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Mrs. Groovy and I are big proponents of geoarbitrage. When done with a nice chunk of home equity, it’s a great way to radically change your financial fortunes for the better. By using geoarbitrage, we went from Baby Step 0 (i.e., awash in debt and living paycheck to paycheck) to Baby Step 7 (i.e., no debt, outright homeownership, and saving 50 percent of our gross pay) in a mere three years.
One day, I’ll write a post explaining how we used geoarbitrage to hack Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps. For now, though, I want to address the one glaring downside to geoarbitrage that fills a lot of people with trepidation: moving from a high-cost-of-living area to a low-cost-of-living area will invariably mean moving from a big cosmopolitan city to a small city or an even smaller town.
Small Town America Ain’t That Bad
Mrs. Groovy grew up in New York City. I grew up on Long Island. The New York metropolitan area contains over 21 million people.
We now live in Louisburg, North Carolina. Louisburg is an hour from Raleigh and has a population of 3,500.
Louisburg ain’t Manhattan, of course. It doesn’t have a single museum or theater and it’s most iconic eatery is the Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen on Bickett Blvd.
But we love living in Louisburg. The people are nice, our neighbors are great, and because we’re not too far from Wake Forest, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, there’s no shortage of things to do.
A Day in the Life of Two Small Town Retirees
This past Monday, Mrs. Groovy and I decided to venture into Raleigh for some food and culture. But before we did, we stopped by our neighbor’s pasture to look at the newborn cows.
In my city-slicker mind, the cow-birthing season would naturally be the spring. Newborn cows couldn’t possibly be hardy enough for winter weather, right? Wrong. The cow-birthing season is apparently the fall. There are at least a dozen newborn cows in our neighbor’s pasture now.
Quick aside. The newborn cows are adorable, of course. But they’re fun to watch because, by cow standards, they’re incredibly active. They actually chase each other and roughhouse with each other.
Our first stop in Raleigh was the Morgan Street Food Hall.
The Morgan Street Food Hall has 21 vendors, serving everything from lobsters to macarons. Mrs. Groovy and I decided to delight our gullets at Iyla’s Southern Kitchen. She went for the shrimp sandwich. I went for the barbeque bowl.
After our very satisfying lunch, Mrs. Groovy and I then walked over to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. We’ve been to this museum a couple of times before, but we love coming back. This time around, we made sure to visit the anthropod zoo and the butterfly conservatory.
Quick aside. Admittedly, I wasn’t particularly jacked up for the butterfly conservatory. What bonafide manly man would be? But there are some incredibly beautiful butterflies in this exhibit and it’s worth a visit. Besides, if you’re a bonafide manly man, and a butterfly lands on you, you can show other visitors just how manly you are by not freaking out like a girly man.
Back to Louisburg
After a couple of hours in the Museum of Natural Sciences, our curiosity was sated and it was time to head back to Louisburg. The cost of lunch, museum, and parking was less than $35.
Final Thoughts
Small-town or small-city living isn’t for everyone. Saying you hail from Raleigh doesn’t have nearly the cachet as saying you hail from New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. And going to a Carolina Mudcat game doesn’t generate nearly as much excitement as going to a New York Yankee game.
But don’t let small-town or small-city living scare you away from geoarbitrage. Thanks to the internet, small towns such as Louisburg aren’t nearly as isolated as they were ten years ago. And as long as you’re within an hour of a decently sized city, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to entertain your senses and enrich your soul. Heck, because doing something down here in North Carolina isn’t nearly as costly and hassle-plagued as doing something in New York, geoarbitrage has actually made me and Mrs. Groovy much more active and adventurous.
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. What say you? Is geoarbitrage worth it if it means abandoning the cosmopolitan city you grew up in? Or is it better to suffer the indignities of living in a big city than to suffer the yokelities of living in a small town? Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Peace.
I’m happy to hear that you’ve come to appreciate the small-town life. I grew up in a rural area, specifically on a working farm. Having farm chores made a strong young woman out of me, though my Mother carefully taught me social graces. My Shetland pony, Mr. Ed, was my companion for many happy hours. At night I would read books or sections of the encyclopedias my parents bought to keep my mind busy. We had wonderful neighbors and many family members nearby. If we’d had access to the internet it would have been virtually perfect!
Hey, Carole. Love your thoughts on small-town life. Mr. Ed sounds like a wonderful companion. And, yes, the internet is a definite game-changer for small-town America. A person sitting in the middle of Nebraska farmland has just as much access to the broader world as someone sitting in the middle of Manhattan.
Since your “about” section doesn’t show much, or even have pictures of you, I’m going to ask a few things:
1) Would you and Mrs Groovy have the same good experiences if you were a same sex couple, or if one of you was trans? If you have Groovettes, what if one of them was queer?
2) Do you openly practice a non-abrahamic faith?
3) Would you and Mrs Groovy have the same good experience if you were PoC or in an interracial marriage?
Hey, Katherine. Great questions. Here are my responses.
1. I think we would have the same good experiences. A gay couple is supposedly opening a restaurant in our town’s small business district and no one is calling for pitchforks and torches. Everyone we know is actually looking forward to the new restaurant and the new couple.
2. No. I’m Catholic and Mrs. Groovy is Jewish.
3. Again, yes. Louisburg is 50 percent white and 50 percent black. There are a number of interracial couples here and they are treated just like everyone else.
Rural America isn’t perfect, of course. It has its share of morally bankrupt people. But rural America isn’t nearly as hidebound as our media portrays. We’ve been living in very rural North Carolina for a year now and it has been very kind to us–even though I’m a New York Italian and Mrs. Groovy is a New York Jew.
Never forget that our media is very corrupt. It loves promoting the notion that America is a cauldron of “systemic racism” and “hate crimes.” And that notion couldn’t be further from the truth. For every example of “systemic racism” in America, there are a thousand examples of systemic kindness. And for every example of a “hate crime,” there are a thousand examples of love legalities.
Great queries, Katherine. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to hear from you again. Cheers.
I appreciated your article. I grew up on a gravel road in the country outside of a town of 1200 in Kansas. I don’t live in that area anymore but I very much enjoy the slower pace of life that living rural brings. It allows you time to build genuine bonds with your neighbors. Growing up we would visit the neighbors a couple of times a week where the adults would sit around and drink coffee while us kids would play outside (no doubt playing games that parents these days would be horrified by like tag on top of those big round hale bales lol). I knew if I ever needed anything I had an entire community who would pitch in and help.
Another thing I grew to appreciate was history. Everywhere has a story and most small towns have historical societies or small museums to tell those stories. I was fortunate to have parents who insisted we take time to visit as we passed through the different small towns. I guarantee that there are these same small museums in your area that describe local history.
Also by not having anything and everything at our fingertips it forced us to be creative problem solvers with the resources we did have. Don’t have that special do-hickey? No worries. The problem can be solved with duct tape, baling wire, and some creativity lol
There are some downfalls to living in a rural area. For instance if I did anything wrong as a teen the news ALWAYS beat me home. I can see though how this might be a benefit for parents 🙂
Thank you for sharing a little bit about your hometown. It sounds lovely–a perfect example of what makes America great. And the point you made about creative problem solvers was spot on. I didn’t grow up in farm country, but I grew up in an era where kids had to use their minds to amuse themselves. So we built forts, made gocarts, and created our own version of Olympic competitions. I doubt many kids are building forts today. Just another reason why I think video games are a scourge. Thanks for stopping by, Amada. Great freakin’ comment.
We spent most of our careers in a city of 4 million, and early retired to a city of 30,000. I love it more than words can express. No traffic, no toll roads, no superhighways, minimal crime, no billboards advertising for ambulance chasers, no tourists… It’s peaceful. Sure, we have to drive 45 minutes to go to Target, but online shopping alleviates most of those woes. Thank goodness for the internet for enabling us to have a good quality of life in a small town.
“No traffic, no toll roads, no superhighways, minimal crime, no billboards advertising for ambulance chasers, no tourists… It’s peaceful.”
Thank you, Kim. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
This spring I spent months commuting by train from Grand Rapids, MI to Chicago, IL. I was particularly impressed by the small town train stop of Bangor, MI. It got me thinking that if I were forced to work or regularly visit any big city, I’d scope out small towns far away, but on an Amtrak stop
You’re a wise man, my friend. Just looked up Bangor, MI. Looks awesome.
Wow. New York must be crowded. It has almost the same population as the whole of Australia!
I enjoyed seeing this little slice of your life. 🙂
Mrs. Groovy and I loved Sydney and Melbourne. But we really loved rural Australia the most. Give us Lakes Entrance, Mogo, or your seaside village any day. The pace, setting, and atmosphere of small-town Australia are as close to heaven as us mere mortals can get.
i grew up rural, extremely rural. burlington and albany were each more than an hour away and we never went to either. it’s been good to experience the world in a new medium sized cities like where we live now (buffalo). i don’t love it here but there is plenty to do within walking distance and we do love our old house. you could buy the house i grew up in near the vermont border for about 60k. it’s a perfectly viable country house on 1/2 acre with a garage. all that being said we won’t be returning to anything that rural. maybe we could settle on a village or large town or something like that. anything except a suburb! nice post.
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I did my undergraduate work at Buffalo University. Love Buffalo and its people. For five years I lived on…
Bocce Club pizza
Mighty Taco bean and cheese burritos
Duff’s chicken wings
Parkside Candy milkshakes
And Genny Cream Ale
The winters were rough, of course. But I got lucky. I started my undergraduate education in 1979, two years after the massive snowstorms that made Buffalo a national story.
The same for us too. We’re from BFLO, NY. Now live in rural NC. 1 hr. from Charlotte. Its beautiful, friendly, safe to raise a family. Been down here since 1997. The only thing that stinks sometimes(no pun intended!) is our well and septic system(been costly over 22 yrs). But the weather/winter and economy Best : )
When Mrs. Groovy and I left New York in 2006, we moved to Charlotte. We lived less than a mile from South Mecklenburg High School. In 2008, we moved east to Indian Trail. Love the Charlotte area and its people. And we would have stayed there if 14 family members and friends hadn’t moved from New York to Wake Forest. Hey, quick question. Did you ever eat at The Penguin before it closed?
Mr G, I’m coming at it from a different direction. I grew up in a small Michigan town of 8,000 people, but spent the majority of my career in mid-sized cities (Cleveland, Dallas, Lexington, Atlanta).
When we retired, we couldn’t wait to get back in the country. You can take this boy out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the boy. We love our small mountain town of 3,000 people, and can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Man, am I glad to be back in the country!
Ditto, Fritz. The World Headquarters couldn’t have been plunked down in a more beautiful place. Nothing quite like the Georgia mountains for nurturing one’s soul, my friend. I’m jealous.
I think you guys would be happy anywhere you live. It takes a certain mindset and being willing to adjust. Plus perseverance, planning and plain hard work to get there. Very encouraging to read how you’ve arrived at your destination . Can’t wait to read your post on Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps hacks.
“I think you guys would be happy anywhere you live. It takes a certain mindset and being willing to adjust.”
Couldn’t agree more. If Dairy Queen blizzards and baby cows make you zip-a-dee-f*cking-doo-dah happy, you’ve won the happiness game.
Besides being so close to the history of our founding fathers, I have zero interest in moving back to the D.C. suburbs where I lived during high school and college.
But I also don’t have a desire to move back to the prairie of Wyoming or South Dakota where I spent my childhood~it’s too barren after living in east Tennessee where I can be in a major city (Atlanta, Charlotte, or Nashville) within 4 hours versus an entire day’s drive. We live 45 minutes from Knoxville which has basically any chain store or restaurant one can want.
I will say that the internet, online shopping, and cheap travel have made living in a rural or semi-rural area a lot better.
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The big city isn’t worth wondering if your commute is going to be 45 minutes or two hours because of traffic, plus the constant noise/bustle since the population density is much higher.
It was a small adjustment when I moved to TN in 2008. The area has definitely grown in the last decade (sometimes a little too much for my liking), but I appreciate the simpler lifestyle.
There is less hurry and it’s easier to build genuine relationships where people aren’t always focused on seeing the latest performance, concert, etc.
I hear ya about population density. My family lives in Wake Forest. When Mrs. Groovy and I moved from Charlotte, our intention was to settle in Wake Forest. But because of all the damn Northerners, Wake Forest is no longer a sleepy little town. It’s far from a big city, of course, and it still has a lot of charm, but there are just too many people there for our taste. It actually has traffic jams on several of its major arteries right now (e.g., Main Street and Rogers Road). And Mrs. Groovy and I didn’t leave Long Island to get reacquainted with traffic jams. Nope. We much prefer to live in farm country.
“I will say that the internet, online shopping, and cheap travel have made living in a rural or semi-rural area a lot better.”
So true, my friend. Love your attitude and your fondness for small-town America. We are definitely kindred spirits. Quick question. Have you ever been to Litton’s in Knoxville? Mrs. Groovy and I went there several years ago on a Knoxville getaway and loved it. One of the best burgers I ever had.
I’ve been to Litton’s once circa 2009. It was good from what I remember but we usually don’t visit that side of town often.
When we make a day trip to Knoxville, we try to visit Stock & Barrel in Knoxville’s Market Square. They have excellent burgers as well. Parking can be a hassle as it’s “metro Knoxville” but it is a fun area to walk around.
Thanks, Josh. We’ll make sure to visit Stock & Barrel the next time we’re in Knoxville. You can’t go wrong with burgers and bourbon.
Well Mr. Groovy,
I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments. The expression, “home is where your heart is,” is still well known to all for a reason… because it’s true. Financial aspects aside, moving to an area that may have less to do but allows you to do more makes sense. Does it really matter how much you could do in an area with a higher cost of living if you are unable to do anything because you have to work more to afford to live where you are at? That’s a personal choice for everyone but, for me, enjoying more of the “less” was a no brainer.
“Does it really matter how much you could do in an area with a higher cost of living if you are unable to do anything because you have to work more to afford to live where you are at?”
A lot of wisdom there, my friend. Thanks for stopping by. Great freakin’ comment.
My wife and I grew up in a small town and farm in NE IA. My town had a pop. of around 500. No stoplights. Upon retirement from the Navy, we moved to a suburb of KC MO. Population is 3,200. Takes 13 minutes to drive to downtown KC. I loved growing up from boy to man in my small town. Still dislike cities. If we move one more time, we will settle down once again in a rural area. Pace is slow and people are usually kind and of a volunteer type. To each their own. Growing old in traffic is not on my bucket list. You know?? God speed to all your readers. Enjoy your authentic writing….
“Growing old in traffic is not on my bucket list.”
Nailed it, my friend. I grew up on Long Island and I can’t remember a time when a major artery such as the Long Island Expressway or the Belt Parkway wasn’t bedeviled by traffic, construction, or driver-induced mayhem. I’ll never forget the time I was driving home from Manhattan at three o’clock in the morning. Everything was fine until I hit the Nassau Expressway by the JFK airport. All of a sudden, a major traffic jam. I just sat there for 45 minutes. The reason? Two rival gangs shut down the road so they could have a drag race! Don’t miss big-city living at all.