in both rural and urban areas.

2)Some common jobs continue to exist in rural and urban areas like teachers,shopkeepers,traders,barbers though scale of operation may differ.

3)Daily wage laborers exist in rural areas who may be employed in farms and urban areas they employed in a factory.

4)Women constitute a major work force in rural and urban areas.Though, in the former they are engaged in agriculture and in the latter in professions like teachings,IT,medicine,BPO's.

5)Both rural and urban areas will have dependent, population not engaged in any work that is elderly population and children.

[/quote] This list contains a number of false assumptions. Rural is not always agrarian. Rural economies are not all "sustained by nature." There are a substantial number of rural places supporting jobs in manufacturing, IT, and professional services. The amount of 'inherited' job or business succession in rural areas is not significantly different from that in urban areas.

I would suggest that the most significant difference between rural and urban, is political power and influence. I live in a state where three-fourths of the population lives in one-fourth of the geography. This creates an urban bias in the decision making of elected officials. Therefore, rural gets less public investment.

Derek A Peterson
Derek A Peterson
@derek-a-peterson
3 years ago
51 posts

https://www.dailygood.org/story/2758/returning-to-the-village-hang-mai-and-friends/

For those of us who live in urban areas, what does returning to a life in the village really mean? What is the impulse that moves folks to reverse the direction of migration of their recent ancestors to the city? What can living on the land, growing your own food, and using your hands to make clothing and shelter offer souls hungering for a real connection to the Earth? Here, Hang Mai, a Vietnamese natural farmer and social entrepreneur, who together with her partner Chau Duong mid-wifes those wanting to make this transition to the village, reflects on this question.

I belong to the baby-boomer generation in Vietnam after the end of the war in 1975. My generation experienced the difficult life in the city after the war. We did not have enough food, clothing, or even clean water. After school, all of us children were involved in housework like standing in line to collect water, carrying water home by foot or by a wagon. We all had to find a way to fetch enough water for our family. Once I asked my dad: “If the war happens again, and we don't have water and electricity, what shall we do?” He said: “Go back to the village.”

So I began to understand that in the war time people can go back to the village or go to the forest. Only in the village or in the forest can we find food and shelter. In times of peace, people destroy the forest and leave the village to join the city. Like many of my peers, I only came back to the village during summer breaks, and we all wanted to stay in the city. The movement was one direction: from the village to the city, from the smaller city to the bigger one, and from the bigger city to the mega city. The village gradually became empty.

However, in recent years, in Vietnam, I have seen an upstream flow from the city back to the village. It is a small flow, but persistently runs along the side of the mainstream rural-urban migration. When I look at this upstream flow, I can categorize 5 groups:

Group 1: Those who want to farm as a form of therapy
Group 2: Those who want to farm as a leisure activity
Group 3: Those who farm as a livelihood
Group 4: Those who choose farming as a way of living and of self-sufficiency
Group 5: Those who choose farming as a way of living and make surplus to sell

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