How come everyone on MN is 'rural'?

[managedmis]

I'm not rural

I live on an inner city council estate in the north (I did come here from London though.)

@Girlinterruption2020 errrm think you'll find South London is pretty much rural. There's no bloody tubes! 😂

According to government definitions and my local council area I live in a rural area.

Well, people move around, OP. That’s not that hard to grasp, is it? When I first joined Mn in 2011, I was living in Zone 2 in London, then in 2012 we moved to just outside a village in the Midlands (no visible neighbours, but village grocery and PO about twenty minutes walk on fieldpaths, a 2-hourly bus service Mon-Sat to the nearest city which I used to get to work), then in 2019, we moved countries and lived in a city for about five months, now we’re living somewhere fairly remote with a beach at the end of the lane, the nearest pint of milk a good three miles, and the nearest small supermarket and bus route in a town ten miles away. The nearest mobile signal is half a mile’s walk up a track to a cliff top, or outside the hilltop church in the village.

I'd love to live rural again (population 24, dairy farm area) but couldn't unless my job was 100% remote.

I live in a touristy beach town which I quite like.

@PhoneLock people in the lower super output area - they are a unit of space defined by government. Similar to a civil parish, but more standardised so they can be compared.

Sorry I left the site before seeing your question.

I’m one of those who claims to live rurally.

10 min walk to our village no amenities other than a village run pub which will no doubt die post coronavirus. No buses. Mobile post office stops by for 30 mins a day. No takeaway delivery service.

10 min drive to village with doctor, pharmacy, post office and corner shop.

10 miles from the nearest supermarket, train station, library etc, takeaway (for collection).

But we do get Ocado deliveries (and the rest) have super fast broadband and a couple of neighbours (though thankfully at a suitable distance we rarely see them.) We also have loads of animals and are surrounded by fields etc. As an ex Londoner I class it as rural and love it.

“my job is very niche” is another one.

Surprised me how many people (as well as a friend high up in government) have children with ASD/SEN. And a surprising proportion of people who breastfeed for a long time. Compared to the circles I've ever mixed in. And yes, lots of London.

Agree that certain things seem to stand out more than others based on personal situation and experience. MNers who live in flats or who share walls and fences with neighbours far outnumber those claiming to be rural.

I can't see my nearest neighbour's house from mine, live out of range of delivery for restaurants and groceries, have to drive probably three to five minutes to reach the nearest place with a till (petrol station), and need more like ten minutes to drive to the nearest large grocery store. I'd say I live rurally, but not very rurally.

I see this it's the new thing

'We are rural, no neighbours for over 2 miles. No road to our house just a dirt track'

Suddenly Half of MN resides at the Slaughtered Lamb

“my job is very niche” is another one.

I've just Googled my job title and it's unique so looks like it is very niche

Rural doesn’t have to mean arse end of nowhere. I live in a small village surrounded by agricultural fields. We have a small, mixed-years primary, a church, one pub that most definitely meets the test above (and closes at 10pm too), an infrequent bus service and a mini-shop/post office that opens for 12 hrs a week.

Yet we are 5 miles from a town with a mainline station, less than an hour from central London, and twenty minutes from an airport.

It may come as a surprise to many but Britain is mainly rural, take a look at a map

Yes but not many people live there, that's the point of the thread, there seems to be a disproportionate amount of rural dwellers here, plus those who live in London with their big jobs that can't be done elsewhere of course.

I can describe where we live in anyway I want to. We live on a council estate built surrounding a village just outside the suburbs of a large city but we're also on the edge of greenbelt so all that is behind our house is fields for about three miles plus a couple of farmhouses.

It's pretty good actually, we have a big garden, proper countryside walks from our doorstep plus can walk to the shops, pubs and restaurant in the village (which are a bit crap admittedly). Good access to the motorway, supermarkets, Ikea and big retail parks and a shopping centre all a short drive away.

The only thing I'd improve is for there to be a nice independent restaurant or two in the village instead of a cheap chain pub and an Indian catering for the chicken tikka masala crowd (ideally something Mediterranean and an Indian Street food place) as we generally drive to the city to eat out.

Am I the only one who lives in a shit Northern town then? I don't think we have Uber, we definitely don't have a Waitrose, no Nando's, not even a Frankie & Benny's.
We don't have any museums

I'm 25 miles from a Scottish city, 7 miles from a town , in a small village of about 50 houses. Very small single track roads all around. 3 miles to nearest shop. Feels rural to me but no idea if it's actually classed as rural.

What's the MN definition of rural .?

• What is "rural"?

Can someone explain?*

Try a dictionary? It just means 'in, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town.'

I’m not, commuter town in Surrey

And yes, lots of London

London does have lots of people living in it though.

I think we pass the rural test. 20 mile round trip to the supermarket.and no takeaway deliveries available. There is a village shop within walking distance and we have a telephone and electric lights, most of the time.

I am a rural person who no longer lives rurally.

We are on the last street before fields in our current town.
Where I grew up as a cluster of about 10 houses (farm cottages) with the next nearest house a mile away and the village another mile beyond that.

There are plenty of people (in comets? In that village who are living rurally but are not rural people - they don't get involved in village life and have no idea how the countryside works.

Depends on your definition I suppose. I live in a housing estate in a village in the North West. If you go in one direction you end up in a very urban area. Go in the other and there are farms/woods. I wouldn't consider myself rural but I suppose other people in the village would.

Try a dictionary? It just means 'in, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town.'*

That's not really what I am asking..

There are accepted definitions of what constitutes a hamlet/village/town/city depending on facilities, shops, a University etc.
I wondere if there were similar descriptors for "rural" living.

In any case I found it- there are indeed government classifications, and I am officially "rural".

I thought everyone was either in a suburban semi or in a private school enclave in London with a high earner for a DH.
(We live in a Victorian terrace in a small city in a rural county, in The North)

The 10,000 per settlement for rural is a current definition from DEFRA link as below. Scotland has a 3,000 definition.

I live in a small town but we do have a woods near us and farmers fields. Lots of building work going on though and many greenfield sites are being built on so the tiny bit of rural we did have will be gone soon. I'm a mile from the town and would rather be closer to be honest.
I couldn't cope with 'proper ' rural at all!