I grew up in a small university town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Now I live in a suburb of Baltimore.
I love my hometown, but find that city living is good too. It is a lot different though. At home, things close down fairly early, and if it were not for the University, there would not be much "culture" or entertainment outside of movies.
In Baltimore, there is always something to do or see or enjoy. City living comes with a price though: traffic, crowds, and crime.

I grew up in a suburb of a major city and have throughout the years moved closer and closer to cities. I never lived anywhere rural and there's something really unsettling about being where no one else is. You know how in space no one can hear you scream? That's what I think about the rural places I see on my drive through the country to visit relatives. I couldn't be anywhere that didn't have people around all the time. I enjoy walking through the city, taking public transportation, and enjoying the activity of being near urban areas. There's something I find enchanting about the collective urban experience.

I live a 30 minute drive to SF on a GOOD DAY OF TRAFFIC meaning I would need to leave my home before 10:00 am during the weekends and before 6:00 am during the week. Otherwise, it's 1-1/2 hour drive due to traffic.
I really miss SF because of it's accessibility to everything and most everything is within walking distance but I do not miss the filth in some parts of town nor the traffic.
Can I please have my cake and eat it too! :o)

I grew up in Portland, Oregon, by Mt. Tabor (to be honest, never even knew it was there until I was an adult and it was only a mile away!) and moved to Pearl City, Hawaii when I was seven. In both places, it was suburbia. Big cities don't impress me, nor do totally rural places (except to get away). Thanks to circumstances, I live in Honolulu in the apartment jungle. I'd like a medium sized town, thank you, close to the outdoors, not too far from the city.

I just noticed the rubber ducky in the water tub! Reminds me of friends in Pennsylvania who own a hobby farm.

Sure you can. Live in SF, take public transportation, and never ever ever go into the Tenderloin district.

I grew up in a suburb of LA, and have lived all over the West Coast. Now I am in Napa and it is too rural for my blood, but is a perfect suburb to raise my little family. My heart will always be in SF!! Sigh. City living!! I miss walking, my third floor walk up and public transportation!!

I grew up 35 minutes outside of St Louis. Not a suburb, a very old town in Illinois with great houses and history. I was always a hop skip and a jump from being in the sticks. I can honestly say I grew up rural, suburban, and city all at the same time. I'd spend weekends at my grandparents who lived in the middle of nowhere, or our family cabin which is a river cabin in the middle of nowhere where I'd fish etc. Or spend a weekend in St Louis going to the museum (and funner stuff when I got to be a teenager, heh)

I live in the city of St Louis now, and while I love the convenience of my life (very short commute to work, walkability, stuff to do all the time and on demand), I still run out to the quiet of the middle of nowhere quite often. I have been groomed to live in both and I can't commit to either.

The only thing I could never, ever do is move to a legitimate suburb. New houses and strip malls make me insane.

When I was a teenager I thought I wanted to live in a city--Minneapolis or SF. I don't think I would have made it a week.

My hometown was rural, WAS. It slowly became suburbia and I slowly started to hate it. I moved to a tiny town where the nearest stop light is more than thirty miles away. I'm pretty sure cattle outnumber people in our county (which has fewer people than my hometown has now).

I grew up in a part of rural Michigan (lower peninsula), which isn't nearly as beautiful as the area pictured by the author. There isn't much to miss, flat ugly land, pre-fab houses on treeless lots, and lots of narrow minded people with advanced weaponry stashed away in their homes. I got out of that hole as soon as I could and moved to NYC. It's a huge improvement, but if I could move to a more beautiful rural area that isn't populated by NRA types then I'd be tempted.

I want it all! I like both urban and rural.

Growing up my childhood home in the suburbs was located in a place where a 30 minute drive north and we'd be in downtown San Francisco, or a 30 minute drive west and we'd be at a vegetable stand at a coastal farm. Now, those same drives take closer to 1 hour due to traffic.

I grew up in the country, living off the land. As an adult I've lived in two cities and have really enjoyed and embraced urban life too. They both have their unique appeal. My hubs and I have an interesting dichotomy currently- we live in the heart of a city and farm outside the city in the summer. We can't wait to be able to move to the country and live there year-round. For me, the key to happy country living is having like-minded friends and being close enough to a city to see a good show and eat out at a great place once and a while.

I lived rurally as a child in New England, and then in the suburbs of DC as a teen. My mom was a city kid, and as we'd drive through Georgetown, I dreamed of being a city-dweller as an adult, and had no nostalgia for the earlier rural life. Did that a couple of years in my 20s, and then moved back to the suburbs for the schools when kids entered the picture. Now? I love the idea of artsy small towns in the midst of rural areas, but yet I don't think I'd like living more than an hour away from the conveniences of a major metro area.

I can relate to Pi's comment about feeling very unsettled in rural areas. I was born and raised in Brooklyn and I can't imagine living in suburbia let alone a rural area. I love the convenience of having stores, bars and restaurants open late and within walking distance along with 24/7 public transportation (I don't have a driver's license); not to mention the cultural opportunities available. These are amenities that I would never be able to give up. It's funny because when I visit my father, who lives in a suburb of St. Louis, MO, I can't sleep because of the sound of the insects at night - it is ridiculous how loud they can be!!! I'll take ambulance sirens and rowdy drunks leaving the bars late at night over those insects any day of the week!!

I grew up in an inner suburb, and now live on 16 acres about 60 miles from what I would call a big city. Coincidentally my parents moved out of the suburbs and into small town life about the same time I did. If I told the 16 year old version of myself where I would end up living a dozen years later she would have laughed at me, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I appreciate my trips into the big city, especially when I get to stock up on groceries at the ethnic markets, which was a weekly occurrence growing up. But nothing can replace the walk down my 1/4 mile driveway to get the mail with my dogs, the view of the stars on a clear night and the trips into the hardware store on a Saturday to really enjoy the small town feel and country living

I think I'm urbal.

I grew up in NYC (Manhattan). I went away to college in Washington State in a super small town. I felt very "stuck" there, especially since I didn't have a car. I felt less independent than when I lived in my city. I am now back in NYC for 6 years now and would never cheat on it again! I love my box sized apartment, my dog friendly neighborhood, getting my laundry picked-up and delivered back folded, and being able to get Thai food at 2am! I especially excited to raise my kids here when that time comes!

Rural will always be in my blood. I live close to a small hip town, which is lovely. Coffee shops, stores, places to make friends and spend some time café writing. But that connection to the lakes and forests and even some farmland is vital. I even love shoveling snow and cleaning horse stalls.

Grew up in a tiny obscure town in NH, by the way. Had farming neighbors and a downtown but never very far from the woods.

Hi Pi...I was born and raised in SF so I understand your comment about the Tenderloin..Ha! ha! Move out only because I was able to afford a place in the 'east' bay when real estate dumped. BART is my new best friend. ...You gave me a chuckle...

I grew up in the suburbs of Tacoma, with its own school district and all that but never warmed up to Tacoma in general as its downtown was dead, with all the major department stores fleeing to the suburban mall where they still reside to this day.

And having visited Seatle as a kid, I've longed to live there, and moved to it in 1994, then back in '96 and with the exceptfioni of 1.5 years between 2002-2003, I've lived here ever since and love it.

That is how I got my handle, :-)

Anyway, would not want to live in a city smaller thsn Seattle, but somewhere where I have the option of walking to places, such as the grocery store and can take the bus and not have to rely on my car so much for daily short trips.

Don't get me wrong, I love to go visit the rural areas, visit friends who live in suburbia, but living there, not so much. Give me Seattle's Capitol Hill anyday. :-)

I grew up in rural Denmark, where we walked to the neighbor with buckets to get milk fresh from the milk container. Vegetables we grew in the garden, fruits in the orchard and fish we caught in the sea (2 miles away) or the nearby lake. Sometimes my dad hunted game, but usually we bought half an ox or a sheep from a local farmer. We collected berries and edible fungi when in season. I learned to swim in the ocean and played almost every day in the forest (my parents live in a Danish National Park). The nearest town was 7 miles away, my school 10. Now I live in Hamburg (2nd largest city in Germany), where I study. I take the subway every day and don't see much forest or other unspoiled nature. Actually I love the city, but nothing beats the fresh air or clean spring water back home.

i'm a city girl, all the way. grew up in small town new england, moved to oregon when i was an adolescent and began ping-ponging back and forth from east to west coast for many years. now i'm 31 years old, hate the rain and snow and i've never learned how to drive so.... the idea of living anywhere but SF right now is out of the question!

Grew up in a medium town in MA, now I live in NYC. While I love the public transportation and things being open 24/7, I really miss being surrounded by green, seeing the stars at night, and the silence that comes when you can't hear any cars whooshing by.

I've lived in an exurb of DC (I grew up in Woodbridge), two large cities (DC and Bogota), a college town (Chapel Hill) and one remote and smallish city (Sarajevo). I'd have to say my favorite places are Chapel Hill and DC, because there are loads of cultural offerings, restaurants and walk able areas. I hated growing up in Woodbridge - you couldn't go anywhere without a car, the traffic was awful and it just felt remote. So file me as a city or college town person.

It has always been 50-50 struggle with me. Grew up in Milwaukee, so big/little city. Spent summers in Northern Wisconsin. Lived 3 years in Las Vegas and 5 in LA. LOVE LA I do. But if the I could order the cake that I could eat it would be a farm with a mass of land and a bunch of critters exactly 1/2 hour from NYC. I think I would pine for solitude in a big city and crawl the walls missing diversity in the country. Sigh. Right now I am back in Milwaukee.

I grew up in the suburbs of a major city, and hated it. I always felt so much more at home on my Grandparents' farm. Instead of staying in a metropolitan area, when I went to college I picked a large school in a smaller town that was about an hour away from any larger cities. I was sad when I graduated and had to move away, but I eventually moved back, and have since settled in an even smaller town (around 900 people, total) about 20 miles away.
I've visited places like Portland, OR., and Chicago, and spent a year in midtown Kansas City, and while those cities are all very different and there are things I liked about each of them, I don't think I could ever feel settled there. They almost make me feel claustrophobic. Even the college town I commute to for work is getting to feel a bit too big, and my favorite part of the day is leaving all the traffic behind on my way home.
Sometimes I think it might be nice to live somewhere with a grocery store other than the town gas station, but then again here I can buy a lot of my groceries directly from the farmers so I call that a win.

Grew up in the Southern suburbs, then moved to a smaller town in Arizona for awhile. It was kind of perfect: big enough to have all of the conveniences that I wanted (nice food stores, decent shopping), but small enough that our neighbors had a horse and "rush hour" meant that you had to wait through TWO signals. Also, it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Now I've moved to suburban DC for work, and am a little depressed. I miss the West, but am trying to find a place here that can simulate what I had there. It might be hopeless.

I grew up an hour's drive away from chicago, so I had the comfort of small town life, but with the benefit and proximity to big city life nearby. I loved it. So much so, that now I live exactly one block away from where I grew up. If I'm sitting in my living room in just the right position I can see my parent's front porch through the gap between houses.

My childhood and up until I was 17 I lived in San Diego...then we moved outside of a rural north Idaho town that didn't even have a stoplight. I hated it. Now I live in the middle...and still kind of hate it. I yearn for my own garden and chickens and green hedged privacy, but shopping on a whim or catching a movie last minute is too fun, despite the folks who cannot drive. I can't seem to find middle ground.

We moved a lot - city, suburbs, small towns, but mostly in the midwest, and near lakes from small to Great. I'm definitely a country girl now. I need to hear birds singing, not traffic noise. I like occasional sightings of beaver, otters, coyotes and fisher cats. I like to walk to the post office and the library etc. And I need to be near the sea.

On the other hand, I love going into the city (Boston) for the day. And I am lucky enough to have a second home in a small city on the English coast, not far from London, so I feel like I have a little of everything.

I guess I'm rurban.

I grew up in a very tiny community in Southern Minnesota. I ventured out after High School and loved living in a bigger city. By circumstance, I ended up back in the small town I grew up in where I currently reside. The town has more cattle than humans, only a Dairy Queen and a small pizza joint to eat at, small minded citizens and a night life that consists of drinking all night at the local bar while gossiping about anyone who is not currently sitting next to you. So, needless to say, my social life is in the dumps! There is a grocery store but it only has the basic necessities and if you want service you have to ring a cow bell. I am in hell here!! Hell I tell you!! I want out badly! I'd love to jump ship but my fiance has dug his heels in and wants to remain living here (where he's lived his entire 38 years). It is time for a change. So I either have to figure out how to embrace small town living or convince my fiance that it's time to pack it up and head for the city! I vote for the latter!

I grew up in the suburbs of NYC and lived in Philly for 7 years for college/law school. Now I'm back living in the suburbs and am itching to get back to a city. I hate driving everywhere in the suburbs and the lack of nightlife and lack of diversity! Blegh!

I grew up in NYC and could not imagine living in a rural area. I've lived in far out suburbs of Maryland and Virginia where I had to drive everywhere because there were no sidewalks and nothing was within walking distance - hated it!! Now I live just outside DC where everything is within walking or bus/subway distance, I have no car and this suits me just fine. I don't think I could live in NYC again -funny- but I will never ever live in another place where I am dependent upon a car to get around. I am definitely an urban person.

Grew up in rural MN, dreamt of living in Minneapolis.

Lived in Minneapolis for a few years, moved to Anchorage, Alaska (for a guy), when I was craving to go to a bigger city (say, Chicago).

Live in Anchorage, Alaska. Took me awhile to adjust, but I love it. Easy, peasy access to the outdoors, great local culture, and my quality of life is fantastic.

I dream of living in quiet, Southeast Alaska, maybe on my own island. I daydream and crave isolation - I think Alaska can do that to some people.

I think the only places I would dread to live would be the ever-expanding, growing suburia filled with chain stores and restaurants, looking like Anytown, USA.

If a place has its own unique vibe, be it urban or rural, I can dig it.

Spent my formative youth between a few Southeastern college towns (Charlottesville, Chapel Hill), really dug them. I wouldn't really call them rural, but they weren't overly cookie cutter suburban either. Moved to Portland, Oregon for undergraduate, and absolutely *loved* it -- I could easily bike everywhere, there was amazing beer, lots of really cool music, everyone was amazingly nice. Moved to NYC for graduate school and I'm not really a fan -- can't afford the rent, takes forever to get anywhere interesting like Williamsburg or Bed-Stuy or Crown Heights on public transit, people on average tend to be way grumpier than elsewhere, its hard to get good produce. I guess I'm a medium-sized city type? I think it is more complex than a simple rural/urban breakdown.

Raised in Baltimore suburbs. Moved to Baltimore city when I turned an adult. Fled to rural PA and will never go back. I do miss conveniences. 24 mile round trip to get a decent pizza! But nothing like the quiet and not fearing for your life.

HA, @travislessness! I'm urbal, too... grew up in Montana (the farms in my hometown look exactly like the first photo) and now live in LA. When I'm in the city, I miss the pace, air and peace of the country. When I'm in the country, I miss the conveniences and culture of the city.

I grew up in central NJ, in the suburbs of NYC. A generation or two before I was born, it was much more rural but suburban sprawl has changed that. My dad's family has lived in the area since the late 1600s and farming runs deep in our blood. My dad's cousin and his son still run a farm and a farm stand in my hometown, managing to put together a patchwork of fields from what's left of the family farm, rented fields and protected green spaces owned by the township. I have an uncle who is a full time farmer (in PA, not NJ) and his son bought a farm in the area where he grew up and is a part time farmer (in addition to a full time job as an engineer). My other first cousin and his wife on that side also bought a house with a small plot of land and plan to grow as much of their own food as possible.

Me? I live in a tiny studio in Brooklyn and couldn't be happier. I love having a CSA or going to the farmer's market and letting someone else do the work for me, thanks. I can't even keep an herb alive and love the convenience of the city. I'm definitely the black sheep in that respect. I don't even really like nature occasionally. It's nice to look at, I guess, but I'd much rather spend time outside on a city street than hiking in a forest.

After growing up in and around Indianapolis and Dallas and generally being used to urban and suburban life, I moved on a whim to Montana a few years back and discovered I had a serious yen for mountains, space and small town life. After a five year stint back in Dallas because of life being, well, life, I managed to get myself back to the Big Sky and am determined never to leave again. I've found that while the hustle and bustle and culture available in big cities is appealing and fun, rural life with plenty of space and natural beauty is the right choice for me. :)

I grew up in the suburbs of West Chester, PA and a small town in the Adirondack Mountains. I disliked both for different reasons.

I couldn't stand the car dependency of the burbs. I would read books about kids who could go to the store by themselves and wondered why I couldn't do the same. My neighborhood seemed so boring! When we moved to the small tourist town, I loved the walkability with its restaurants and boutiques but hated the homogeneity and geographic isolation. The Adirondacks are a lot like Canada (brutal winters, maple syrup, moose, and lumberjacks), only with Republicans. It was still more tolerable than the suburbs, though, just because I could WALK. I even walked to school in twenty below.

Today I live in the mid-sized city of Rochester, NY and couldn't love it more. We're experiencing a lot of urban revitalization right now and I love being part of it. I have art, culture, farmer's markets, parks, and independent coffeehouses all within walking and biking distance. I love the vintage architecture and unique character of each neighborhood. Much as I adore the city, I wouldn't mind living in a small suburban town like the Villages of Pittsford and Fairport, as well as Clinton in the Utica area, since they share a lot of urban advantages like walkability and historical character. But I refuse to ever live in the land of housing developments and big box stores ever again. I would go mad. I hate suburban sprawl with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.

So, in short, as long as it's walkable, I can adapt. In that sense, you could say I am very urban.

new yorker. period. every other city in the u.s. feels like a suburb with skyscrapers downtown.

I consider myself a New Yorker too insofar as I live in a New York city.

I grew up in a rather snobby suburb of Milwaukee, spent my college years in middle-of-nowhere WI, and have now been living in the Twin Cities for the past 5 years (a few years in Minneapolis, now in St Paul) so I've pretty much run the gamut.

While I have never lived in the middle of either downtown (what can I say, I like having reasonably accessible parking) I love being *near* downtown. The suburbs are far to dominated by chain stores and restaurants for my liking. While I;m not big into the crazy nightlife I really do love being near a wide selection of unique, independent shops and restaurants. I have friends who are now leaving for the suburbs so they can get BIG family homes but I'd much rather have a smaller place in a quieter section of the city.

As far as rural life goes... so not for me. I greatly enjoy the occasional long weekend with friends who still live in central WI but I wouldn't want to permanently live there myself. Hunting/fishing/camping are not enjoyable pastimes for me (and were the primary forms of entertainment for most people during my college years) and my love of interesting food cannot be fully satisfied by a town who's only source for groceries is a general store (although having a proper butcher would be fabulous). Nope, I'm totally a city girl, although a small-scale city girl (Minneapolis/St Paul is perfect but places New York or Chicago are more like the country to me: fun to visit but wouldn't want to live there).

I grew up in a very rural place. The bigger the cities I've lived in since, the better I've liked them. Right now I'm living in a smaller city for real-life related reasons, but I dream of returning to a major city within 5-10 years.

I grew up moving around, mostly living in the suburbs.
The appeal of the city was very symbolic to me... growing up seemed to mean that you had to live in the city, in the centre of everything, the all-day all-night traffic and the convenience of having everything you need within a block or two. I guess I imagined that everyone who lives there seems to be figuring it out, working towards a goal, not quite settled yet, but putting themselves in a place where things are supposed to happen. And then the suburbs were that place where all your memories were, your home and your family, your childhood, where time moves slower.
Now I live in Adelaide which is almost as far from 'city' as you can get while still being a city, but I think it also has the appeal of being more easygoing and slow-paced. I still dream of moving back to Melbourne or another big city somewhere once I finish my course. It just feels like there's a lot of life there, and you can get swept up in it and make great memories.

Do they not have shift keys in your neck of the city? You make New Yorkers look like uneducated yokels, my friend.

I grew up partly in a small town and partly in a large metropolis. I tried a different big city when I left home, but by 25, I was burnt out. I think I am more suited to smaller towns, like the one I live in now. When I visit the city I grew up in....it feels so cold and unfriendly. People look at you like you are crazy if you strike up a conversation on a bus! And everything is so expensive, even the public transportation. I feel connected in a small community. I meet people I know whenever I go out, whether it's the grocery store or the art gallery or a pub across town. My town even has a thriving arts and cultural community, and I get to be part of it, rather than excluded for my lack of pedigree. Also, I have a 2 bedroom apartment on the beach - I could never afford that in a big city. I can walk or ride my bike to just about anywhere, and there are great nature trails everywhere for when I feel adventurous. And I NEED nature's quiet song - open sky and breathable air, trees, mountains, water, birds and other wildlife. I feel like a caged animal in a big city.

That said, I have travelled to NYC and it is a different country altogether than anywhere else in the world - one that I loved! I still can't get over how friendly and kind people were....after everything I'd read and been told and seen on TV. ;) And so many things going on, all the time. One could never be bored! If I were rich, I would certainly love to have a second home there.

I grew up in the suburbs of LA. LA is one of the most exciting cities in the world, and I always felt as a kid that it I was missing it, living in the suburbs. The lack of public transport in LA was maddening and I felt that everything I loved about LA was completely inaccessible without a car - I didn't like that dependency.

I've lived in Wellington, New Zealand for a year, and also Paris for a year, and now I live in London. London has it all to me, the beautiful and diverse architecture, the history, the arts culture, the global outlook, the nightlife, great food (yes, really), public transport, a huge variety of green spaces, but most of all I love Londoners - you never know who you'll meet. London to me means independence and opportunity and I feel very lucky to be living here.

There are definitely benefits that I see for a more rural life - the pressure of getting on the property ladder in a city like London is enormous and there are downsides like crime, pollution, prices, living in a teeny apartment, etc. I miss having a backyard and a dog. It would be especially nice nice not to spend half of my income on rent. I toy with the idea of moving out and at times feel very divided over it, but I think big cities London, New York, Berlin etc are worth fighting for. I am absolutely an urban person and wouldn't have it any other way!

Grew up in midwest; small & midsize, so not a farm kid, but envied those that lived in Minneapolis (only visited once as a kid) or had relatives in CA (we didn't). If I had unlimited funds, I'd live in downtown Mlps. Currently in a small town in AZ; can drive to metro PHX or Tucson, but once there, it's just traffic and homogenous urban sprawl. No thanks. The desirable heart of most urban areas (in the world) has become too physically and economically demanding. Small isn't perfect either; so for now, I'm resigned/content to be rural.

I grew up in south georgia in a rural community and was drawn to the city as early as I can remember. My husband and I and our two kids live in a city now and love it. In our next place I'd be open to city or country but not suburbia..

Living in a city or in the countryside is fine, but suburbs are depressing.

I had to chime in because I find it surprising that so many fellow Montanans (!) are reading AT. I spent my first 17 years and MT and the last 17 in Munich, Germany. Quite a contrast.
Then : Now
2500 acre ranch (grandpa's homestead + some) : 2 br apt in town by the university
starting driving at 10 yrs. old to pick up mail (5 miles) : no German license, I bike.
45 min drive to get groceries : I walk 2 blocks
coyotes howling at night under a zillion stars : tipsy Oktoberfest tourists outside my apt.

Some things are similar:
Germany and Montana -- about the same size.
Population of Munich and Montana -- each right around 1 million
and Montana became a state the year my apartment building was built -- 1889.

I love both places but I'm enjoying raising kids in this clean, safe city. Sometimes I worry about them not understanding the value of work or watching things grow and harvesting them. We'll visit the farm in the summer and see some lovely Red Angus like those featured in the photo. I'll have to bring a rubber duckie. :-)

I grew up in rural Maryland with lots of trees and fields all around. That influence never left me. I live in rural Florida now and have a small farmette where we have chickens, bees, a duck, a pond, a barn...very country. I just couldn't have it any other way. The quiet and solitude are essential to me.

The further suburbs are much more walk friendly now but I moved out of them because I got tired of all the traffic. We sold one car and moved close to DC and wouldn't ever move back out. I can walk or take the bus or metro anywhere.

I've lived in smaller towns (suburbs really) and big cities. Our current home town is Seattle. The one characteristic that I prefer regardless of size is walkability. If I live within walking distance of everything that I could possibly need on a regular basis, I'm pretty happy. Also, my husband and I are about to sell our one car because we have everything close by - a huge savings!

I live about 2 miles from the house I grew up in. I like my town and family is close and close by!

@MunichMom - I thought that, too! I almost never meet fellow Montanans in my offline life. I suspect it was the image of the cows & foothills - I'm always drawn to Montana-like photos. (A bit homesick, I suppose.)

A mix. America is being ruined by suburban sprawl, but you will find many beautiful small cities in Europe where the homes and stores are centered around a downtown area, but the true unspoiled country is only a few miles away. One day I will live in a beautiful German town of this kind... one day...

I grew up rural. I trained horses until I was in my twenties. It's strange, I never could decide where I belonged. I would be a ranch hand during the week and then go to the city and skateboard and go to punk shows on the weekends. I live in a very small rural city now, but I miss both the rural life and the city life. I miss doing chores while the sun is coming up, watch a foal nurse, and being exhausted at night. I also miss being able to take a bus, walk everywhere, and have choices of where to shop and be entertained.

(I counter you with triangleman!)

I'm from the lower peninsula of Michigan, too. My big suburbia-suburbia move was from Midwest to New England. In Michigan a career counselor actually advised me to leave the blue-collar state and move someplace more intellectual! It was good advice (for me). I have never lived in an actual city landscape, although part of the time spent in Michigan, people here would call "rural." (I think I might like a city, but I do like the relative quiet in my suburban home...)

City slicker during the week; out to the country on the weekend. Suburbs never.

Chicago! Chicago! Chicago! Love it! Love it! Love it!

I grew up in the city and I still live in the city. Even though I am not the most outgoing type, I can't imagine living in the suburb. I'd probably get depressed pretty quickly.
I do however love to spend time in the country side whenever I can by going to bed and breakfast with my husband as it does give me time to relax and enjoy the serenity.

I grew up in Wappingers Falls NY. It was a small town and I could walk everywhere. Though looking at a map now it seems that I pretty routinely walked up to 10 miles daily and I was the only one in the family who walked that much. We were near NY and I feel I had the best of both worlds. I lived with forest, fields and a creek with a lake that froze over in the winter for skating. I spent as much time as I could out in nature and then got to go to the city for museums, plays and dance.

Now I live in a Seattle neighborhood where I have a small yard with a garden. I can walk everywhere I need to go for errands and have several natural parks close by. It is mostly quiet at night but I can be downtown in 10 minutes. I don't particularly care for the winters - would prefer more snow and less rain - and I miss having four seasons. I wish Seattle took itself a little more seriously as a city.

I couldn't live in a city proper because I have a dog. I can't imagine having to take an elevator to get her outside.

Rural. Grew up rural and only lived in the city for college. I'm back to rural 30 years later.

I like my neighbors, but I like distance between me and my neighbors better.

I've always said I would live on a desert island if I could find one with a public library. Grew up in a town of less than 1000, with a tiny library that was open between the hours of 2 o'clock on Tuesday. Bummer. Lived on a farm in Ireland for several years--loved it. Now I live in a college town in the Midwest, under 30,000, & a pleasing (& increasing) ethnic diversity. It's nice to not be ENTIRELY surrounded by Republicans, but they still have much of the local political power beyond the city. Never lived in a large city, or wanted to--I can't even understand why other people like it.

I grew up in Miami, which was a medium size city (though very sprawling). In my later teen years, my parents & I moved to a 4 stoplight town in the mountains of North Geogia. It was awful. The people were the most narrow-minded stereotypical small-town types and there was nothing to do besides crystal meth & sex (!). I was absolutely dying to get absolutely anywhere Metroploitian. I made my way down to Atlanta, which is a pretty nice mix. While still urban, it's very green, clean, and doesn't give me the claustrophobic feeling some other cities give me (sorry, NYC). I don't like huge cities, but I definitely require the culture/entertainment that only cities can provide.

Grew up (and still live) in the suburbs of largish cities; love cities, especially small- to medium-sized ones. The smallest place I ever lived still had 140,000 people in it, and when I got offered a job in a town of 4200, I turned it down because I would have gone out of my effing mind there.

Grew up in so. California and moved around the state, mainly living in smaller communities, like Santa Barbara and Ventura. Then moved to another state and a larger city. I've adjusted to where I'm living now, except the traffic does get to one. When I lived in a small college town I felt that I could stay there forever, but owning a home was expensive and there wasn't a lot of job opportunities and that's why I moved to where I live now. I own a small, older home inside the city limits. I can walk to just about everything that I need, but to get to the mountains I need a car. I see positives and negatives to both. When I first moved here -- some people (friends) declared that they would never own a home inside the city. They live in a city (suburb) and really one can hardly tell the difference. It struck me as such an odd thing to say.

I'm just the opposite of you. I grew up in two cities, one larger and one medium-sized, but now I live in the country. I love it!

I'm definitely rural.. Big cities aren't for me.

I grew up in Whittier in the Los Angeles suburbs. I didn't leave until I went away to college in Arcata, CA. I chose the CSU that was the furthest north and the most remote because I had visited the area and fell in love with it. I felt that I could stay there forever, but when I graduated I took a job in Alaska in a town that was even smaller than Arcata although was a good-sized town by Alaska standards (pop roughly 7,500). It was the first time I encountered snow and ice on a daily basis, and I felt like I lived on an island. I stayed in Alaska for about a year and a half before returning back to Whittier and eventually moving to Barstow in the Mojave desert, pop 24,000. I made my way back to Northern California, Eureka, which is the next town over from Arcata, and am finally where I am at now in Crescent City, CA, which is even smaller and more remote than Arcata. I honestly feel like I could live anywhere because, well, I have lived anywhere.

I grew up on a farm and went to the big city for university, loved it, and have been here for ten years. I thought I had found my new roots. A few years ago things started to change with every trip home to the farm with my husband, a city boy born and raised. He fell in love with the farm. I was completely shocked by his enthusiasm and fresh perspective on rural life. It made me reevaluate how I want to live my life. So we took the plunge and bought my grandparent's farmhouse. This spring my husband and I with our little girl are moving back to the country!

I grew up in a town in Iowa that is basically a suburb with no city attached. No farms, small bits of culture, and no excitement. Basically what most parents would agree is a perfect place to raise a family. Having grown up in that environment, it's funny that suburbs are the one place I just cannot live. Cities? Sure! I love the energy and stuff-to-do-ness of an urban life (I live in San Francisco). Rural? Okay! My heart soars and I feel the beauty of life when I'm out in the country. Sorry suburbs - a little piece of me dies when I see a strip mall. ;)

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay) in super suburbia, and now live in the not-quite-suburbia/not-quite-city in Los Angeles. I feel too isolated in true suburbia, but where I'm at now is a nice blend of easy parking and accessibility to stores while being close to parts of LA that are more city like. It's still a bit too expensive though, and I want to pay off my student loans, so I'm considering relocating to somewhere a little less populated and a little cheaper. I think my opinions on rural versus urban evolve as I grow older and my priorities shift.

Funny you should ask! Over the past 14 years I've moved from my hometown of Richmond, VA to San Fran, to NYC, to Richmond, VA. Then BACK to NYC and now...you guessed it...live in Richmond, VA again. Clearly I cant make up my mind what lifestyle is "me". I'm a city gal in a frugal suburbanite's body. Love love love NYC but started resenting the costs, missed seeing grass outside of a park and do love sitting in my quiet backyard with a glass of vino at the end of the day here. Of course now that I'm back in VA I'm bored senseless...sigh...I need both!

I grew up in Queens, NY. Lived in San Francisco about 20 years, and came back to New York and moved into an apartment in Manhattan.

I just cannot do suburbia. Grass makes me sneeze!

Hardly different at all. I grew up in a congested neighborhood in a large city and now live in a congested neighborhood in a different large city. I miss my original city, though! The pluses of my life now though include: the neighborhood in which I now live is considerably safer than the one in which I grew up, and taxes are lower. The minuses are that my original city is much friendlier and has much better museums.
I could never live the suburbs!

I love being part of such a diverse, intelligent and clever community here on AT!
Urbal; perfect! KateModern, so great, so perfect for London living :D
I grew up on a 30 acre CA orange grove next to the Sierra Nevada mtn range. We had a cattle ranch in the foothills and horses(of course!) Lots of chores, but a lot of freedom to wander without supervision. I couldn't wait to get out of that little narrow-minded town!
Orange County was still funky and had lots of open space : /
Left that for a tiny town in the Colorado Rockies(500 people is TOO small, folks!)
I followed my family's migration to San Luis Obispo. 27 years later, I live within earshot of the foghorn and the braying of the sea lions in the bay, an hour south of Big Sur.
I do work with horses, though my tiny seaside cottage restricts ownership ;)
I love visiting SF or LA, as I'm halfway between. My daughter and her growing family live on Capitol Hill in DC, so I get my share of "city life" and I get to browse the DC CL; my favorite ads start with: 'Just transferred to Paris, my loss your gain'!

I grew up in a VERY rural part of central pa in the middle of acres of fields. I like nothing better than the smell of fresh cut hay and cows. Thank heavens grass does NOT make me sneeze ;) I now live in the "city" part (approx 6,700) in central PA - city to me because I live on a 1/2 acre lot with neighbors and its killing me. Recently bought 4.5 acres which was part of an old farm and cannot wait to build there. Love the picture representing "rural" - but around here you are more likely to find an antique claw foot tub as the cow watering hole. Urban just does nothing for me, but isn't it great we all are so different!

I grew up in a semi-rural part of western Oregon, with parents who grew up rural. The rural life seemed ideal, so I went to a college with agricultural roots in a small town. I loved it. After a stint in Denver, which I did not care much for, I have managed to live either rural or semi-rural. Full-on rural didn't pan out so well for me - I found that prefer a different sense of community, where I can see people if and when I want to, but I know I could live fairly isolated if I weren't surrounded by arch-conservatives. I could be totally happy with the Northern Exposure existence, and in fact that's approximately what my tiny Colorado mountain burg is like. Yes, I need a car to get "to town". So what?