When I finished with my bachelor's degree in psychology, I worked in a cooperative credit union for about 6 months while I attempted to figure out what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life (I have not figured it out yet, honestly), then I chose to go to grad school and get a job in Cincinnati. I relocated to the city over Independence Day weekend in 2014. Ever since, I lived in 2 different communities within the city limitations. One was two miles outside of downtown in a fashionable house constructing a brief walk from an incredible park, and the other was 7 miles from downtown in a highly desirable community in a house where I might hear my upstairs next-door neighbor sneeze (among other, less innocent things * shudder *). I moved to a suburban area right outside the city limitations, in a house complex right on the bike trail where I could ride into town to grab a beer or an ice cream cone.
In fall of 2017, my partner and I purchased our first home in my small home town-- a 50 minute drive to three major cities (select which instructions you remain in the state of mind to drive: north, south, or west), but certainly a rural location. The high school I went to was literally surrounded on all sides by cornfields. We live "in town" now, however that isn't stating much. There are also cornfields in the area.
THE PROS
One of my best good friends lives a block away, and there is an amazing homemade difficult cider location that's run out of the basement of a household house, and there are a few fantastic regional stores and dining establishments. There were also a lot of tradeoffs involved with choosing to move out of the city.
I'm going to start with the pros list, the fantastic things about where we live and why we selected to move here. When I lived in the city in an extremely popular area, every time I strolled my pet I would look up the information on any house I would see with a for sale indication out front. That's a substantial cost savings from a home mortgage in the city, and is substantially lower than our lease in the city or suburban areas.
Another pro is that we live closer to household. We live in the very same town as my parents, and are a brief drive from my grandparents and in-laws. We have much more outside area than we could have gotten in the city on our budget plan, consisting of a big, fenced-in backyard.
Creekin'
I grew up going "creekin,'" capturing amphibians, riding 4 wheelers, and having the day of rest school for the first day of hunting season. It was an actually terrific youth.
THE CONS
There is definitely a cost to leaving here, too. For beginners, it feels like everyone knows everyone else! And in some cases I simply wish to go to the grocery shop in my sweats for white wine and cookie dough and not face among my previous instructors or good friends' moms and dads, ya understand ?? Bear with me as I go through these cons; I'm their explanation not attempting to grumble (much), however the truth is that there is a lot to consider when thinking of moving from a city you like to a lower cost of living area in order to conserve loan.
Maybe among the most obvious downfalls of residing in a small, rural, low cost of living area is that it's far away from things. A lot of my good friends reside in or closer to the city, and it requires more planning and driving in order to see them. It's likewise further from home entertainment; there is a little selection of good dining establishments nearby. When I was in the city I might walk to many locations and drive to a practically endless list of dining establishments and bars. Cincinnati is a very foodie-friendly city with a fantastic brewery scene. I have actually said this prior to and I'll say it permanently: food is life. Places in my village likewise close earlier. Now, I'm very little of a party animal any longer, but if I wish to be out behind 11 p.m. there is truly just one choice here. And it's great, however sometimes I desire to be out at a bar where I'm not visiting any of my former instructors, friends' moms and dads, or anybody I went to high school with. Uber and Lyft aren't a thing here when it comes to getting home safely. You need to discover a good old fashioned designated motorist, or walk. (Once, my buddy who lives a block away and I got a bit toasted at the regional white wine shop and walked two miles to get to the difficult cider location. Thankfully we found a buddy from high school there with his parents, who provided us a flight back. Pros and cons of knowing people everywhere you go.) When I lived in the city, an Uber would be available to pick me up within minutes any time of day, and it was a cheap flight anywhere, usually under $10.
Another obstacle of living in this location is that close-by job potential customers are slim. I currently work for the only major psychological health company in the county. I actually work one county over (my business is in 2 counties) and have a thirty minutes commute. If I were to get a different task in my field, I would have to drive to among the significant cities, at least about 40 minutes each method. I'm used to these sort of drives, as I commuted 45 minutes to school throughout undergrad, but it does take a great deal of gas and time in the car. There are less resources all around in my town. When I lived in the city, there were MANY options for why not try these out mental health tasks, as well as other resources including several grocery options, yoga studios, pet stores, and so on. And not to sound too petty here, but the supermarket in my town does not sell the great brand name of goat cheese that I like, and I need to drive 30 minutes to the closest Kroger that does. THE HUMANKIND!
I liked living in a city filled with diversity and with a range of social and political views. There is a church on every corner, on your way into town no matter which path you take, and pretty much a stone's toss from any place you might take place to be standing in town. We went to a fantastic church in the city that I enjoyed, and finding something that compares is important to me however it's something I'm still browsing for.
So, while I like my home and there are a great deal of things I love about my town, I do miss residing in the city. I do not see myself living in this town forever, and today returning to the city remains in the medium-term plan. For now, small town and low cost of living life is affording us the ability to pay off our trainee financial obligation more rapidly in order to get there. If you have actually made a comparable relocation or have actually ever believed about it, let me know.