Rural life vs urban life

Rural life vs Urban life

Nowadays the smaller rural communities are considered to be more sociable and pleasant to live in than larger urban communities. Are these assumptions factual or are they merely based on sentiment? The most important difference can be found by comparing the sociological structure of farm life to the same structure in a city. Larger communities enable all members to have more privacy than in smaller communities, thus a certain sense of “anonymity” arises which in it’s turn allows for less morally accepted behavior, because the level of social control declines to a level where it’s virtually nonexistent. In contrast with the sense of anonymity in cities, there is the small scale rural life where pretty much everyone knows everyone and as such the actions within the community are more visible and controllable than in a city. This explains the difference in mindset of rural and urban people. The scenery in rural areas is considered by many to look better than cities. Where rural areas have farms, lakes, mountains, trees, urban areas have skyscrapers, highways, cars et cetera. At first glance it seems as if rural areas are at an advantage, but that’s not entirely true, rural areas lack the convenience and utilities a more developed area offers, such as stores, firefighters, hospitals, police stations, internet access, proper cell phone coverage et cetera.

Rural areas in general are homogenous in their demographics, where cities are riddled with different ethnicities, subcultures and possibly religions, rural areas are generally less diverse, there’s usually one major religion, one “rural culture” which leaves no room for individual expression and foremost: Rural areas are generally more inclined to worry themselves with the essential things as food, housing and not so much with individual expression, personal development, clothing etc. All in all we can only conclude that it’s not possible to pick a “best” option, whether one prefers the rural life or the urban life is purely a matter of subjectivity. The facilities and convenience in a city surpass the facilities in rural areas by far, but the rural area has a better scenery to offer in return filled with quietness, space and friendly neighbors. The social structure in rural areas pretty much forces it’s members to behave, whereas a city is much more loose and allows for personal expression and individuality. I personally prefer the urban life, because of it’s better facilities, social structure and the ability to develop yourself further than is possibly in rural areas.