Every area that you could live in has its pluses and minuses. I often hear about the benefits of living in a rural area on this site, but very rarely do I hear about the advantages of living in the suburbs. I am going to list a few. Perhaps you could add some of your own.
1. Proximity to services: I can easily ride my bike to the library, hospital, dental clinic, many stores.
2. Variety of foods and cuisines: I can bike and even walk to many kinds of restaurants, like Thai, Indian, and Korean, that would be unlikely to be found out in the country somewhere. I can also buy exotic vegetables, fruits, and herbs easily here.
3. Live music varieties: I can hear live jazz, classical, folk, rock, punk, and many offshoots here. I like country too, but that would still be available in the country.
4. Availability of
gardening products: Specialty
gardening products, like Surround, for organic plant care, free logs and
wood chips, and zillions of things off of Craig's list are to be had here that would be an unreasonable distance in the country.
5. Neighbors: I have a lot of nice neighbors. It's not so lonely here. One of my neighbors left the country because he was so isolated.
6. Access to wild places: I don't have to fight through
city traffic to get to wild places, where I can recreate, forage, or relax in a quiet beautiful setting.
7. More help: If I have an especially difficult task, I can find someone to help, even if I have to pay them. More tools and knowledge to conquer especially difficult problems.
8. Free pollination: SInce the neighbors have flowering plants, there are a lot of pollinators living in their yards that want to pollinate
my stuff too.
9. No deer/rabbits: I don't have these critters eating my garden like people I know who live in the country do. I do have squirrels though. My dog is working on that.
John S
PDX OR
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