Downsides of rural living?

[Staffielove23]

Another thread in AIBU got me thinking about the downsides of rural living. Dependence of a car, farm smells and traffic.. anyone else?

I'm not sure what kind of septic tanks people have lived with to find them problematic? On a day to day basis I don't notice any difference to mains sewerage, and a properly functioning septic tank looks after itself really. We just have to remember to get it emptied every couple of years. Yes, you do have to be a bit more selective over what cleaning products you use I suppose, but other than that, it makes no significant difference as the things you shouldn't flush into a septic tank shouldn't be going into mains sewers either really. It's just that you'll get the problems yourself if you don't watch what you flush into your septic tank, rather than contributing to a blockage somewhere in the public sewer system, which does focus the mind somewhat. We have had one problem in 25 years which turned out to be due to a family member who visited us and was flushing baby wipes down the toilet for a week. But honestly, if you came to my house you would have no idea that the sewerage arrangements were any different to anyone else's.

I have friends who are looking to do a big final (retirement move)"somewhere like cornwall" and I just look at them in horror when they talk of it - they've not thought it through at all.

As mentioned by others up thread - the isolation, poor mobile signal, crap bus service (when you are no longer able to drive), the tourist traffic, and all thd rest .... no thanks!

I'd much rather somewhere like the City of London - good transport links, free museums, coffee shops, theatres, hospitals, family, and quiet during the weekend.

Massive housing estates being built on fields you used to walk through.

Other than that, not much. But we have decent public transport where I am (which is only semi-rural really), and a good community.

we are rural - hamlet of around 80 houses, corner shop 1 miles walk up the canal and back lane route prob about 1.5 to 1.7 miles via rd. Pub about the same.

Nearest supermarket around 7 miles, large town Hospital and A&E 7miles and major city hospital around 20 minutes up an A road less if ambulance flying, well served by heli-ambulance though as nr to M way with lots of accidents (daily heli trips)

Buses we have a call up service not many use it though as its not locally well publicised, trains oh we do have a main line station but limited train stops BUT poss to commute Brum or London within around 1hr 15 of London. Still has free parking too.

If you cycle it puts pretty much everything in reach, not too hilly but a bit.

Entertainment wise - hmm teens not great but with train links can get to all local towns and back at pub closing, or to the station one stop down that has a taxi rank, this gives access to National theatres, clubs, and other such delights. We do have a few local village halls and ents vary from latest films in rural cinema, local performers, comedians and folk groups, skittles/bowling evening's with chipper vans visiting and so on - so my thoughts are if it is an established community you will find things but alot is up to you to organise.

Main issue at the moment is the train strike has killed all trains at all on the line for pretty much a whole month!! So DD who goes to college approx 30 min drive away has been back on lockdown facilities and working on line - college has to be fair been great about this. Roll on her passing her test. Although she reckons she is off to London for Uni so that could be a bit of a culture shock!

We like friendly neighbours, small village, good dog walking, lovely scenery and also how connected it is - we are also only 20 mins from an international airport as well

Downside, traffic or farm traffic isn't that bad, nor are horses or bike peletons really - although a bit of a pain as we get alot. Townie twats that don't follow the country code or dump waste or donut etc, being on a rd that offers easy escape routes for car thefts and burglaries (Outings from local large towns and cities by burglars and such). Lack of food deliveries from Takeaways, muddy lanes and rds from people that don't know how to use passing places and churn up all the sides causing massive potholes etc

Not easy in a major city either IME!

We live in a quiet rural hamlet, and 95% of the time it's fab. Downsides are winter flooding especially the smaller access roads; year round muddy roads due to farm traffic; speeding gangs of male cyclists nearly running you over daily. And the latest plague is all the people who got a dog during lockdown, didn't socialise/train them and that are now are terrorising everyone elses dogs

Plus sides far outweigh all of these.

Mud mud mud, October to April.

In our village it's very dark and in sections there are no pavements so in winter it's hard to get out and walk the dog or go for a run after work when it's dark. Surrounded by space but it's too dark and therefore dangerous to use it (the opposite is true the rest of the year which makes up for it).

Yes to boring for teens/reliance on car/no food delivery.

You have to be very organised at not running out of things like milk and bread as it's a schlep to the shop to get them

Also cost of taxis to get back from nights out.

I know you mean cars, but cats made me laugh. I'm now picturing cats in harness pulling a carriage. 😂I guess it gets round the not being able to drive a car problem.

I love the countryside for loads of reasons but there are downsides:

Phone reception generally seems worse but to balance that out, the broadband speed can be better rurally than because it’s recently been done up

No reliable public transport which is awful for so many people and is a total scandal, it’s also really overpriced when it does run

Frequent problems with car tyres because local government have no money to mend roads-

General lack of public social services and amenities- the Tories cut the funding to local authorities massively since 2010, so that’s really affecting everything including social care- very worrying if you move to a rural place to retire, or if you might need things like food banks or warm banks. Those are all in towns.

Walking and cycling or just not driving can be surprisingly difficult to do rurally despite the beautiful views and fields all around. The winding roads have no lighting or pavements so you have to keep to the few public footpaths to be safe. Footpaths may be rough or wet and be unsuited to bikes, kids scooters, wheelchairs, baby buggies and so on. Hard if you’re not 100% able bodied.

People can be community-minded in the countryside and the city so I’m not sure that’s all that different in my experience.

Reliance on cats is definitely a plus thing! I love cats

Alcoholism, drugs, depression in teens and adults.

(Grew up in the country)

I don’t consider any of these things to
be downsides!

It depends what you like surely. And with so much being online it really is different to the “old days”. The people next door are in their 80’s, get everything delivered and whilst they can still drive they actually don’t really need to leave the village very often.

I like rural smells, noise, roads. Detest absolutely everything about towns and cities. Especially the people and “stuff” but
that because I don’t value the things cities have.

Oops 🤣You mean none of you are so rural that you don’t have cars but have to use cats instead? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Mud, boredom, more mud, more boredom. Roads an effing nightmare, especially in the winter - think no lighting, unmaintained surfaces, mud and ice, winding routes, heavy farm traffic, wear and tear on your tyres. Oh and did I mention the mud? As a poster upthread said, the upside to all this is being more connected to nature, the passing seasons, seeing the wide skyscapes and the beautiful countryside in the Spring. The awesome silence, and the peace that comes with that. You feel more immersed in nature, at every point in the year - it's right there, on your doorstep. It can be very cold in the winter, and you feel the dark more somehow (especially when you get a power cut, of which there are many.)

It's perfectly possible to enjoy living rurally and think it has downsides? I'm not sure why some posters on this really good-natured thread are confused by that...

I live very rurally, used to live in a big global city (not London but similar). The only downsides I can see are not being able to just go to the shops and get what you need (like you would in London). But with Prime, can now still get most things pretty quickly.

And similarly, lack of diversity in food/food shops. I work in London (long commute) and I love being able to eat all sorts of things, go shopping at my favourite Korean or Indian grocery, etc. I nearly fell over when I saw a cafe near our very rural village was serving bubble tea. Mostly, it's bacon baps and tea/scones out here and rubbish bland takeaways.

And the mud. At the moment. So much mud.

I do love it though and I'm always so happy to get back on the train to come home.

Living amongst people who want to murder local wildlife for fun, when you are there for love of that wildlife! When the local hunt went onto local wildlife Trust land without any hesitation or shame, that kind of thing.

Sheep traffic. Far too often I find myself on a road blocked by sheep

Oh, and muck spreading aromas when the wind is in a specific direction and then no takeaways comes next.

But power cuts, mud, farm traffic etc I can cope with.

🤣

One of my neighbours had the hunt dogs chase a deer into her garden and kill it in front of her. Not the dogs' fault, but the hunters are so arrogant and entitled that they think that everyone should put up with this kind of thing.

I live in a tiny village in an agricultural area.
No shop, no buses. Mud. Rats.
Smells are fine, they are transient.
There is a market town 5 miles away so not hugely isolated, and a city 20 miles away.
DC were born and grew up here.
While there are disadvantages in that you have to drive them everywhere there are also benefits. If they are going to friends then you drop them there.
Online socialising has probably revolutionised country living compared to posters who grew up in the 80s /90s.
I've lived here 40 years but I want to move now before I am too old. I want to move somewhere with a shop and public transport but I still need to be able to walk to fields.

I adore living rurally and would never want to live anywhere else. But it does have downsides!

It's probably already been mentioned but mud. I have two hairy dogs that need hosing after every single walk at this time of year. I wish that we had a nearby pavement so I could occasionally take them for a walk and know they would come back clean!

Adding to that, we live on a national speed limit road and some people try to drive that fast, despite the fact it is a single track road, lots of heavy machinery and often loose livestock. We do have lots of lovely footpaths but I feel like I'm risking my life getting to them.

We have no gas supply so have an oil tank. Which invariably I forget to order and then we have no heating/hot water for a week.
We also have a septic tank which again needs emptying and maintenance etc..

But.... I love it in the summer, it's idyllic and then I enjoy walking the dogs because it's off the beaten path so not many other people around :) When we move we will stay out in the country.