When I finished with my bachelor's degree in psychology, I worked in a credit union for about 6 months while I tried to find out what I really desired to finish with the rest of my life (I have not figured it out yet, truthfully), then I decided to go to grad school and get a job in Cincinnati. I transferred to the city over Independence Day weekend in 2014. Ever since, I lived in two various communities within the city limitations. One was two miles outside of downtown in a trendy apartment developing a brief walk from an incredible park, and the other was seven miles from downtown in a highly desirable community in an apartment where I might hear my upstairs neighbor sneeze (to name a few, less innocent things * shudder *). Then I relocated to a suburb right outside the city limitations, in an apartment building right on the bike trail where I could ride into town to grab an ice or a beer cream cone.
In autumn of 2017, my other half and I bought our first house in my little home town-- a 50 minute drive to three major cities (pick which instructions you're in the state of mind to drive: north, south, or west), however certainly a rural area. The high school I went to was actually surrounded on all sides by cornfields. We live "in the area" now, but that isn't stating much. There are also cornfields in town.
THE PROS
I love our home. I love our lawn. One of my best friends lives a block away, and there is an incredible homemade hard cider location that's run out of the basement of a household home, and there are a couple of fantastic regional stores and restaurants. There are a great deal of positives about where we live now. There were also a great deal of tradeoffs included with choosing to vacate 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 community, every time I strolled my pet dog I would look up the information on any home I would see with a for sale sign out front. That's a huge cost savings from a home loan in the city, and is significantly lower than our lease in the city or residential areas.
Another pro is that we live closer to family. We live in the very same town as my parents, and are a short drive from my in-laws and grandparents. We have much more outdoor area than we might have gotten in the city on our budget, including a big, fenced-in yard.
Creekin'
I grew up going "creekin,'" catching amphibians, riding 4 wheelers, and having the day of rest school for the very first day of open season. It was an actually great childhood.
THE CONS
There is absolutely an expense to moving out here, too. For beginners, it feels like everyone understands everyone else! And in some cases I simply want to go to the supermarket in my sweats for white wine and cookie dough and not encounter among my previous instructors or good friends' moms and dads, ya know ?? Bear with me as I go through these cons; I'm not trying to complain (much), but the reality is that there is a lot to consider when considering moving from a city you love to a lower cost of living location in order to save cash.
Many of my buddies live in or closer to the city, and it needs more planning and driving in order to see them. When I was in the city I could stroll to lots of locations and drive to an essentially unlimited list of bars and dining establishments. When I lived in the city, an Uber would be available to select me up within minutes any time of day, and it was a low-cost flight anywhere, typically under $10.
Another challenge of living in this location is that neighboring task potential customers are slim. I presently work for the only major mental health supplier in the county. I official site really work one county over (my company remains in two counties) and have a 30 minute commute. If I were to get a various job in my field, I would need to drive to one of 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 vehicle. There are less resources all around in my town. When I lived in the city, there were MANY options for psychological health tasks, in addition to other resources consisting of several grocery choices, yoga studios, family pet stores, etc. And not to sound too minor here, but the supermarket in my town does not offer the good brand name of goat cheese that I like, and I need to drive 30 minutes to the closest Kroger that does. THE HUMANITY!
The individuals here, while I enjoy them, are extremely of one political persuasion. I enjoyed residing in a city filled with variety and with a variety of social and political views. Let's simply state that the dominating political views in my town are not always viewpoints that I normally concur with. Something this town isn't doing not have in though: churches. There is a church on every corner, on your way into town no matter which route you take, and basically a stone's throw from any location you may occur to be standing in town. And they practically all hold similar views, objectives, worths, and so on. The one church that differs in terms of social worths is the Quake church and great post to read there is really a good Quake population here (the regional college is Quaker). I have actually grown out of the church I grew up in, and discovering another close by that lines up with my own worths and beliefs has shown to be a difficulty. We went to a wonderful church in the city that I enjoyed, and finding something that compares is essential to me but it's something I'm still looking for.
While I like my home and there are a lot of things I love about my town, I do miss living in the city. I do not see myself residing in this town forever, and right now returning to the city remains in the medium-term strategy. For now, small town and low cost of living life is managing us the capability to pay off our student debt more quickly in order to get there. Let me understand if you have actually made a comparable relocation or have actually ever considered it.