#urban vs rural

[strangebiology]

Is living in a city worth it?

Conversation I had with a DC resident:

DC person: "I could never live in Boulder. Not enough stuff to do."

Me: "Like what?"

"City stuff."

"Like what?"

"Entertainment."

"Like what?"

"Restaurants."

Friends, there are probably over a thousand restaurants in Boulder, Colorado. And more things to do than you could ever do, especially if you remember it's right next to Denver and tons of amazing outdoor opportunities.

If you're paying $2k+/month to live in an "exciting" place, are you SURE you're excited by it? Did it take you three entire "like what's" to even be able to identify what you liked about it? How often do you go to these restaurants? How important are they to you?

I encourage you to have this conversation with yourself if you want to move and think you need a city. If you are paying $2k for an apartment you would have to pay only $500 for elsewhere, and you're doing it just for the restaurants, and you eat out once a month, that means you are paying $1,500 per restaurant meal (plus the cost of the meal.) You could drive two hours to save $1,500 each month.

I know that many things go into a choice as to where to live, but if you're undecided, I think you ought to consider how much of an impact "exciting" city life will really have on you, and if it's worth the costs. Money costs, quietness and privacy costs etc. If you have a job and even a passing interest in anything outdoors-related, or anything portable (like reading or art or most hobbies,) or friends or family with you, I doubt you'd be bored living more rurally. Look inward a bit.

(And yes, I've loved NYC and all the cities I've lived in too! I just worry that this idea of all non-cities being "boring" is too pervasive and based on weird logic that's not relevant to everyone. A lot of people spend their weekends in big, expensive cities drunk--guess what, we have alcohol here in Nowheresville too!)

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

i feel like the shit quality really enhances the cursed-ness of what i've created

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

We're (finally) uploading season two to YouTube, so people can stream it there if that is how they prefer to interact with their podcasts. We're planning to upload an episode of S2 every second Monday (on the off-weeks between new episodes). Check it out!

[personal-blog243]

Thoughts on Jason Aldean’s “Try that in a small town”

It feels like if a Tucker Carlson segment was a song.

Just so much arbitrary division between “rural” and “urban” and “left” and “right” that it honestly makes me sad, angry, all of the emotions. Does Jason think minorities or leftists can’t also live in rural areas?? Does he think conservatives can’t live in cities?

Does Jason Aldean think that BLM protesters are coming for him specifically??? They are protesting police brutality they weren’t coming for you; but now that he wrote this song, I wouldn’t be surprised if people start protesting his concerts.

I had no idea conservatives were STILL talking about BLM protests that happened 3yrs ago?

Also there is a line about “taking care of our own” as if that’s not what protesters are doing? So many leftist protests are about oppressed communities taking care of each other. Does Jason Aldean think rural conservatives own the concept of being nice to people?

Why do so many conservatives think that protesting racism and authoritarianism is inherently a threat to rural poor communities miles away?? How do we heal this divide???

Also the association of political protests with common street crime like stealing a car is a bit of a reach. 🙄

[isaacsapphire]

Two approaches to criminal justice

Broadly, there's two different approaches to criminal justice. To a lesser degree, I think these two approaches apply to torts (civil law).

One is predicted on a pre-existing stable community that both victim and perpetrator share, leading to a preexisting and continuing relationship.

The other is predicated on a lack of preexisting or ongoing relationship between the parties.

Restorative justice is within the first paradigm.

Offenses between transient strangers or travelers cannot be addressed within the first paradigm without the creation of a fictive community they share, such as christendom or another shared religious or ethnic identity. In a pluralistic empire, this option is often unavailable.

Multi ethnic, multicultural empires generally offer at least an appearance of equality under the law as citizens or wards but with a presupposition of zero shits given about any interpersonal relationships or lack thereof except nuclear family/marriage/inlaws.

The obsession, idealization, and unstated requirement of "Relationships" between the victim and perpetrator in multiple different approaches to justice, from both Left AND Right, frequently paired with an idealization of small static farming-based communities and lower tech levels is... Interesting.

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

To kick off Season 2 of Solarpunk Presents, Ariel and I (Christina) laced up our boxing gloves and had a friendly debate about the best place to try to live solarpunk lives: in the city or in the countryside. Is the solarpunk life all about peaceful living in harmony with your neighbors, your garden, and your chickens away from the thrum of the city, or is it all about taking up less space (by living in an apartment), helping out in the community garden, and riding the bus?

Here are links to some of the literature we discussed:

Ariel's note: this is a constructed debate, and not necessarily reflective of the opinions of all solarpunks everywhere, but a debate that Christina and I see fairly often in solarpunk spaces, so we wanted to duke it out in a fun and engaging way to provoke thought.

Connect with Solarpunk Presents Podcast on Twitter @SolarpunkP, Mastodon @solarpunkpresents@climatejustice.rocks, or at our blog https://solarpunkpresents.com/

Connect with Ariel at her blog, on Twitter at @arielletje, and on Mastodon @arielkroon@wandering.shop

Connect with Christina at her blog, on Twitter @xtinadlr, and on Mastodon @xtinadlr@wandering.shop

[hanzajesthanza]

went outside without my glasses (prescription sunglasses) yesterday on accident and it confirmed for me my headcanons about what higher vampires see in the daylight: bright, blurry, struggling to make out faces… i guess it is the same impossibility that trying to see in the dark is for humans.

so i like to think regis squints somewhat on sunny days… they picked him up from autumn to spring, enduring overcast, rainy, and snowy weather—so not too many sunny days in their schedule, however there might have been a few here and there… 🤔

regis: [essentially getting flashbanged left and right]

angoulême: why’re you screwing up your face like that

regis: vampires can’t see in the sunlight that well

angoulême: hmm… it really helps sell the “old man” look you’re going for

regis: thanks

[jazzypizzaz]

the only places I see political signs in my city neighborhoods are streets where there are several houses in a row with signs, almost half and half split Harris vs Trump. like it's only the friction that makes people engage

[zsorosebudphoto]

Trafaria, Tejo, Lisboa, Portugal, 02-06-23

[aholefilledwithtwigs]

Would love to find a resource about the behavior of suburban whitetail deer that isn’t focused on hunting or protecting your garden

I want understand how my neighbors are adapting not fucking murder them

[cat-appreciator]

QFT! I spent my teenage years in the countryside (not long enough to be a member of the community (ie under two decades)) and you couldn’t get me to go back at gunpoint. I crave the privacy of urban anonymity.

It was kind of interesting to me that out of all the people in our training group, the ones that were the quickest to form social bonds were the people from way out in the country and the city people just kind of quietly kept to themselves.

But I was definitely accepted as one of the bumpkins.

[pinkpeccary]

hate how often i see things like "this neurotypical framework for social interaction makes no sense! actually the One True Way to Socialize is the (universal) autistic way which is actually reasonable!"

like 1) there are often more than two options, 2) there's no single framework that All autistics agree on and i guarantee there are plenty who prefer the "bad one", 3) it's exactly the same shit of "there are strict bounds on what is Acceptable Communication" and failure to lie within them makes you a Bad Person, just pointed in a different direction

communication styles are personal and cultural and vary a lot! and yes there is often conflict stemming from a difference in communication styles, where both parties are interpreting the situation differently and one or both is blamed for doing it "wrong." but the problem is not that the Wrong style is accepted as standard, it's in the idea that there is One True style that everyone should follow at all times instead of recognizing that people vary and putting in the effort to understand each other even when things are not presented in a way you find immediately intuitive.

[pandabloggers]

Marketing Strategies: Rural vs. Urban

At Panda Bloggers, we explore the distinct marketing strategies used in rural and urban areas. Understanding the differences in consumer behavior, preferences, and media consumption is crucial for crafting effective campaigns. While urban marketing often focuses on digital platforms, rural marketing may prioritize local outreach and community engagement. Join us as we delve into the nuances of these strategies for better targeting. Visit https://pandabloggers.com/difference-rural-urban-marketing/

[ghostjelliess]

Ways Humans Haven't Changed in +5000 Years:

Grinding Stone Edition

Urban residents: get grains in bags, ground by industrial mills.

(alt: get grains already ground, baked into bread from bakery.)

Rural residents: get grains in bushels, collected by hand, grinding stones necessary.

[vanilla-voyeur]

I was telling my friend who lived in a rural area of the US all his life about how cats should be kept indoors because outdoor cats have half the lifespan and are causing a mass extinction event. He said that that's just a city slicker thing and it's different in rural areas. I strongly suspect that he's putting words into the mouths of people who disagree with him but I'm not sure. Is it true? Do people in rural areas not care about keeping their cats indoors?