Townies vs Country Folk: Health & Stress

[wolram]

In general i think you townies must be less healthy, breathing in all that exhaust smoke and industrial fumes
and suffering more stress from city travel and overcrowding,
Whereas us country folk suffer far less, we have clean air and far less stress traveling along uncrowded country roads ,i'm sure if a survey was done it would be found we live longer than you townies.

 

[Ragib]

Smoke is another way dead yourself. İ think all smookers are stupid.

 

[zoobyshoe]

In general i think you townies must be less healthy, breathing in all that exhaust smoke and industrial fumes
and suffering more stress from city travel and overcrowding,
Whereas us country folk suffer far less, we have clean air and far less stress traveling along uncrowded country roads ,i'm sure if a survey was done it would be found we live longer than you townies.

This would be true except for other things in play in the UK. Mystery novels written in the UK demonstrate that all residents of the U.K. fall into one of three categories. They are either 1.) murder victims, 2.) murderers, or 3.) amateur or professional sleuths who solve the murders. So, 1 in 3 U.K. residents will die an unnatural death by murder, especially if they live in a quiet country village, another 1/3 will end up incarcerated for murder, which is not a healthy lifestyle, and only 1/3 will lead a whole natural life, (provided they solve enough murders).

Of course mystery novels don't reflect reality. Reality presents a fourth option, which is to lead a whole natural life by writing mystery novels.

 

[Bandersnatch]

I'm of the opinion that all the country bumpkins must be constantly warding off unwelcome advances of wild, hungry animals such as bears, polar or otherwise. Let's not even mention permanent hay fever from all that hay laying around, the wear and tear on their legs due having to walk places, hordes of bloodthirsty earthworms tangling at your feet, trying to prematurely pull you into the moldy embrace of well-tilled earth, the horrible hillbilly disease, cultural establishment deprivation, parasites in unfiltered water and rampaging malaria-carrying mosquitoes which are left to prey freely on the unsuspecting passers-by in the absence of trusty vermin-eradicating city smog.

By Jove, I'm surprised there's even any life out there! You must be like those post-apocalyptic barbarians, entrenched in fortified outposts against the inexorable onslaught of elements and boredom. Do you, like, need any supplies?

 

[WWGD]

AFAIK, most animals live significantly longer in captivity than they do
in the wild, so much for the picture of "nurturing Mother Nature. I think
this extends to humans. But there may be personalities that fit either
type of environment better. I would personally like to alternate, though
spending the majority of time in the city. But I am far from the income bracket
where I can afford that.

 

[OCR]

By Jove, I'm surprised there's even any life out there! You must be like those post-apocalyptic barbarians, entrenched in fortified outposts against the inexorable onslaught of elements and boredom.

Yes, it's a constant struggle to even survive... but don't forget about the "view "...

 

[OCR]

What does...

having to walk places

Mean.. ?

Lol...

 

[WWGD]

Still, I prefer to leave the driving ( or commuting) to someone else : public transportation.

 

[Mark44]

I'm of the opinion that all the country bumpkins must be constantly warding off unwelcome advances of wild, hungry animals such as bears, polar or otherwise.

Many of us out in the sticks are armed... Just sayin'. As far as wild animals go, virtually every time I go off into the mountains, especially the Olympics, we see black bears. They might scare the city slickers, but they don't scare me. I chase them away. On many trips I see mountain goats, herds of elk, and deer.

Let's not even mention permanent hay fever from all that hay laying around, the wear and tear on their legs due having to walk places, hordes of bloodthirsty earthworms tangling at your feet, trying to prematurely pull you into the moldy embrace of well-tilled earth, the horrible hillbilly disease, cultural establishment deprivation, parasites in unfiltered water and rampaging malaria-carrying mosquitoes which are left to prey freely on the unsuspecting passers-by in the absence of trusty vermin-eradicating city smog.

By Jove, I'm surprised there's even any life out there! You must be like those post-apocalyptic barbarians, entrenched in fortified outposts against the inexorable onslaught of elements and boredom. Do you, like, need any supplies?

Nope, there's plenty to keep us occupied. Seattle's the closest big city to me. Over the years, I've lived in about 10 places, each one farther away from Seattle, and now I'm about 40 miles away. The less I go there, the better I like it.

 

[Mark44]

Still, I prefer to leave the driving ( or commuting) to someone else : public transportation.

The trouble with that is that you can only go places that the public transportation goes. In the US West, unless you spend all your time in the major population centers, public transportation won't get you many places.

 

[WWGD]

The trouble with that is that you can only go places that the public transportation goes. In the US West, unless you spend all your time in the major population centers, public transportation won't get you many places.

Good point, I guess I should say I like to live in cities large-enough and with a good-enough transportation system. I specially like to be able to work/study far from home and then be able to take a bus/subway home when I am tired.

 

[gfd43tg]

I lived in Hong Kong for a while, and I think the population density was too stressful to be there forever. However, the issues that come up with country living is how inconvenient everything becomes when you have to drive so far to get anything. Pros and cons to both sides. A suburb might be a middle ground

 

[Psinter]

Sorry for the long post, please bear with me for a while:

One study which I think would do excellent for research is: How many of a specific city mosquito population carry viruses within them vs those in a specific nearby forest (deep within the forest).

I think it would make a good topic for research because I lived 18 years of my life in a forest with lots of mosquitoes and still never got a virus or any other disease from them. I even allowed some of them to bite me because I was a curious kid and amazed myself as I watched them fill their bellies with my blood. Excuse the emphasis again, but I NEVER got a virus or disease from them in those 18 years. It wasn't until I moved to the city and got bitten by them (from the city) that I got infected twice already with the same virus different type.

Dammed mosquitoes from the city. IMO, they are filthier than those from the forest. It even hurts and itches when they bite you whereas when those from the forest bite you, you don't even notice.

Bad filthy city, bad!

If I were making such a study my hypothesis would be:

Because of the sanitary conditions of X or Y city where mosquitoes have more direct access to sewers and other disease harboring places, a bigger amount of the total local mosquito population is predicted to carry more airborne diseases when compared to the total mosquito population of X or Y nearby forests where their natural habitat are rivers.

Then I would prove it or disprove it in the research. But I'm not qualified to perform the research because I hate mosquitoes and I don't want that hate to influence the research. Someone else has to do it.

EDIT:

In general i think you townies must be less healthy

I think so too.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

According by a report from the Office of National Statistics in 2010 life expectancy is longer in the UK countryside than the cities however the biggest determinator is wealth. The countryside has less deprived areas than the cities. This fits with another article a read last year (can't find it now) which reported those with the highest life expectancy in the UK life in the countryside but work in the cities (countryside is cheaper to live in and has more health benefits, city workers get paid more).

With regards to what's better to live in on a personal level I grew up in a town I'd describe as on the edge of the countryside. From the edge you could look from a hill and see nothing but farms and villages to the horizon but the town itself had a population of a couple of tens of thousands. It was a horrible place to grow up. Don't get me wrong I loved my family home (and still do) as it was on the edge of town and playing in the woods was great but the actual place was a ghost town. There was nothing to do as a teenager and still to this day the town is dead. The town council is constantly trying to attract more businesses (at one point it had the most closed outlets per outlets of any place in the UK) but people still prefer to take their business elsewhere.

Now I live in London and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Sure the city is more polluted but it's bustling! There's so much do to. Literally on any street near the centre you're likely to find a couple of interesting things and if there's nothing up your alley walk half a mile to the next area. There's so many people to meet, so many events to attend, so many interesting little cafes and parks and museums. It's fantastic.

I like visiting the countryside for the greenery every now and then, but life in the city is so much more exciting.

 

[Psinter]

According by a report from the http://file:///C:/Users/ryanb_000/Downloads/hsq0_tcm77-228953.pdf life expectancy is longer in the UK countryside than the cities however the biggest determinator is wealth. The countryside has less deprived areas than the cities. This fits with another article a read last year (can't find it now) which reported those with the highest life expectancy in the UK life in the countryside but work in the cities (countryside is cheaper to live in and has more health benefits, city workers get paid more).

With regards to what's better to live in on a personal level I grew up in a town I'd describe as on the edge of the countryside. From the edge you could look from a hill and see nothing but farms and villages to the horizon but the town itself had a population of a couple of tens of thousands. It was a horrible place to grow up. Don't get me wrong I loved my family home (and still do) as it was on the edge of town and playing in the woods was great but the actual place was a ghost town. There was nothing to do as a teenager and still to this day the town is dead.

I'm actually having a hard time imagining a place with thousands of people being like a ghost town. Anyway, if it is calm place then I guess we have a difference of opinion. I want it there like right now. Silent and calm is my kind of place.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I'm actually having a hard time imagining a place with thousands of people being like a ghost town. Anyway, if it is calm place then I guess we have a difference of opinion. I want it there like right now. Silent and calm is my kind of place.

Ghost town in the sense that there is/was absolutely nothing to do. It's gotten better since I moved away approximately 8 years ago but when I grew up all the town was was a few square miles of residential estate (some of them very deprived) a town centre mostly consisting of boarded up shops and a hundred pubs to drink yourself to death in. Now there's a skatepark, a small theater and a few more pubs to drink yourself to death in. The woods and fields were great sure but the town had and still has a massive problem in the form of teenagers with nothing to do, which has led to a large teen drinking problem (exacerbated by years of town council "crack downs"). Honestly it wasn't some genteel peaceful countryside town, it's the remnants of a once prosperous market town economically destroyed by widespread car use and not-too far cities with far better attractions.

I completely understand people's wish to live in the countryside and obviously not everywhere is like where I grew up but I'd argue that here in the UK there are a lot more dead towns than people think. Occasionally you see a documentary on it, once prosperous country towns now deprived due to easier access to nearby cities (and importantly not well situated on train lines to become commuter towns for said cities) but little has been done to fix the problem.

 

[WWGD]

Ghost town in the sense that there is/was absolutely nothing to do. It's gotten better since I moved away approximately 8 years ago but when I grew up all the town was was a few square miles of residential estate (some of them very deprived) a town centre mostly consisting of boarded up shops and a hundred pubs to drink yourself to death in. Now there's a skatepark, a small theater and a few more pubs to drink yourself to death in. The woods and fields were great sure but the town had and still has a massive problem in the form of teenagers with nothing to do, which has led to a large teen drinking problem (exacerbated by years of town council "crack downs"). Honestly it wasn't some genteel peaceful countryside town, it's the remnants of a once prosperous market town economically destroyed by widespread car use and not-too far cities with far better attractions.

I completely understand people's wish to live in the countryside and obviously not everywhere is like where I grew up but I'd argue that here in the UK there are a lot more dead towns than people think. Occasionally you see a documentary on it, once prosperous country towns now deprived due to easier access to nearby cities (and importantly not well situated on train lines to become commuter towns for said cities) but little has been done to fix the problem.

The Economist had an article on dying or decaying cities recently. It must be depressing to live in one.

 

[Psinter]

Ghost town in the sense that there is/was absolutely nothing to do. It's gotten better since I moved away approximately 8 years ago but when I grew up all the town was was a few square miles of residential estate (some of them very deprived) a town centre mostly consisting of boarded up shops and a hundred pubs to drink yourself to death in. Now there's a skatepark, a small theater and a few more pubs to drink yourself to death in.

Hehe, beer is everywhere.

 

[edward]

Small towns in the USA are struggling to survive. I went on a quest to save my home town when I heard that the last store in town had closed.

The best and brightest have left the small towns and the middle class have moved to the countryside. The countryside by the way doesn't necessarily mean there are any dangerous animals lurking about.

It is up to the individual. The city life is just not for me. I don't need curbs and sidewalks or street lights that glare in my bedroom window.. I want to see the stars , hear an owl hooting, and a dog barking off in the distance all at the same time.

If you watch an old moving that takes place in a rural setting, or a small town, just as it is getting dark, the owl and the dog barking in the distance will be heard. To me it sounds like the same dog and owl were used in all of the old movies. :)

 

[dragoneyes001]

life expectancy in the country depends on your career. farmers have a much higher chance of horribly disfiguring accidents than a playwright would living in the country.
people living in the city have more at hand medical services as well as health establishments like gyms and sport centers which can significantly change a persons life expectancy.the individual needs to use them though.as well as proximity can make the difference between surviving or not surviving some issue.
the human body is exceptionally adaptive to its environment which can seriously mitigate the effects of things like smog and other pollutants.especially if the person has a healthy lifestyle to further bolster the body.
being in the country does not mean a guaranteed longer life,the lifestyle has to be active too and although most people who live in the country tend to be active or more active because the country life tends to force more activities on its inhabitants a couch potato in the country is as likely to live a shorter life as a couch potato is in the city.
to do a comparative study you'd need to compare apples to apples.
the number of people you follow in the city should equal those in the country the levels of activity should be equal to each other as well as the levels of danger posed both by career and environment should be equal or proportional to each other. then you could see if either city or country life have an advantage on life expectancy.

 

[edward]

Not too may years ago a farmer didn't need a gym or athletic center to get a good workout. Yet it is a difficult comparison. Most of the people that I know who live in the countryside are not farmers. When I drive through my home county in Indiana, I see more far more individual (non farm related), homes on five to ten acres than farmhouses.

 

[Astronuc]

I prefer a quiet countryside or rural area, either near mountains or the ocean, or both.

The first town I lived in as a child had about 200 people or so. It was relatively quiet, and we could walk to the fishing pier or beach, and just watch the ocean. Inland were forested hills.

http://www.visitgreatoceanroad.org.au/media/6571/Cached/xbfrr5a2.jpeg

 

[wolram]

Thanks for the reply's, it seems there is a 50 50 split on who likes the countryside and who the cities, i much prefer the countryside but it is being ruined by green field building,
most of the houses are for townies who want to live near a motorway, there is a junction just 2 miles from my village, i say keep the townies in towns and leave the villages alone for us bumkins.

 

[jesssmart]

Town to live in, country for rest.

 

[WWGD]

Town to live in, country for rest.

Agreed, and, if you have enough money, you may throw in either a beach house, or a second country/city home.

 

[wolram]

Agreed, and, if you have enough money, you may throw in either a beach house, or a second country/city home.

No Townies should keep to the towns, second homes in the country rob country bumpkins of cheap housing.

 

[WWGD]

No Townies should keep to the towns, second homes in the country rob country bumpkins of cheap housing.

You have a good point there.

 

[wolram]

I'm of the opinion that all the country bumpkins must be constantly warding off unwelcome advances of wild, hungry animals such as bears, polar or otherwise. Let's not even mention permanent hay fever from all that hay laying around, the wear and tear on their legs due having to walk places, hordes of bloodthirsty earthworms tangling at your feet, trying to prematurely pull you into the moldy embrace of well-tilled earth, the horrible hillbilly disease, cultural establishment deprivation, parasites in unfiltered water and rampaging malaria-carrying mosquitoes which are left to prey freely on the unsuspecting passers-by in the absence of trusty vermin-eradicating city smog.

By Jove, I'm surprised there's even any life out there! You must be like those post-apocalyptic barbarians, entrenched in fortified outposts against the inexorable onslaught of elements and boredom. Do you, like, need any supplies?

There are no wild animals in the UK or maybe the occasional muntjack and mad hare , Hay fever suffers are mostly townies who can not adapt to fresh air and healthy living
as for all the Earth worms we have them well trained if they pop their heads out of the ground they let birds eat them.
And we do need supplies we are running low on champagne and petrol, please send them to me ASAP.

 

[lisab]

There are no wild animals in the UK

I spent a summer in England as a teenager. I found plenty of wildlife there, if you know what I mean .

And we do need supplies we are running low on champagne and petrol, please send them to me ASAP.

That's a mighty volatile mix, Woolie!

 

[tom aaron]

I'm a Nature nut. Live in Western Canada near the Rockies. Also a bit of a Heath nut.

However, in North America the stats are clear. Folks in urban areas are healthier, fitter, leaner(less fat) and live longer.

The reason? Amongst other variables, education and fitness trend each other. Urban populations are better educated. Better educated people have much lower levels of smoking, eat healthier and...yes.. have more physical activity.

 

[wolram]

I spent a summer in England as a teenager. I found plenty of wildlife there, if you know what I mean .

I am aghast Lisab us country folk don't know what townies get up to, apart from tossing the odd welly our fun comes from country walks.

 

[Bandersnatch]

WOLRAM! I HAVE SENT YOU THE CHAMPAGNE! I HAD TO ASK NSA WHERE YOU LIVE! ALSO, I HAD TO MAKE THE POSTMAN PROMISE HE'D MAKE SURE IT WAS YOU AND NOT A SASQUATCH. I TOLD HIM TO USE THE PASSPHRASE: 'GOOD MORNING', TO WHICH YOU MUST GIVE THE RESPONSE: 'I'M NOT A SASQUATCH'. ONLY THEN HE'LL HAND YOU THE CHAMPAGNE.
ALSO, ALSO, I HAVE TO SCREAM TO GET TO YOU IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS - HENCE THE CAPS. BUT WE'RE SO FAR AWAY IT ALL GETS MUFFLED ANYWAY - HENCE THE SMALL PRINT!

 

[wolram]

Thanks Bandersnach, we country folk are fed up with scrumpy, we only want the best champagne for a change