City life or village life

[peanut]

I'm for the village life,since I have two little kids and I want them to spend a lot of time outdoors. I'd like to hear opinions on why is good to live in the city versus the village.

[jojo]

I personally dont like town/city life at all!! So we live in a village which is on the edge of a small town! I go into town a few times a week and thats fine. Funnily enough I dont go to the village that much, maybe to the little shop to get bread etc or just for a stroll, but thats about it. I'm not keen on lots of noise, traffic, rushing around

Jo xxx

[Tallulah]

Originally Posted by jojo

I personally dont like town/city life at all!! So we live in a village which is on the edge of a small town! I go into town a few times a week and thats fine. Funnily enough I dont go to the village that much, maybe to the little shop to get bread etc or just for a stroll, but thats about it. I'm not keen on lots of noise, traffic, rushing around

Jo xxx

I'd second that Jo. Had enough of big cities in the UK, corporate life - time for something different.

To Peanut - I'll be blunt - earlier you were asking about Iranian communities - if we can get some sort of parity on a "community atmosphere" that you might be looking for, then I'd say a smaller town/village every time. That sense of families together, smaller groups socialising, sense of neighbours looking out for each other....of course it brings another side to it, lets face it some villages in "more traditional" parts of Spain generally inhabited (statistically speaking with the ratios of ancianos) by older folk, so you're gonna get your gossiping, etc - but there's nothing to beat in my opinion knowing your surroundings well, feeling at home and knowing your neighbours, them popping along with a bag of potatoes or tomatoes from their huerta. Call me a romantic, but for me it's the way to go.

Tallulah.xx

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Tallulah

I'd second that Jo. Had enough of big cities in the UK, corporate life - time for something different.

Oh me too!! When I was expecting my son I worked in London, it was a hot summer and it was horrendous, I drove there and back everyday and it took forever. Lunchtimes were just a hustle and bustle of noise, car fumes, people pushing and shoving . NNNOOOOOOOO!!!!! Not for me ever again, too much stress!

Even the towns in Spain can be like that, especially in the heat of the summer. Altho at least they have their siesta quiet time!

Jo xxx

[peanut]

I wasn't looking to live in the Iranian community. It was merely for obtaining information,my husband speaks no spanish. I used to live in Osaka and sometimes I felt like a trapped sardine.Once during rush hour,there were so many people in the underground that they just stopped walking. It was like a sea of people,but quite scary.
I am looking for a quiet life and from what I read here people are quite happy in smaller places. If I was still in my twenties and without kids,maybe a big city life was more exciting,but now I feel I have all I need inside my home. And it would be nice to live amongst the Spanish people.

[Tallulah]

Originally Posted by peanut

I wasn't looking to live in the Iranian community. It was merely for obtaining information,my husband speaks no spanish. I used to live in Osaka and sometimes I felt like a trapped sardine.Once during rush hour,there were so many people in the underground that they just stopped walking. It was like a sea of people,but quite scary.
I am looking for a quiet life and from what I read here people are quite happy in smaller places. If I was still in my twenties and without kids,maybe a big city life was more exciting,but now I feel I have all I need inside my home. And it would be nice to live amongst the Spanish people.

My apologies - it's just when you posted this earlier on the forum asking where the Iranian communities were located....
[COLOR="Red"] Apparentely,there's a big Iranian community,but I can't seem to find anything about them. I'd like to know where are most of them located,any websites would be helpful too.



So have you started narrowing down areas yet Peanut?

[nigele2]

Originally Posted by peanut

I am looking for a quiet life

I think one needs to be careful with the term village. In the UK I used to live in a village (hamlet if you will) with no working element. It wasn't small having several hundreds of houses. It had a pub, a church, a bus occassionally. As such people left for work in the morning and returned at night. You were totally car dependent. It had no soul, no activity beyond a yearly fete.

I now when in the UK live in a village not much bigger but tucked away are several small businesses and two horse racing stables. We have three pubs (one full of little people ), a cafe, a general shop, a butcher, a doctor/chemist, an italian restaurant employing more spanish than Italians, chinese take away and post office, and a few bits and bobs. Not much bigger in size but it has an identity, a community.

I could live in the village and not leave it for months without problems.

I guess you can be as lonely in a small village as you can in any big city, or even in an Osaka sardine tube

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by peanut

I'm for the village life,since I have two little kids and I want them to spend a lot of time outdoors. I'd like to hear opinions on why is good to live in the city versus the village.

I think it's like everything - it depends, not much help I know, but as Nigel 2 said I think, there are villages and villages and there are towns and towns and look at London! Last time I was there I was about 10 mins away from Oxford street and you could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet!!
For me the ideal is a village/ small town near a larger town that you can pick up and put down as you like.
I get the feeling that there are quite a few livable towns in Spain, for example Burgos, Leon (both very cold unfortunately) Bilbao, Salamanca ... Not too big, near the country, easy to get around.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Pesky Wesky

For me the ideal is a village/ small town near a larger town that you can pick up and put down as you like.
I get the feeling that there are quite a few livable towns in Spain, for example Burgos, Leon (both very cold unfortunately) Bilbao, Salamanca ... Not too big, near the country, easy to get around.

I'm the same!" Thats why I like where I live. We're on the edge of a village and its peaceful (apart from the bloody dogs barking everywhere), we're 5 mins from a smallish town, Alhaurin de la Torre, but we're only 20 mins from Málaga City shoould we ever need the hustle and bustle! But for me, I like open spaces, countryside and peace and quiet. So its perfect for me - but not for everyone I guess!

Jo xxxx

Originally Posted by Pesky Wesky

I get the feeling that there are quite a few livable towns in Spain, for example Burgos, Leon (both very cold unfortunately) Bilbao, Salamanca ... Not too big, near the country, easy to get around.

Let me start off by saying that I'm a small town girl, born and raised. Before Spain I had never lived in a town that had a population of more than 5,000. And take note that at least in the US, this means houses spread out where you can't even see your neighbor's house. I detest American cities. Too overwhelming for me, and you're hours away from the country. (city parks don't count!)

What Pesky Wesky said was very true. I'm living in a small city next to Bilbao and if you want peace and quiet, you're in the middle of the forest in a five minute car ride (half hour walk). Looking out the window here and seeing the mountain is what saves me! I lived in Santander last year and it was a similar experience. A quick bus/car/walk and you're out of the city and into the calm.

That being said, if you're looking for a single family house with a back yard and forest, you're going to have to get in to some of the smaller towns. How are the Spanish about kids playing in the forest/on other people's property? I know that at home it's no problem, but does anyone know what it's like here?