Comments on: Urban exodus reversal: Homeowners grapple with reality as challenges and commutes overshadow rural charms https://realestatemagazine.ca/urban-exodus-reversal-homeowners-grapple-with-reality-as-challenges-and-commutes-overshadow-rural-charms/ Canada’s premier magazine for real estate professionals. Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:11:08 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 By: Gerald Tostowaryk https://realestatemagazine.ca/urban-exodus-reversal-homeowners-grapple-with-reality-as-challenges-and-commutes-overshadow-rural-charms/#comment-10181 Fri, 19 Jan 2024 15:00:33 +0000 https://realestatemagazine.ca/?p=27491#comment-10181 Great article. I grew up in the city and we moved to an acreage shortly after marriage. We spent 16 1/2 years on an 3.5 acres about 20 km from Edmonton. This article is good in highlighting the workload and drive times that we don’t often consider. I used drive times to listen to speakers on these things, what were they called, oh yeah, cassette tapes, but the older you get the less fun the drive becomes, especially in Alberta winters. We had a few close calls over the years in whiteout conditions.
Cutting 3 acres of grass for 8 hours every weekend in summer on a rider mower was relaxing but sure took a lot of time.
Driving your kids 10 km a few nights a week to games, friends, activities, etc, also took a lot of time.
The benefits, though, are amazing. A starry, starry night is something to behold, there were nights when the sky was literally wall to wall stars, completely uncountable. Evenings on the deck watching the sun set with a glass of wine was a beautiful end to the day. We had deer and the odd moose in our yard and the call of a loon in the nearby pond was something to behold.
As a city boy, I learned to appreciate that country folk are people just like us really smart city folk and, just because someone does things a little different than me doesn’t make me right and them wrong; we just value slightly different things slightly differently.
That said, when we finally moved into the city, the first thing we did was order pizza delivery the very first night. First time in 16 1/2 years.
It isn’t better or worse than city life, just different. If I was to do it again, I would buy an acreage with less land (less grass to cut) and closer to town. Definitely, if you’re considering country life, determine where you will be driving every day and live closer to there.

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