So much for self-sufficiency....

[Denim Deb]

I can see both sides of the issue. It would be nice if there was some way to have it both ways.

 

[Lady Henevere]

How sad to live in a place that has these problems....don't you city/urban folks ever just want to move away from it?

There are trashy people and criminals everywhere, in the city or outside of it. My own experience is limited, since I have lived most of my life in the suburbs of L.A., and have only lived "rural" in a couple of places. But in my experience the rural was worse than the city. The level of crime, cruelty, drunkenness, recklessness, vandalism, etc. people lived with in the rural areas was far worse than I ever experienced in the city, and people simply accepted it as part of life. At least in the city you can generally avoid the bad areas and steer clear of most of it (avoid jogging alone in a downtown park, for example). In the rural areas it seemed to be much more mixed -- a threat may just as easily come from a neighbor as a bad area across town. Again, JME.

 

[Denim Deb]

I wonder if it has to do w/the area in general. If I were homeless, I wouldn't head to a big city in this area, I'd head for a rural area.

 

[Beekissed]

I wonder if it has to do w/the area in general. If I were homeless, I wouldn't head to a big city in this area, I'd head for a rural area.

Yep. It all depends on the rural you gravitate towards. There are parts of WV where I would not live...but, for the most part, there are more areas in WV in which I would reside than in any other state. We still retain a certain naivete and simplicity that is unique to this state, I believe.

The area in which I live now greatly impressed me with it's sheer beauty, the neatness of the towns and houses, the cleanliness of the streams(at least no visible trash) and the abundance of woodlands, wildlife and farmland. Where I came from the beauty of the towns and country was diminishing with the influx of city folk and the crime rate was increasing.

I guess when the city moves towards the country to get away from the problems of the city, they just bring those problems right along with them.... :/