House Porn

Cypress said:
To some extent, I personally feel like it comes down to location.

I would choose a Manhattan penthouse over a farmhouse in rural Kansas. And I do not even really like living in cities.

But the sweet spot for me is a smallish university town with plenty of access to culture and education, without the traffic, congestion, and inconvenience of a large urban area.
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As much as I don't care for urban areas I'd pick the Manhattan apartment over the KS farm house too. Have you ever been to KS? If so, you know why. lol
 
cawacko said:
I have an Aunt that lives on a farm surrounded by Amish people in BFE Ohio. She's a NPR loving, Jesus hating leftist. I stayed with her once and was out my mind. I couldn't sleep because it was so quiet and all these damn animals were around. I was scared. She thought it was the funniest thing ever, freaking City boy lost and clueless on a farm.

My Aunt is a wiz on that farm. She grows her stuff, takes it to town to sell and does well for herself. And she loves it. I couldn't imagine for one second living her life. And not that she has anything against big cities but she has zero desire to live in one. Different strokes for different folks.
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I would love to visit your auntie... she sounds awesome and so does her farm and neighbors.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
My city-dwelling family had a summer home on the shore when I was young, and my parents converted it to a year round home when they retired.
When I inherited it, I moved there with my wife as well--kids were in college or military--and lived there for about twenty years.
We moved back to city life when I got too old to maintain the big place.
Sold it for a LOT, but it had been in the family since 1950 so it was sad as well.

I liked the beach, but I was a prisoner in my own home due to summer traffic.
No cabs, no subway, no busses--if you don't want to drive in bumper to bumper traffic, you stay home.
I liked to walk the beach with my dog--we'd go for miles--but I was never one to sit on a blanket and fry myself.
Instead, I'd sit on my deck, listen to jazz or the ballgame, and drink. Seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess.

The shore is nice. The city is nice. The woods, I'm afraid, would probably not be for me.
Not noisy enough, maybe. And lots of allergens.
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The woods are plenty "noisy," it's just not human sounds (usually). Your beach place sounds wonderful, except of course for that traffic -- tourists, I guess? Was that mostly in the summer, or year-round?
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
As much as I don't care for urban areas I'd pick the Manhattan apartment over the KS farm house too. Have you ever been to KS? If so, you know why. lol
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I drove across the entire state of Nebraska once, which I believe is almost identical to Kansas.

I became very acquainted with the smell of pig sh*t in that state.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Was that mostly in the summer, or year-round?
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Summer was traffic. Lots of it. Massive alcohol quantities consumed as well.

Winter was desolation, and neighbors barely interacted at all. At least we and ours, but it seemed like everybody. Dog seemed to like the snow. I didn't. Gulls attacked trash barrels. They didn't migrate.

Spring was raw and wet. Had to be careful for sandpiper nests in the dunes. Cute little things are protected. Every few years, government would repair the beach., dredging the sand that washed away and replacing it.

Autumn, however, was spectacular. But autumn is great in the city, too.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
Summer was traffic. Lots of it. Massive alcohol quantities consumed as well.

Winter was desolation, and neighbors barely interacted at all. At least we and ours, but it seemed like everybody. Dog seemed to like the snow. I didn't. Gulls attacked trash barrels. They didn't migrate.

Spring was raw and wet. Had to be careful for sandpiper nests in the dunes. Cute little things are protected. Every few years, government would repair the beach., dredging the sand that washed away and replacing it.

Autumn, however, was spectacular. But autumn is great in the city, too.
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Autumn is great everywhere.

My ideal place would be somewhere that's like where we are now, only with a larger city within an hour or so driving distance. The largest city closest to us right now is Green Bay, four hours away. It's hardly Manhattan though. lol
 
Cypress said:
I drove across the entire state of Nebraska once, which I believe is almost identical to Kansas.

I became very acquainted with the smell of pig sh*t in that state.
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Never been there, but have driven across Kansas to visit Colorado more than once. We've also driven across Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to visit the East. None of those states are very scenic unless you like flatness, corn, and cows.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
I see. That's a concept that's puzzling to me but to each their own. Living in a beautiful and snug log cabin on an Ozark mountain, surrounded by miles of forest and wildlife sounds a lot more appealing. Good luck, hope you can find a compromise that works for you.

ETA: That's what we had to do here. I was fine with a smaller place as long as it had some acreage, but he wanted a larger house. His reasoning was that the winters are long and we'd often be cooped up inside. So he bumped up the upper limit we were willing to pay in the search thingie on realtor.com, and found this place. We have mountains just to our west, and to the east a wide view of Lake Superior. We're not right ON the lake; the house is on a bluff about half mile away... all the benefits of the view without the racket of the surf during storms, and no erosion problems either. The "mountains" are more like hills though, compared to the kind your wife is thinking of. We do have downhill skiing here though, as well as Nordic.
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I offered a compromise; Mobile, Alabama.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
As much as I don't care for urban areas I'd pick the Manhattan apartment over the KS farm house too. Have you ever been to KS? If so, you know why. lol
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I was born there :laugh:, left at 18, now that my parents have passed, I doubt I go back, maybe for my 50th class reunion if they have one ;)
 
Cypress said:
I drove across the entire state of Nebraska once, which I believe is almost identical to Kansas.

I became very acquainted with the smell of pig sh*t in that state.
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Kansas it’s cow manure. There’s a feedlot near my hometown. The town is growing around it, city wants owner to move, but they refuse. I wonder what it would take to make the property inhabitable.
 
Places like Kansas and Nebraska and Iowa serve a vital purpose, despite my sometimes over the top tendency to ridicule them.
Just don't make me live there.
 
Phantasmal said:
Kansas it’s cow manure. There’s a feedlot near my hometown. The town is growing around it, city wants owner to move, but they refuse. I wonder what it would take to make the property inhabitable.
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manure management is one of those no good options issues. Composting and fertilization might be the best of the worst management strategies.

I have read that one of the biggest improvements we can make to the environment and global warming is for all of us to become vegetarians. Livestock agriculture is extremely resource intensive and a huge source of CO2. And that is not to mention the animal cruelty issue with stockyards and confined animal facilities.

I am strictly eating free range beef and chicken now, but have not had the courage to make the leap to vegetarianism!
 
Cypress said:
manure management is one of those no good options issues. Composting and fertilization might be the best of the worst management strategies.

I have read that one of the biggest improvements we can make to the environment and global warming is for all of us to become vegetarians. Livestock agriculture is extremely resource intensive and a huge source of CO2. And that is not to mention the animal cruelty issue with stockyards and confined animal facilities.

I am strictly eating free range beef and chicken now, but have not had the courage to make the leap to vegetarianism!
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The closet I come is one meatless meal a week. I’ve had friends and family take the leap. But I’m a carnivore!
 
Phantasmal said:
The closet I come is one meatless meal a week. I’ve had friends and family take the leap. But I’m a carnivore!
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Ditto! We're down to red meat (beef, pork) 2-3 times a week and fish and chicken and eggs the rest of the time. Giving it up entirely though isn't happening. I can barely get Mr. Owl to eat vegetables as it is. A soy-based diet isn't really good for males (soy contains phytoestrogens) or post-menopausal women either.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Ditto! We're down to red meat (beef, pork) 2-3 times a week and fish and chicken and eggs the rest of the time. Giving it up entirely though isn't happening. I can barely get Mr. Owl to eat vegetables as it is. A soy-based diet isn't really good for males (soy contains phytoestrogens) or post-menopausal women either.
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My type of breast cancer, I really have to limit my soy, now.
 
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