# Town vs Country Living - The Pros & Cons



## AnAthas (24 Jun 2013)

I'd just like to start a discussion regarding this topic. In my area there is a big trend for couples as soon as they are angling to start a family and/or get married they automatically follow the fashion and eschew town living to instead living within 3 and 20 miles away from the town. This often involves getting planning permission on a site a doing a self-build but not always.

I'm always perplexed by this as I find town living so convenient not only for myself but also I'd imagine (even more so) for a family.

So I ask the question what are the advantages/disadvantages of moving away from town/in town, and what is your preference? Are there planning policies that influence your preference?


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## Molli (24 Jun 2013)

*Town v Country Living.*

AnAthas I wonder would some of these couples be from the country originally and wish to return there? I have lived in the city and am back in the country where I grew up and would'nt change it for anything. I love the peace and quiet, nature and everything about the country.

I can see what you mean about the convenience of living in the town also as you have everything on your doorstep. In the country you have to travel to shops and schools etc, but you don't actually mind doing that atall.

I think you have a better community spirit in the country. You have smaller school classes for children, no queues, no traffic lights, no parking problems. 

So I suppose each has it's advantages and it's down to personal choice in the end.


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## cremeegg (24 Jun 2013)

For me the three issues are kids, neighbours and dogs.

With small children the country is great, everything they need is likely to be close by, you are never far from a primary school, and so long as you can resign yourself to sending your children to a school under the patronage of an organisation that was heavily involved in the cover-up of child abuse, country living wins out.

For teenagers there is less to do in the country and the driving gets to be a bigger issue. Also secondary schools tend to be further away. Some parents think its great that their teenagers are not exposed to the temptations of cities, but there is such a thing as a country bumpkin.

Neighbours, in the country for better or worse, and usually it is for the better, you are more exposed to your neighbours. If you live next door to a difficult neighbour it is probably just your problem. In an estate in town all the other neighbours are involved too.

Dogs. if you live in the country you cannot go for a walk down most roads because you will be attacked by dogs. You cannot sleep at night for the barking of the dogs. You cannot let your children play in the garden because it is covered in dog droppings.


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## manicsaver (25 Jun 2013)

cremeegg said:


> Dogs. if you live in the country you cannot go for a walk down most roads because you will be attacked by dogs. You cannot sleep at night for the barking of the dogs. You cannot let your children play in the garden because it is covered in dog droppings.



The countryside is a much more appealling place for dog-lovers, and most houses in the country, if they lack a large garden, would have fields close by. Never found dog droppings to be a problem tbh, and I don't know what you mean by being attacked by dogs when you walk down roads.


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## T McGibney (25 Jun 2013)

cremeegg said:


> and so long as you can resign yourself to  sending your children to a school under the patronage of an organisation  that was heavily involved in the cover-up of child abuse



The [broken link removed], the Catholic Church, or both?


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## Woodie (25 Jun 2013)

Lived in towns, cities and country in many countries including for a while in the country in Ireland and have to say found rural people in parts of Ireland insular and clicky.  No matter what you do you are a blow in and seem to only have people offer an invite to things that cost you money or come to sell GAA tickets at huge cost (even if you have no interest - maybe that's my  problem.   Got a welcome from one family, rest could not be bothered even though we made the effort.  Maybe it was the fact that all the emphasis was on building huge houses, driving huge jeeps and  effectively living a sub-urban lifestyle.  Kids seem to be stuck inside most of the time and parents afraid of them getting fresh air or getting dirty.   
Gave up and moved back to city, where I have better communication, access, and a genuine community spirit.  Miss being in the countryside but not the experience of the people.  Will go back to rural living some day but not in Ireland.


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## dereko1969 (25 Jun 2013)

cremeegg said:


> Dogs. if you live in the country *you cannot go for a walk down most roads because you will be attacked by dogs*. You cannot sleep at night for the barking of the dogs. You cannot let your children play in the garden because it is covered in dog droppings.


 
Do you not think you're exaggerating there just a tad? Lived in Portlaoise, girlfriend at the time's parents lived outside there and never in the 6 years I was visiting did I ever have any hassle with dogs. You're much more likely to have to deal with dog droppings in the city/town.


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## looking2011 (25 Jun 2013)

Having lived in Dublin and now 'down the country', life is so much easier with kids out of a city. I can do the creche, school run in 15 mins and still be in work for 9am. Leave at 5, pick up kids and home at 5:15pm....my kids can do quite a few extra curricular activities such as French, music, football etc which just would not be possible to get to after work with the traffic in cities. Neighbours are great and I always can call on a neighbour to help me out.
I rarely face a traffic jam, creche fees are much lower than in the city and I have not encountered the dog attacking or dog poo previously mentioned by another poster.


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## 44brendan (25 Jun 2013)

It's all about lifestyle choice. I lived in Dublin for .25 years and was happy there. No living in relatively rural Cork and you wouldn't drag me back to Dublin for any money!! Nearest neighbour is abt 500mtrs away and shops etc are abt 5 mins drive away. Suits us perfectly but obviously not for everybody.


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## Molli (25 Jun 2013)

cremeegg said:


> For me the three issues are kids, neighbours and dog
> Dogs. if you live in the country you cannot go for a walk down most roads because you will be attacked by dogs. You cannot sleep at night for the barking of the dogs. You cannot let your children play in the garden because it is covered in dog droppings.


 
I find that strange to think you live in an area where there are so many dangerous dogs. Have you actually been attacked? If so did you let the owners or the Gardai know. Most people where I live are very good about their dogs.


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## huskerdu (25 Jun 2013)

looking2011 said:


> Having lived in Dublin and now 'down the country', life is so much easier with kids out of a city. I can do the creche, school run in 15 mins and still be in work for 9am. Leave at 5, pick up kids and home at 5:15pm....my kids can do quite a few extra curricular activities such as French, music, football etc which just would not be possible to get to after work with the traffic in cities. Neighbours are great and I always can call on a neighbour to help me out.
> I rarely face a traffic jam, creche fees are much lower than in the city and I have not encountered the dog attacking or dog poo previously mentioned by another poster.



I have all of this, and I live in a suburb of Dublin ( including the short commute, lack of trafffic jams etc)

I love the fact that my kids walk to school, after school activities, friends houses. I have lots of lovely neighbours and live in a place with a real community spirit. 

If 30 people respond to this question, you will get 30 replies. 

The countryside is lovely, but you could not pay me to live there.


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## markpb (25 Jun 2013)

I gew up in the country (in a village) and now live in Dublin and I wouldn't move at all. Doing anything at home required my very patient parents to chauffeur me around. The school run could be done by bus but absolutely everything else requied parental time and effort. Now I live a 5 min walk from my baby girls crèche, a further 5 mins walk to work, right beside a park, tennis courts, a Dunnes and a SuperValue, a 15 min walk to Dundrum (for cinema, bar, etc) and a 30 min walk to the nearest swimming pool. If all goes well, we'll be a 10 min walk to the nearest primary school so the baby will be able to walk there when she's old enough. I'd never look back.


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## BillK (27 Jun 2013)

We live in a small town in the English Midlands. Our house is about 1 mile from the centre of town and this gives a reasonable walk in the morning for my newspaper.
Our house is on a fairly busy road to a couple of villages and another small town about 15 miles away. We have five large supermarkets within 2 miles of our house, with another within five minutes walk. We are within a 10 minute drive of one motorway junction and 15 minutes from another junction onto a different motorway. We have two large cities within a half hour drive and a fair sized town within 20 minutes.
Suits us.


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## dub_nerd (27 Jun 2013)

I have no fixed abode. I flit between south Dublin suburbs and rural Wexford. It was a situation forced on me by the housing bubble, but now I like both and wouldn't like to live exclusively in either place. Love the country for the air, the night sky,  the lack of noise, and the extra space. I agree with the poster about the dogs though. Yes, they are a scourge -- varying from serious nuisance to downright dangerous.


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## roker (28 Jun 2013)

I Loved living in the country it was good to get away from all of the noise when I got home, like a little paradise, no kids playing football in the street.
I had the opposite experience with dog’s, I had to get a couple put down because they were chasing sheep, I think one got shot, farmers have paranoia about dogs. At least one car is a must, two if both parents are working. As we got older we began to feel isolated and moved into the town for security.


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## cremeegg (29 Jun 2013)

Molli said:


> I find that strange to think you live in an area where there are so many dangerous dogs. Have you actually been attacked? If so did you let the owners or the Gardai know. Most people where I live are very good about their dogs.



No I think this is fairly typical. The neighbours two doors away are really nice people, when their dog bit my wife they were very apologetic, offered to have it put down. My wife said no. I think they were relieved, their children very attached to the dog. They put on a muzzle. About 3 months later the same dog bit another neighbour. The dog was put down.

Some months ago my 12 year old was walking home from the school bus. He had just started in secondary school, walking home from the bus was a big deal for him. On the way a dog comes out and bites him.

It is very frustrating when your child comes home crying after being attacked by some ones dog. There is little you can do.

I went to call on the people, whom I know slightly. The woman stood on the door step and insisted that hers was a lovely dog and would never bit anyone, all the while the dog was yapping at my ankles. What can you do I could have called the police but I didn't fro the same reason i didn't pick the dog up and bash its head against the wall. It isn't nice. And it solves nothing.

But I can live with all that, we collect him from the bus now every day, that is the price you pay for living in a society, you have to cope with other people. 

What drives me nuts is dogs barking at night, no matter what is going on in your life, it is made worse by not being able to sleep.

You ask the neighbours to do something about it but even with some good will on their part it doesn't work.

They bought a kennel but they rarely put the dog into it. The dog only starts up when it gets dark, so you get up in your pyjamas and go next door and ask can you put the dog in. Great


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## cremeegg (29 Jun 2013)

roker said:


> I Loved living in the country it was good to get away from all of the noise when I got home, like a little paradise, no kids playing football in the street.
> I had the opposite experience with dog’s, I had to get a couple put down because they were chasing sheep, I think one got shot, farmers have paranoia about dogs. At least one car is a must, two if both parents are working. As we got older we began to feel isolated and moved into the town for security.



You had a couple of dogs and you let them chase sheep.

Presumably they did this at night, so they were roaming about in the dark. No doubt barking and keeping the neighbours awake as well.

Did you go out with a pooper scooper and clean up after them or just let your neighbours walk in it.

Did they attack people too or maybe it was just sheep

You probably think you are a dog lover too.


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## roker (1 Jul 2013)

Wow cremeega: I must have upset you. I did not let them chase sheep they did it themselves. I lived on 3 acres of land, a lot to pooper scooping to do there, no neigbours. the dogs were tied up at night, they were docile with people which is often the case, one dog was small and nervous, you would never expect it to chase sheep.


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## cremeegg (1 Jul 2013)

roker said:


> I did not let them chase sheep they did it themselves.



Thank you Roker.

As you have probably gathered I have certain opinions about dogs and dog owners.

In future I won't have to use my own arguments to persuade people to these opinions, I will just quote you. 

Roker the man (or perhaps woman) whose dogs can chase sheep all by themselves!!


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## roker (1 Jul 2013)

We did get rid of the dog as soon as we found out they were chasing sheep, then the whole herd of sheep kept coming in to our land eating plants, veg. and flowers, seems the farmer did not maintain the fences.


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## geri (2 Jul 2013)

I am was raised in the country, very rural area.  When I was around 7 I was bitten by a neighbours sheepdog, while selling raffle tickets for some local charity with my older sister.  It wasn't the done thing then to demand dogs get put down for biting, especially working dogs.  Anyway, now I live in an urban area.  When I go back home for weekends etc, I go out walking with Mum, and I am always a bit nervous of dogs.  There are plenty of them around, not secured, but patrolling the road outside where they live.  Some of them pass no heed, but some make me nervous, yipping and prancing round me, or even with their general friendly snuffling - the hair on the back of my neck is standing up, and I am literally hiding behind mum.  The owners no doubt will say, "sure he won't go near you" and have a bit of a laugh about it.  Doesn't make me any less nervous though.  Having said that, I do miss living in the coutry and would like to move back there some day.


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## Molli (4 Jul 2013)

cremeegg I agree it most certainly is not nice to be bitten by a dog and also being kept awake at night by a dog barking is very annoying. As you say you have to live with these people and you sound like a very patient person. I have dogs myself and thankfully we don't live too near any neighbour and our dogs are usually very quiet by night but it is something I would be very conscious about that they don't upset or annoy any neighbour.

Roker yes it is difficult if you have dogs and have sheep nearby and I suppose its a dogs natural instinct to chase. Its sometimes when a couple of dogs get together the damage is done. Thankfully there are no sheep near me.


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## Molli (4 Jul 2013)

geri said:


> I am was raised in the country, very rural area. When I was around 7 I was bitten by a neighbours sheepdog, while selling raffle tickets for some local charity with my older sister. It wasn't the done thing then to demand dogs get put down for biting, especially working dogs. Anyway, now I live in an urban area. When I go back home for weekends etc, I go out walking with Mum, and I am always a bit nervous of dogs. There are plenty of them around, not secured, but patrolling the road outside where they live. Some of them pass no heed, but some make me nervous, yipping and prancing round me, or even with their general friendly snuffling - the hair on the back of my neck is standing up, and I am literally hiding behind mum. The owners no doubt will say, "sure he won't go near you" and have a bit of a laugh about it. Doesn't make me any less nervous though. Having said that, I do miss living in the coutry and would like to move back there some day.


 
Geri I hope you get over your fear of dogs. I can imagine after being bitten the fear remains. People should not have a dog that is in danger of biting running freely. A nice dog can be so kind and such good company for any family.


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## roker (4 Jul 2013)

Don't under estimate the intelligent of a dog, it's the language barrier that is the problem.


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## cremeegg (13 Jul 2013)

geri said:


> I am was raised in the country, very rural area.  When I was around 7 I was bitten by a neighbours sheepdog, while selling raffle tickets for some local charity with my older sister.  It wasn't the done thing then to demand dogs get put down for biting, especially working dogs.  Anyway, now I live in an urban area.  When I go back home for weekends etc, I go out walking with Mum, and I am always a bit nervous of dogs.  There are plenty of them around, not secured, but patrolling the road outside where they live.  Some of them pass no heed, but some make me nervous, yipping and prancing round me, or even with their general friendly snuffling - the hair on the back of my neck is standing up, and I am literally hiding behind mum.  The owners no doubt will say, "sure he won't go near you" and have a bit of a laugh about it.  Doesn't make me any less nervous though.  Having said that, I do miss living in the coutry and would like to move back there some day.



Geri, sorry to hear this happened to you. Unfortunately dog owners just don't seem to see it from the other side. Or to understand the extent to which being bitten can upset a person in the long term, after the actual injury has cleared up. 

If the dog's owner had attacked and injured a 7 year old himself he would probably have gone to prison. When he lets his dog do the same thing, there are no consequences for him.


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## Bill Struth (15 Jul 2013)

I live in a small isolated estate of about 40 houses in the country. My wife and I can't walk with our one year old near one end of the development because most of the time 5 or 6 dogs will surround us and bark. I swung a boot at one of them once when it got a bit too close to my daughter on her little bicycle for my liking. If you turn away they follow you to your own front door barking at you. One of the owners actually stood and watched her dog charge at me and my daughter one day. The dog warden has promised that he'll visit the estate this wednesday.

I will never own a dog simply because of my experiences in this estate.

And don't start me on the people, my wife would be better off telling people she's a murderer rather than tell them she's from Dublin. "Oh you're a Dub!" as if the place she's from somehow defines her as a person. And if I bring family members to the local pub they ask me why everyone is staring at them. I don't bother going anymore. We've lived there for 6 years now and it doesn't feel one bit like home.

Sick of it and I can't wait to move back to Dublin where people have some respect for their neighbours in my experience, and aren't ignorant and nosey.


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## MarySmyth (15 Jul 2013)

*Country for 120k*

Have friends who are looking to move from apartment in citywest to country- well countryish- near dublin.

Anywhere any good for 120k- as they don't want a mortgage>? They would prefer a bungalow/ cottage as wife is wheelchair bound-


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## Drakon (21 Jul 2013)

I lived on the outskirts of a town 'til I went to college.
Then lived in cities, most recently in an ex-council estate.
Now I live rural about 10 miles from the closest town.

When I lived in an urban environment, many facilities were nearby, e.g. a corner shop and public transport.
I was also close to good pubs and going to a play was a trip on a bus.

However, as I got older I went to the pub less, I stopped going to gigs, I rarely went to plays.

Also, I had a couple of break ins.

Being a terraced house, it was quiet small with a small garden.  Dog faeces was common enough on the footpath, and occasionally human too.  Oh, and the usual litter.

I lived in an ex-council estate for half a dozen years and know the names of the neighbours adjoining the house only.  Overall the people were very insular and self centred.  Community spirit was non existent.
Never once was a conversation cracked up out of the blue with one of the other neighbours.

I've fewer neighbours now, more spread out, know their names and have random conversations.
And no crime.

Privacy and space are huge advantages.  And safety, absence of crime, absence of the threat of crime.

If I run out of milk, I do without.  But this is no change than from when I was a two minute cycle from a shop (which was extended to five minutes due to the need to lock/unlock the bike).  Easier do without and get it when passing.

Will be building a nice sized detached house soon on a few acres.  No more ex-council estate hole for me.

Funnily enough, my broadband is better here in the countryside than it was in the city!



But having said that, five years ago I couldn't have imagined writing this or living this.  A lot of it is down to personal maturity and preferences.


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## Drakon (21 Jul 2013)

Oh yeah, and one other thing, it's difficult to fully enjoy the fantastic weather in a city.  The heat is oppressive in a city and in the suburbs you have to share the neighbours' music.  Or hop in a hot car to escape it.
In the countryside, oh it's sooooooo good.


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## angela59 (25 Jul 2013)

Hi,

I grew up in the middle of town.  Lived in various cities for a while.  There is convenience to living in cities - you don't always need to own a car.  Built a house in the country 23 years ago - town is 3 miles away.  I love living in the country because less noise, more private, space for children/teenagers.  For the moment it suits to live in the country and would not live in town but in another 15/20 years will probably downsize and move back to town for convenience.

Angela59


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