Hmmmm - I'm dubious about this

[oursin]

How the city hurts your brain, which various people have been linking to.

And, okay, perhaps you have to have some acquaintance with early C20th wails and moans about urban degeneracy to feel sceptical about this.

But is living your life in wild nature really any less stressful? Yes, you feel at peace as you wander round Walden Pond listening to

Comments

[serrana]

I read something last week about how the accident rate is much higher for rural people than urban folks, and thought, well, of course -- when you're living in the country, you have to deal with things like generators and tractors and chainsaws and other things that are likely to kill you if you screw up. Particularly because after you cut your leg open with the panga while clearing brush, you've got to get in the truck and drive for an hour to get to emergency.

The assault rate for urban dwellers in the U.S. was about 8x higher than for rural folks, but I think that depends a lot on your particular urb.

[amaliedageek]

Frex, my brother and the log splitter . . . .

[serrana]

*winces just thinking about it*

Or Mother and her broken ankle last year, or what Dad's done to his back this week...the rural life is peaceful and bucolic and much more physically dangerous, day in and day out, than anything your average urban person has to deal with (which is why I'm raising my kids in town, a whopping 10 minutes from the ER, thankyouverymuch).

[pigeonhed]

I live in the country, by the sea, under the edge of a mountain, and am 10 minutes from ER too.

The thing about accidents is silly to me. City-bred folk ahve a different set of survival skills to country-folk. Which is why i would take care walking through a field of cattle but not panic if they approached, whereas my former-city dweller acquaintance turned to make his getaway when an inquisitive cow came over and got barged and bruised badly. I don't know if figures are available but I'd bet that a fair chunk of countryside accidents occur to city folk visiting or retired there.

[wild_irises]

This is why I haven't read that article, though I've seen the link all over the place.

Ever read that great essay by Seneca on the intolerable noise of the urban environment?

[badgerbag]

Ha! You know I have!

[sartorias]

Anyone who has backpacked in the wild for a week knows that comfort comes with many hands doing the constant work, or else minions doing it so you don't have to.

[loligo]

Having lived in a wide variety of environments, I would say that my favorite was Seattle -- a city that encompasses extraordinary natural beauty. On sunny mornings I would stand at my bus stop, in the middle of the city, looking out over a vast panorama of water and islands and mountains, and marvel at my good fortune.

But I would easily choose living out in the woods, as I do now, over either a nature-impoverished city neighborhood or the bland, unnatural ecosystem of the suburbs. It makes a huge difference to my well-being, but that doesn't necessarily mean it holds true for everyone!

[drasecretcampus]

I'm blanking on the exact line, but Sherlock Holmes tells Watson about how more horror there is out of the city (in "The Case of the Norwood Builder"?) than in - although I suspect that's suburbia even then?

I'd rather walk home alone in a city than the country

[rosathome]

I would absolutely rather walk home alone in the country. But I expect that is at least in part because it is what I grew up with.

[drasecretcampus]

I grew up in a (admittedly large) village, but at the point when I was in a position to walk home alone it might involve a walk between villages. Even walking through the village would worry me more now than my walks home in, say, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool or Hull.

[rosathome]

I'm curious to know why you feel that way about walking through the village or out in the country lanes.