Live in village, work in city - possible?

[androdev]

A bit controversial, but I am wondering if living in a village and commuting to city to work makes sense? Has anyone been doing this? I notice that most of the huge work places, upcoming schools, even hospitals are in the city outskirts.

I know living in city has many advantages - but is living in village such an impossible proposition? I don't mean roughing it out - but like your own little resort :-) What are your thoughts?

Points to consider:
Proximity to work place, schools, hospitals
Safety
Sanitation, clean water supply, mosquitoes
Availability power, TV, internet, etc.

[Samurai]

Well, nothing is impossible. I live and work in a village, I moved out of Bangalore early 2006.

Pros: No traffic, no pollution, low crime, low cost of living, very short commute and nice/cheap spacious houses to live.

Cons: Bad roads, lack of shopping options, almost no social life, hard to make new friends, lack of variety in entertainment, few school choices, no cosmopolitan environment and finally no Team-BHP meets.

[vkochar]

Well the Idea is really a good one and plenty of people are resorting to this. In fact it makes sense to buy a piece of land nowadays a little far from the town. So that in a few yrs if you can manage it, you can move out and make a Farmhouse sort of a thing.

The only Debatable bit is Safety. Maybe it is not that bad in South, but in North Saftey would be an issue.

[phamilyman]

Isnt that what chattarpur farms in delhi are all about? or sainik farms?

Jokes apart, you could look at stuff near Gurgaon, towards sultanpur, which is not far from manesar and gurgaon (hour's commute) - about as much time as one would otherwise take from delhi.

but safety is anyone's guess.

[vkochar]

@phamilyman - Yeah I wish sainik farms or Chattarpur farms could be in my reach !!

Any Idea of what the price is around sultanpur / manesar ?? And also is it safe to invest there and keep land for a few yrs without the fear of it getting ' taken over ' by someone else.

[androdev]

i don't mean to live in the colonies created by real estate businesses. i mean to live in a proper village/small town.. say like how a senior government officer lives.. with sufficient (may i say ample) means to live comfortably and not isolated from the village environment both social and physical. but at the same time take advantage of work, education, health care provided by the neighboring city.

i live in bangalore and i feel B'lore-Mysore stretch offers some really good opportunities. wanted to see if there are any learned men out there.

[sreenivass]

Very good topic up for discussion. It gets difficult to commute every day, but telecommuting should work well if villages provide internet, etc.. infrastructure.

I would love to for all the Pros Samurai mentioned. I would not worry about cons much as I can live in peace without some of those occasional needs.
My worries would be lack of sanitation, good schools and hospitals.

[aNiLdEv]

Yes Androdev, your idea/thought makes a lot of sense!!

From my personal experience, if your'e in Bangalore and happen to drive yourself to work, it is better to stay close to the office or at a place that is away from the gamut of city life for these reasons:

1. Bangalore roads are serving on their threshold already and more vehicles are getting added at an alarming rate. There's hardly any space for a vehicle to manoeuvre properly. So, as a responsible citizen I decided to take my contribution away
2. The slow pace of traffic (i would call it a snail race) not only drains your purse due to the low FE but also rains frustrations and in a bid to reach office on time is potentially catastrophic for the vehicle as well as for the driver/owner. By choosing to stay at a convenient place you can avoid the all this as well reach office in a much better shape to be able to work!!
3. Some people complain that you lose the charm of city life. I really don't understand what charm is being referred to here. Typically, for a person who starts from home around 7-ish and get back home around 9-ish, what charm has the city to offer?

There are many other advantages too... Comparitively Low cost of living, Serene/Peaceful residential locality, Less/No Pollution, etc..

So, its upto the individual to weigh what he gains and what he loses to take a decision. For me, the decision was easy and I feel happy to have take the wise decision!!

Cheers,
Anil Dev

[Samurai]

The pastures are always greener on the other side.

Unless you have lived in small towns or villages, you have no idea what you are wishing. Especially if you grew up in the city, it will be almost impossible to live in the village. Staying in green valleys during vacation is one thing, living there is another. At least now there is Satellite TV and Internet. Even then you can be bored out of your mind.

Try this, go to a village or town of no special significance, stay there for a month or even a week.

Living in a village and working in a city? That's going to be one hell of a commute, unless you can telecommute or take a helicopter to work.

[danlalan]

Living in a village.. and workplace being a resort or some sorta hotel/motel kind of a thing. i like that.

[Nitin]

The concept of living in a village,and working in the city sure sounds good.
I know a family in B'lore,where the husband & the wife work from home. They rarely need to go out and meet people,probably a couple of times a week at the most.
I'm not sure which area they moved to,but I do know that they'r a good 45-50kms away from B'lore.Their house is tucked away in a small village,and they've been staying this way for 2-3 years now. They love it,since it really gives them the blend of nature & the basic day to day needs.
Safety was a concern initially,but having invested in a few safety devices,its definitely something of the past for them.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Having moved a mere 30 minutes drive down the ECR from Central Chennai (and not to one of the posh sea-side colonies) I feel it is pretty village like. Not rural, far from it, but in the sense of the people, the much-increased numbers cows, buffaloes, wildlife in general...

Another half hour down the road and we could add rural to that too.

As a foreigner, my whole take is different I suppose. The rural life appeals to me very much, and I don't have to commute as I don't travel to work anyway.

My wife --- the one with the lifetime experience of India --- says, whoa! You don't know how hard it can be to settle in and be accepted by a village community, or how easy it is to get embroiled in misunderstandings, disputes over helping one person and not another, etc etc. Especially with a Tamil vocabulary of about ten words. She no pessimist, at all, nor is she snobbish, but she tells me that this is the reality of the situation.

I'm still interested, though. In fact I want to do it in Kerala, where the language is even harder to learn