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by José Rosário

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People who live in the country will tell you countless things they love about country life. Those who were born and raised in the country often never want to leave, and those who make a tree change say they wish they'd done it sooner. Regardless of whether you're already a convert or looking to make the change, here are 7 benefits of living the country life ... Affordability
The most obvious benefit is the price of both land and lifestyle in the country compared to the city. The cost of a postage-stamp-sized parcel of land in Sydney may possibly buy you a lovely property in the country.
Improved Health
The health benefits of country living are endless. You can grow your own fruit and veg (why not go organic), or buy direct from local farmers. The fresh country air is lovely and of course the general slower pace will melt that stress away. Country areas generally have a great community hub which will add to the general wellbeing of both yourself and your children.
More Family Time
Many people in suburban or city areas spend a lot of time enduring the daily grind of grid- lock traffic. If you choose to work as well as live in the country your travel time can be reduced - quality time which you can instead spend with your family. If you choose to commute it may be through scenic countryside, ensuring a better frame of mind for when you do get home as you have time to relax and unwind as you travel along our beautiful country roads.
Less Stress
Stress is reportedly one of the 3 major killers of our time. We all need to unwind and enjoy life more. Country areas are re-knowned for travelling at a slower pace and therefore are less stressful in general. It has been researched and documented that getting back to nature calms the mind and the body.
Kids Benefits
Your children will benefit from a country life too. They will have happier parents for a start, but they also get the side benefits of motorbikes, ponies and just generally being able to play in nature. Children usually make lifelong friends in the country areas, and what do they say about it takes a village to raise a child?
No Traffic Jams Here
No gridlock, poisonous fumes, blasting horns or road rage. Instead picture beautiful country roads, lanes and river crossings.
Caring Schools
We have the most wonderful and caring schools in our small communities. The children receive one on one attention. Everybody knows who is who, for example I know my child could never be collected at the front gate by someone she doesn't know because the teachers and other parents would know straight away that this wasn't right. There is also a lot of school and community pride, fund raisers and community event participation. Most importantly children won't fall through the cracks in a small community school.
Denise Haynes and The R & R Property Team are Tree Change Specialists living and working within the beautiful Stroud Valley. Stroud is located around an approximate 2.5 hour drive from Sydney. R and R Property specialise in assisting their customers make the move to a happier and healthier life in the country. You can grab your FREE Tree change Guide at www.randrproperty.com.au

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The 7 Benefits of Living the Country Life

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People who live in the country will tell you countless things they love about country life. Those who were born and raised in the country often never want to leave, and those who make a tree change say they wish they'd done it sooner.

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5 Surprising Benefits of Country Living, According to Science

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5 Surprising Benefits of Country Living, According to Science

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By Kimberly Dawn Neumann | Dec 3, 2015
Ah, country living—fresh air, wide-open spaces, a slower pace of life. What’s not to love? (Once you get used to those really quiet wide-open spaces, that is.) Yet in spite of all those vast acres just waiting for homeowners to stake a claim, country folks are a diminishing breed.

Recent U.N. statistics predict that the percentage of Americans living in rural areas will plummet from its current 46% to 34% by 2050. This exodus is largely tied to following the money (aka job opportunities), but those who do commit to life in the sticks will reap plenty of scientifically proven benefits.

Check out these reasons why country living rules.

Benefit No. 1: More ‘vitamin G’

“Vitamin G” stands for greenery—trees and plants, which the country has in spades. Not merely pretty, they also come with serious benefits that science is just beginning to understand. Scientific studies have shown that when humans are deprived of greenery, they can suffer in a variety of significant ways.

For instance, a University of Michigan study found that when humans spend even a few minutes on a crowded city street, their brain is less able to retain information or control impulses. (Note to New Yorkers: This explains a lot.) Another study found that residents of apartments with views of concrete/asphalt reported higher levels of aggression and violence than did their counterparts living in identical buildings with tree views.

There’s also air quality: People living around more trees and grass generally experience lower levels of air pollution, which has been linked to conditions associated with asthma and heart disease).

Benefit No. 2: Fewer psychological problems

Feel like the city is making you crazy? It actually might be. According to the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin, at least 10 studies have shown that people in urban areas are more likely to develop psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The available evidence suggests that more than one-third of all schizophrenia cases may be related to (or greatly exacerbated by) environmental factors in an urban setting.

Additional studies have shown that rural residents are less likely to have anxiety disorders. Scientists examined the prevalence of extreme anxiety in more than 345,000 residents of the Netherlands—male and female of all ages—and found substantially lower rates of disorders among those living in relatively green regions. In residential areas with 90% green space, the annual prevalence was 18 per 1,000; in areas with only 10% green space, the rate increased to 26 out of 1,000.

The same study found that green environments can also relieve sadness and depression. That’s definitely something to smile about.

Benefit No. 3: You’re less likely to get mugged

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ annual National Crime Victimization survey, violent crime rates in rural areas are nearly one-third lower than those in urban centers. In 2012, the rate of violent victimizations reported in metropolitan areas was 3.2%, as opposed to 2.1% in rural areas. Rape, murder, and property crime rates per capita are also substantially lower in rural areas. But it’s worth noting that country dwellers should install home security systems, since the stats do indicate that home burglary rates are slightly higher in rural areas (probably due to the isolation and space between properties).

Benefit No. 4: You’re more likely to own your home

Most people dream of owning, rather than renting, their own home some day, and it seems that possibility gets exponentially higher the farther into the country one is willing to venture. Recent National Census Bureau Statistics show that homeownership is higher in states with more rural communities such as West Virginia (76%), Michigan (74%), Vermont (74%), and Mississippi (73%) than in states with big urban centers such as Washington, DC (41%), New York (52%), and California (54%).

“There is no doubt that many of my clients find they get more for their money and are actually able to buy instead of rent when they move to more rural locations,” says mortgage broker Heather Garriock with The Mortgage Group. “The only caveat is whether or not they’ll be able to find enough work in those areas to support those mortgages. But on the whole the square footage per dollar is exponentially less expensive in the country.”

Benefit No. 5: Lower cost of living

Many people cite a lower cost of living as a reason for making a rural move, and there’s undisputed truth to this argument. While your basic food shopping trip might clue you into this ($12 for a box of Cheerios in Brooklyn?!), studies support it, too. For instance, research in the International Regional Science Review found that in Pennsylvania the average urban resident pays 6% more for all six major categories of goods—groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services—with the greatest difference (13%) occurring for housing costs.

“It is no secret that living outside of the city is more economical on many levels,” says Kathryn Blaze, a real estate agent for Sotheby’s International Realty who just relocated with her husband and son from New York City to central New Jersey for that reason. “That can become especially important when raising a family.”

Not convinced that rural life is for you? Don’t panic, urban dwellers! Tomorrow, we report on the awesome scientific benefits of metropolitan living. Read both to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly of calling each place home. But mostly the good.

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Advantages of Country Life over City Dwelling

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Advantages of Country Life over City Dwelling

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﻿﻿Advantages of Country Life over City Dwelling

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What are the advantages of country life over city dwelling and the main reasons why a growing number of people is looking for a property in the country.

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City Life Versus Country Life: A Debate (♫)

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Peter Gizinski from Dipstick, Nebraska debates "The City" about the advantages of country life versus city life. Ignoramus Boy from the suburbs tries to get a word in edgewise.

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Show of Hands - Country Life video. I think this is in keeping with the spirit of spreading the word which is encouraged at the gigs. If not, Steve and Phil, let us know and we will remove the vid.

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A Country Life                                                                  A bird that I don't know,Hunched on his light-pole like a scarecrow,Looks sideways out into the wheatThe wind waves under the waves of heat. The field is yellow as egg-bread doughExcept where (just as though they'd letIt live for looks) a locust billowsIn leaf-green and shade-violet,A standing mercy. The bird calls twice, "Red clay, red clay";Or else he's saying, "Directly, directly. "If someone came by I could ask,Around here all of them must know — And why they live so and die so — Or why, for once, the lagging heronFlaps from the little creek's parched cressesAcross the harsh-grassed, gullied meadowTo the black, rowed evergreens below. They know and they don't know. To ask, a man must be a stranger — And asking, much more answering, is dangerous;Asked about it, who would not repentOf all he ever did and never meant,And think a life and its distresses,Its random, clutched-for, homefelt blisses,The circumstances of an accident? The farthest farmer in a field,A gaunt plant grown, for seed, by farmers,Has felt a longing, lorn urbanityJailed in his breast; and, just as I,Has grunted, in his old perplexity,A standing plea. From the tar of the blazing squareThe eyes shift, in their taciturnAnd unavowing, unavailable sorrow. Yet the intonation of a name confessesSome secrets that they never meantTo let out to a soul; and what words would not dimThe bowed and weathered heads above the denimOr the once-too-often washed wash dresses? They are subdued to their own element. One dayThe red, clay faceIs lowered to the naked clay;After some words, the body is forsakenThe shadows lengthen, and a dreaming hopeBreathes, from the vague mound, Life;From the grove under the spireStars shine, and a wandering lightIs kindled for the mourner, man. The angel kneeling with the wreathSees, in the moonlight, graves.

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A Country Life                                                                  A bird that I don't know,Hunched on his light-pole like a scarecrow,Looks sideways out into the wheatThe wind waves under the waves of heat. The field is yellow as egg-bread doughExcept where (just as though they'd letIt live for looks) a locust billowsIn leaf-green and shade-violet,A standing mercy. The bird calls twice, "Red clay, red clay";Or else he's saying, "Directly, directly. "If someone came by I could ask,Around here all of them must know — And why they live so and die so — Or why, for once, the lagging heronFlaps from the little creek's parched cressesAcross the harsh-grassed, gullied meadowTo the black, rowed evergreens below. They know and they don't know. To ask, a man must be a stranger — And asking, much more answering, is dangerous;Asked about it, who would not repentOf all he ever did and never meant,And think a life and its distresses,Its random, clutched-for, homefelt blisses,The circumstances of an accident? The farthest farmer in a field,A gaunt plant grown, for seed, by farmers,Has felt a longing, lorn urbanityJailed in his breast; and, just as I,Has grunted, in his old perplexity,A standing plea. From the tar of the blazing squareThe eyes shift, in their taciturnAnd unavowing, unavailable sorrow. Yet the intonation of a name confessesSome secrets that they never meantTo let out to a soul; and what words would not dimThe bowed and weathered heads above the denimOr the once-too-often washed wash dresses? They are subdued to their own element. One dayThe red, clay faceIs lowered to the naked clay;After some words, the body is forsakenThe shadows lengthen, and a dreaming hopeBreathes, from the vague mound, Life;From the grove under the spireStars shine, and a wandering lightIs kindled for the mourner, man. The angel kneeling with the wreathSees, in the moonlight, graves.