Ah, I see. At 16, you can legally move out...but the finances needed might be a problem. Looks like you're stuck in your isolated farmland for a while yet.

Not farmland, town of 200 (moslty dero) people.

Ah, so it's one of those everybody-knows-everybody-else towns. You're the only person out of 200 that likes metal? And your school has about 35 people attending?

Sorry, but I'm picturing vast plains of nothingness and dirt roads. I know I'm way off, though.

Hahaha, nono, I go to school in another town, about 50km away I think. That one has a pop of 1500! School has 400 people and yes, I am the only metaller among them (unless you count the "OH I HATE THAT SCREAM SHIT, HOW COOL IS KILLSWITCH ENGAGE!" Actually, my (now former) English teacher is a fan of Slayer, S.O.D and a bit of other old thrash I think, he came to school one day raving to me about how he found his Reign in Blood vinyl.

Dirt roads, sort of. Shell grit roads here, beach you see. But apart from the main town to town roads, we do get a lot of dirt. People hate it when council grades them, that's when you see most of the crashes here, due to "maintenance."

I live in the middle of nowhere. The closest town is about 5 minutes away but there is absolutley nothing to do their, but thankfully their is a city about half an hour away . Also i go to a very small school consisting of mostly farmers hah.

Been enjoying this thread. I was a geography major in college, and I've always been fascinated by the relationship of people to their environment, how it influences them, how different personality types deal with it, etc. Also interesting to note that heavy metal fans have a much more even distribution across urban, suburban, and rural areas than probably any other "specialized" music genres.

Anyway, I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle, WA (Kirkland / Bothell and Kenmore to be exact). I'm trying to think what to say about that area, but I think the point is there's very little to say... Generally pleasant, but just really bland. As far as big cities go, Seattle is pretty cool. Would've liked to live downtown there for six months or something, but it never happened.

Next, I lived in an appartment near downtown Bellingham, WA for three years while in college. Nice college town (80,000 people) which felt more like a small city. Really easy to get around, with really nice rural areas and outdoor just outside of town in every direction. I remember those years fondly.

Then I got a wild hair after graduation, sold all my stuff and drove up here to Alaska. No I do not live in an old bus, nor eat moldy rice. Up here I started out in an old Anchorage neighborhood, but quickly realized that rent in town was ridiculous. Basically, for $600/month, I could live in some gangsta-ridden shithole in town, or move out to the middle of nowhere and live in a brand new cabin, which is what I did. I absolutely love it out here. I'm right along a river in a mile deep valley with jagged 5-10,000 foot mountain peaks all around, and an enormous glacier about 7 miles further up the valley. The place feels very remote, but it's really only 20 miles to Palmer, AK, a very pleasant small agricultural town of about 5000 people. I'm 30 miles to the suburb of Eagle River, and 50 miles from Anchorage itself. Of course this place would be boring to most people, but my free time has always been spent mostly doing outdoor sports and reading anyway, and I'm not so far out that having friends is a problem. The fact that it's 40 degrees BELOW ZERO outside right now is a bit of a downside I guess, but that just comes with the territory and to someone who loves extremity as much as I do, it's really all in good masochistic fun...

Here's two shots that were taken right down the road a couple weeks ago:

Not to go off-topic, but I always figured you way older than 16. Oh well.

I myself live in a little state called New Jersey. The butt of many jokes by those around it, yet everyone and their brother is dying to move in (particularly the benny douchebags). New Jersey is both shitty and great...we have everything; suburbs, country, mountains, forests, inner cities, industrial wastelands, beaches...basically every environment, all crammed into a place that would probably fit into Texas 50 times over. Like most native Jerseyans, I loathe it and love it. The very ambivalence of the state itself is a bit difficult to deal with sometimes. But on the good side, especially living in central Jersey, I can be in Philadelphia, Atlantic City, or New York in less than an hour. We have Great Adventure; tons of boardwalks and beaches (though those are basically ruined in the summertime by dickhead bennies); a fair number of venues that host metal shows; some nice parks and forested areas for the nature-minded; tons of malls; we have the Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike, major thoroughfares which are convenient to travel on when going a considerable distance. The flipside is basically 80% of people are rude douchebags; it's crowded in basically every nook of the state except parts of northwest and south Jersey; last year it was determined that NJ was the richest state in the nation, hosting more million-dollar income families than anywhere else, which I found surprising, but this also sucks because it's expensive as HELL to live here amongst the yuppie scum; trying to go anywhere is basically a task, you're constantly in traffic and waiting on line basically everywhere you go; oh yeah did I mention the bennies? yeah well they suck too; and I'll end this post/rant on probably the worst part IMO about NJ...the women. Yeah, you hear all that Jersey girl shit and how great they are....wrong. Most women, particularly the younger girls now, are all stuck-up sluts (I know, bear with my generalization...but if you lived here you'd agree most likely) They all think they're fuckin celebrities and too good for anyone, making them extremely obnoxious and unapproachable. But there's just so many hot women everywhere, it's borderline annoying, since most of them are clones of each other anyway. If any of you dudes from Europe wanna visit the States, definitely hit Jersey....quite an experience.

I live in the middle of nowhere actually. My town has about 50 people no highspeed internet, Dial-up. Nearest store is a shitload away. Mall or any place with entertainment is about a hour drive away. And i'm pretty much in the woods.. Gets so fucking boring. Worst part is no one my age lives here so its just all people over 60 years old. I would definitly move to a city or urban area if i could.

That's EXACTLY like where I live.

I'm kind of assuming that during school days, you often stay in that town to avoid traveling back and forth constantly. Kudos for having the effort to do that, though.

Oh man, you really are an urban pussy. No, I just take the bus to and fro home everyday. Jesus Mikey, grow some travelling balls.

The place where I live feels like a mix between a city, suburbs and a neat small town. I can't say I don't love it.

About 2/3 of Vienna lies on the south-western side of the Danube and before the river was regulated and forced into a bed in the second half of the 19th century the other side was frequently encountering heavy flooding. In the first half of the 20th century the whole area became part of Vienna and the borders of the two districts of Trans-danubia were definitively determined (the fuckin' Sowjets slowed the process down, it was finalised in 1954). Those two districts are the largest in Vienna, together having a population of almost 300 000 nowadays. My district is aptly named Donaustadt ("Danube City").

There's a nice picture on wikipdedia, but it's way too fucking large to post it here.

As you can see from the picture, there's a lot of green, even the Danube Meadow National park lies partly within the borders of Vienna. So it takes me about 20 minutes to be in a dense floodplain forest with a lots of cool calm places to purchase/smoke weed and have a picnic, but I can reach the city centre within 20 minutes, too. That's why it still feels like living in a large city, but on the other hand the 22nd district has a high proportion of residencies, just like a typically suburban area. Yet, some of that village-flair is still there, because the old main streets through the centres of these former villages are mostly readily indentifiable.

I'm glad that the public transportation system is pretty good. Within walking distance there's a tramway, several bus lines, the S-Bahn and soon the metro. In summer I mostly ride my bike, though.

Except for some specialised shops and a greater variety of pubs and clubs, there's no need to leave my district. I absolutely love to live where I live. I don't want to live in the city centre, because I couldn't live without all those little parks, meadows and spaces of undeveloped area in general. I also don't want to live in any more rural place, because, well, I don't want to miss the advantages of an urban region.

Interestingly enough, there's also a video on youtube where part of the my street can be seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq4hqN9EotI (wait until 2:47)

It'd only be an hour and a half of travel each day if their bus traveled at a decent speed. As long as you keep yourself somewhat busy it isn't really all that long a journey.

Suburbs are where I've always grown up, but I have relatives who live in rural areas and others who live in the city. I think the suburbs are best because they are away from the business of the city, but are close enough to them go there if necessary, unlike being in rural areas where going to the city would be a long trip (Well, depending where you are I guess).

Currently in a small college town (20000) in a rural area. I like the area and the nature and the fact that it only takes me about 20-25 minutes to walk anywhere... buuuut there is no proper transportation system to the nearest big cities (i.e. shows!). If I can find a town similar to this one that's either half an hour to an hour away from a big city that has a steady music scene and readily accessible buses/trains, I'll move there in a heartbeat.

All told, I dislike all three scenarios and would prefer a nice compromise, but I hate big cities with a burning passion.

You and me both, and possibly many more here. They're good to visit for a day or whatever, but after that, I can't handle the chaos, busyness and the general unfriendliness and hostility. Not to mention the weird people that hang around give me the creeps.

Not to mention the disgusting pollution levels. The air in the city sucks

I think I've got it pretty good, I live in Colorado right outside Denver I'm not in the middle of the city nor am I in the suburbs. I can get to where I need to go on public transportation and if I wanted to get away for a bit I could could go to the mountains (if I had a car).

I honestly can't distinguish a huge difference in air quality when I breathe in Sydney. Maybe my lungs are tainted from all the cigarette smoke I inhale. I'm more disgusted by the actual congestion on the roads and sidewalks more.

And they're dirty. And I don't know how people can live in big cities with a clear conscience when, just across town, people are afraid of walking home at night because a bunch of ignorant kids think it's cool to wave guns around. I'm appalled at cosmopolitan celebrity-studded cities that also have significant populations of homeless people (I'm look at you, Los Angeles).

Do you surf? My house is less than a kilometre away from the beach and I surf all the time. I'd take the beach and ocean over the city anyday. However, in the winter I would prefer living further south so I could be close to the snow. I snowboarded for the first time last year and it was incredible. My new favourite sport

Luckily, there's gun control in Australia (although people still end up with them), and I was walking through Sydney during a Saturday night and it was fine...dare I say people were perhaps not as hostile as they are in our local nightclub area. That one fact still won't convert me to a city dweller.

Link didn't work

EDIT: And now it's disappeard

Never mind. I was trying to make a joke, but I failed miserably.

I live in northern Virginia (US) just south of DC. Suburbs. It's an ok place I guess. I can walk to a few shops/restaurants but anything beyond that I have to drive to. There are some woods near the end of my street, but they aren't that thick and you can see houses from wherever you are in them. Still, they're nice to walk in at night sometimes. There's really nothing to do though, other than go to school/work, go home and do whatever for a few hours, and repeat the next day. It's far away from mountains/the beach, and DC really isn't a very interesting city. I used to loathe the place until a year or two ago when I realized I lived 10 minutes from a pretty good venue for metal. My high school has about 4,000 people but I only know of one other metal fan, and he's four years younger than me so we don't really talk much. Plenty of core kids though...

It's not too bad, but college next year will bring a welcome change in scenery.

By the way Meganerd, those pics are awesome. Hopefully I'll live somewhere like that some day.

Half of my family lives in MN, and i had a great opportunity to experience all 3 styles of living while i last was over there. I have one uncle, that lives outer-city suburbs, quite close to the CBD/Airport/Mall Of America. Absolutely fantastic location, really loved Minneapolis. My Grandparents live about 1.5hrs out of the city, and own a nice big property with a lake/fields/forest, but still have many built-up suburbs bustling with shops within a 20minute drive. And lastly my other uncle lives quite far north (but not as far north as you it sounds!) in Deerwood. Just as you described, beautiful landscapes, lakes, wildlife and probably the most refreshing air ive ever drawn in my life!

My uncle is a forest ranger, so i got to spend some time with him at work, walking thru forests, checking on pine plantations, tree loggers, hunters etc. Unfortunately, i missed out on a kayaking/fishing/camping trip up further North MN, which would have been unbelievable! Was a fantastic experience! Really appreciated and loved North MN, but i definately couldn't do it for too long. A lot of my cousins friend's that i met were quite...strange....in fact a lot of the young kids i met up there were a bit....strange.....although very friendly, very......strange.....I know both my cousins heads were done in from 18 years of wilderness and not much to do....unless like you said, your a hunter or a fisherman.

As for where i live now, i live in the Outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I am in an area that is approximately about a 20-25 minute drive from the city. I've lived in suburbia all my life, which i don't mind too much. The only thing i really dislike about the suburbs is when im driving around, how often i see things that bring the 'Weeds' title song to mind.

*Sings in head*....Little Boxes On The Hillside....Little Boxes Made Of Ticky-Tacky...."

I live in a village in Devon. It's one of the better off villages, as there is a primary school, a train station, a shop, and rather bizzarely, a pizza takeout and a hairdressers. For most towns in the area the train station in my village is the closest. The town where my school is doesn't have a train station, and it's an hours walk. The best way to get around is by car. I'm legally not allowed to drive until my next birthday, so I find it difficult to meet with my friends.
The countryside is great. There are plenty of wide open areas, to play football or rugby in, or we can go into the woods and camp in the treehouse we made for a weekend.
I love living here, but I'm going to university in a couple of years so I plan to make the most of it while I can.

I lived in northern VA my whole life too, until about 4-5 years ago. I go up there sometimes but there's nothing to do anymore and all my old friends are gone. Do you ever hit up Cd cellar or orpheus records?


Any who, I now live in stephens city, VA (never heard of it? I know). And it's pretty fucking boring to say the least. It's suburban, and on the borderline of rural. Really damn close to WV, so there's no shortage of rednecks and country folk. All anyone wants to do around my area is get high and fuckin party, so I more or less have no friends in my area and don't know anyone my age who is into playing metal or starting up a band. All my friend's live about an hour away, which sucks. My advice to anyone, don't move from where you've got something to lose such as friends or a big family, because it just blows adjusting to some new place that sucks and has nothing to do. I've also been to new york before and can safely say it beats both of the places I've lived. I can't even imagine how cool it'd be to always have neat stuff to do whenever you want and never know the misery that is boredom.

I've lived in the sub urbs my whole life. I enjoyed it, and in particular the neighborhood I lived in had a huge impact on my life.

In June my friends and I moved into where we are, which is on Main Street in Dartmouth. It's still the burbs, but it's within walking distance to just about everything. I like it, but I sort of miss living on a quiet street.

I think I could live in the city or in the middle of nowhere. Downtown Halifax would have some advantages, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy living there. I love visiting Montreal, but living there, I'd miss Nova Scotia way too much.

I'd like to retire in some kind of rural area. Not too far from civilization, but away from noise, people, etc. I'd love to walk out my back door and see nothing but wilderness for hours of hiking.

My mom's family is from NYC, and I grew up right across the GWB in the suburbs, but always felt more in tuned with city-like places. I lived in NYC for a bunch of years, and then moved back across the GWB about 12 years ago.

I am moving my fam to Ulster County next week (relocating) and I'm excited. My wife grew up there and I know the area quite well; been going up there for over 15 years now. I guess the area is considered suburban, but you are in the middle of the Catskills which is pretty damn beautiful. So there is deer in the backyard for sure, so it's sort of the best of both worlds; since the city is about 90 minutes by car.

damn fuck! the same number of people I see every day in my high school!

Rural region: aka "the middle of nowhere." The kind of area where your home is in the middle of a forest, or in the hills. Civilization is scarce and the nearest store from you is like 5 miles away. A car is needed to get around because walking can be dangerous or long to do. And you're surrounded by nature; animals are no strangers to you.

I've lived here most of my life. There is no one around me. The closest neighbors are far enough away that I can have band practice in the middle of the night. We have about 14 acres of land. All that is around me is forest and a few houses.

I like the fact that it's private, but it does take a while to drive to get stuff.

I've also lived in a small town; I guess you could call that suburbia because it wasn't big enough to be a city. That was alright I guess. But I'd rather live here because the city is bigger and I'm only about 20 minutes away from it.

I grew up in the Northeast section of Philadelphia. Lots and lots of people. Most of them, I couldn't stand and wanted to get away from.

It was dirty, EVERY white person acted black. The 2nd of the 3 high schools I went to was such a piece of shit, that me and half the other students didn't even wait for class to finish to smoke pot, we just opened the window and stuck our head out. Our teachers were always scared, didn't do shit.

Went away (to a place much MUCH smaller) and when I came back, I moved to a suburb of Philly. It's nicer 'cause it's quiet, but there really isn't shit around. The people are all dentists and lawyers and I hate their houses and their daughters are ugly and there isn't any transportation. So there's alot of fucking walking. But on the bright side, there's a porn shop (where I work) and a mall about 10 minutes away (25 if I walk)..

For me it's the same: no DSL or cable or anything because I live in the middle of nowhere.

Cons: there's fucking nothing (and right now I cannot leave my home because there's too much snow outside)
Pros: I'm near to the mountains