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Urban life vs rural life
City life and country lifestyle
Urban life vs rural life
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City Life Versus Country Life
Born and raised a city boy, I often wonder how different my life would be had I been raised in the country. Imagine having to choose to reside in one place for the rest of your life. Which would you opt for? Some people would argue that the hyperactive lifestyle that a big city has to offer has more benefits. However, others would contend that the calm and peaceful environment of the countryside is much more rewarding. Several people move from the city to a farm to get away from the hustle and bustle. Likewise, farmers have traded in their tractors and animals to live a fast paced city life. Of course, not all large cities are the same nor are all of the places in the country identical. Realizing this, ten years ago, I decided to hang up the city life in Indiana to pursue a more laid back approach to life in rural Tennessee. Certainly, both city life and life in the country have their benefits, but they also have distinguishable differences.
Working environments, for instance, vary among people who live in the cities and those in the country. Large cities are exploding with state-of-the-art skyscrapers, high-rises office buildings and banks that seem to block the light of day, creating an oppressive aura of concrete and shadows, yet, jobs for the city man or woman are plentiful. However, city dwellers generally have a commute to the downtown areas, sometimes a long, arduous and congested jaunt. Albeit, jobs are more plentiful in a city setting, but the fast paced working environment and concrete jungle atmosphere in the city can cause great displeasure. Some would dispute, though, that it would be easier to get another job because the market is higher. Although I agree the job mark...
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...ent atmosphere, the crime rate in the country is lower. As a matter of fact, unlike homeowners in the country, a city man would never even consider locking the doors as optional.
So whether it is the crazy, energized, stress-filled life of living in the city you prefer or the laid-back, relaxed way of life the country has to offer, both have their advantages. The choice is dependent on what is important to each individual. I have many fond memories of living in the city during the first part of my life; however, it is the move to the countryside that has more of an impact on my life. Industrial employment opportunities were greater in the city and extracurricular activities were in abundance, nonetheless, I prefer to treasure the slower paced life in the country, the kindness of friends and neighbors I have here, and the down-home flavor of rural living.
The world is increasingly dominated by movement of people, images and information. People now examine the nature of mobility in the era of globalisation and what this means for our sense of place. You do not need a degree in economics to see that wages are too low and rents too high”(127). Barbara has a car so that she can drive to her workplace and save the time from waiting for public transportation, and she can also go to different cities whenever she is free.
All the drastic changes that the world has been through, and Carr and Kefalas show that in their writing. These changes at some time made the current town, were they live, a thriving and prosperous place. People would move from their towns to these prospering communities to seek out the benefits that were offered. Many of those small towns are slowly fading into the background because of the modern world changes that big and upcoming cities that offering. These changes are creating new jobs and environments for the youth that are looking for change in the small towns that once were big and thriving, are now filled with the older generation that don’t want to make the change. They are looking to keep things consistent with the life they have been living; some changes in their eyes are not good, they are just creating problems. In Carr and Kefalas’s article they write about living in a small town called Ellis in Iowa. Carr and Kefalas talked to an employee working at a new factory in Ellis, “A machine operator living in Ellis complains about the strugglers facing old-fashion workers who find themselves trapped in a newfangled economy” (33). People living in small towns are unlikely to adapt to new changes, but are having to because of companies starting new factories in their community. This new technology is bound to change the life of older generation parents, whether they choose to stay in their small town lifestyle or move to
Small towns, quaint and charming, ideally picturesque for a small family to grow up in with a white picket fence paired up with the mother, father and the 2.5 children. What happens when that serene local town, exuberantly bustling with business, progressively loses the aspects that kept it alive? The youth, boisterous and effervescent, grew up surrounded by the local businesses, schools and practices, but as the years wear on, living in that small town years down the road slowly grew to be less appealing. In The Heartland and the Rural Youth Exodus by Patrick J. Carr and Maria Kefalas equally argue that “small towns play an unwitting part in their own decline (Carr and Kefalas 33) when they forget to remember the “untapped resource of the
While early 20th century America was an era of great economic advancement and material wealth, the prevalent growth in industry had a profound impact on small, rural communities. An expanding upper class did not signify prosperity for all. Those who were unable to rise in society were left behind, forced to live under harsh environmental conditions as factories polluted rural towns. As detailed by Nick while accompanying Tom to the city one
The Suburbanization of the United States. New York. Oxford University Press, 1985. Lemann, Nicholas. The.. The Promised Land.
... other places in specific, and the social and demographic structure of the society as a whole.
Crime rates are extremely low though the colonies of man and murders are almost unheard of. Patriotism and unity
When I was 13, my family bought a farm in Monkey's Elbow, Kentucky. I had been use to the fast pace of the city I had lived in , Frankfort. I had thought transitioning from a city to more of a rural area wouldn’t have a big affect on me, but it did, a major one. In the late summer of 2012 my family bought the farm i now live on located along highway 146. The trips between our houses were unbearable. Lasting around three hours each from the farm to Frankfort several times a day.
In believing that “today’s cities play a different economic role than they did in the past,” Kotkin argues that “At best, Jacobs’s compelling portrait from 1961 is something of an anachronism,” meaning that her lessons are out of place in the current era (Kotkin). Kotkin pulls in details from researcher Gary Evans saying, “Families in urban apartments today… generally have far weaker networks of neighbors than their suburban counterpart, a generally more stressful home life, and significantly less ‘social support’” (Kotkin). Kotkin further implies that Jacobs is outdated when quoting her mentioning how suburbs are not a good place to bring up children (Kotkin). Today the general consensus is that cities are not a safe place to raise a family and that the city is just as stepping stone towards career advancement that will eventually lead a person to a domesticated suburbia lifestyle (Kotkin). “Jacobs… instinctively hated where families were in fact headed: the suburbs” claiming that “neighborhoods like her own... [were] ideal places where locals watched out for each other” (Kotkin). Many families flee cities in hopes of finding a safer community for their children. “[I]n 2011 children 5-14 constitute about seven percent in core districts… [which is] roughly half the level
though, the law is not as strict. This leads potential criminals not to fear the
The structural-functional analysis of jobs in the U.S. is governed by the workforce stratification and technology. The more educated and diverse a society is the better society’s job market is served. This social economic separation of class has been both good and bad for society. Many workers at the lower levels of employment are both pleased and displeased with many aspects of work. Though this fact also holds true with most any job at any level, pay scale often compensates for endurance of a particular job type. The security of a person’s job also is an issue that in today’s economic times forces one to be prepared for change. This is to say that even if one’s field of expertise is needed today it may not be tomorrow. This type of ever-changing job market leads many to believe that another socio-economic change may occur at any time. This change was apparent with the transition into the industrial age and again in the information age. These concerns caused stress, various health issues, a...
Living and growing up in a small town is better than doing so in a big city.
Most Americans live in the 324 metropolitan areas of the United States. Even for the 50% of the population who live in the suburbs, problems of the central cities are increasingly common, and some pockets of urban decay have moved outward (Leviton, L. C., Snell, E., & McGinnis, M., 2000 p. 363).
One major issue affecting many people trying to make the decision on where to live is their quality of life in either extreme. Health, education, transportation are three major concerns that many consider. In a city, pollution surrounds you wherever you step whether on the streets of a busy financial district or on the lawn of a large park. Pollution could possibly cause health problems later in life. In the country, pollution is scarce. Fresh air, rolling green hills, a few pieces of litter here and there but pretty much everything is clean, and wow! No smog, you can see the stars! In the country, childhood education, kindergarten through twelfth grade, is significantly better than in a large city; smaller class sizes and larger budgets create excellent learning environments. In cities, public schools are often plagued with very large classes packed into small spaces. Teachers with low pay, and little or no dedication are thrown into classrooms to teach, resulting in poor education. Transportation is very accessible in city environments. Public transportation, by way of subways, busses and ferries, are cheap and easy ways of getting around a metropolis, whether going out to work, school, or for a night on the town. In the country, everyone needs to have access to his or her own vehicle. A commute to work or school is about an average of forty-five minutes!
...tmosphere, the crime rate in the country is lower. As a matter of fact, unlike homeowners in the country, a city man would never even consider locking the doors as optional.