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this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2026
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I've had it both ways, and there's nothing that compares to having your own house and land with privacy away from noisy neighbors.
When I lived in a city there were more things to do, and I could bike to work, but the crowding feels like a social prison. Also I saw some people get shot, and thieves stole things from my porch repeatedly.
I grew up in exactly that kind of environment; really, the land (and the wildlife that comes with it) is the bit I miss the most. I'd take a very modest house on a decent plot of land in the middle of the woods to living in a city.
I want to live in a modest house within walking distance of downtown and unspoiled wilderness. How do I make this happen?
You just have to move to a town with a one street down town. Small town life is a mixed bag
Look for an older town, built out before cars.
I have a lot of that where I live
Any small town in New England
Such as? I feel like New England is like 90% sprawling suburbs like the rest of the country.
Also by downtown I do mean a real downtown with actual amenities.
A lot of bigger cities do have car-dependent sprawl around an unaffordable city center like Portland, Hartford, Burlington etc but a lot of the smaller towns are much more walkable and community-oriented, where you can probably afford a quarter acre lot within walking distance of a downtown. Brattleboro is a good example but getting pricey, Bennington maybe, Hanover NH, Montpelier, Farmington ME etc.
You're not going to find Boston-level amenities in i.e. Brattleboro but you'll get a minimum of a coffee shop or two, a brewery, a few good restaurants, shops, etc. plus small-town community and an affordable home
@LibertyLizard @btsax Look at the MBTA commuter rail map (or NJ Transit, SEPTA around Philadelphia, or Metra around Chicago). A lot of the regional rail stops are in or near historic downtowns that provide some downtown amenities plus rail access to the bigger city. Houses near those downtowns are generally more expensive than sprawlier suburbs but cheaper than the central city.
Yeah that's probably the closest that exists honestly.
But really what I want does not exist.
Some remote towns in Canada give land away for free or for a very low price.
NYC, next to central park?
Oh sure let me just ask my parents for a small loan of a million dollars so I can afford rent.
Also Central Park is not exactly unspoiled wilderness. It is nice but not quite what I want.
Agreed. I live in a walkable city and would love to live somewhere with no neighbors who think blasting "She thinks my tractor's sexy" on repeat eight hours a day is perfectly fine.
Might I suggest buying an audio spotlight, pointing it at the offending house, and then blasting Baby Shark at them on repeat?
That's a war crime
Perhaps. However, we have to acknowledge that there's a price to be paid for this - particularly an environmental price - and it's not the householder who pays that price. If where we lived didn't have consequences for other people then it wouldn't be an issue. But when these decisions lock in urban sprawl, car dependency and excess emissions, they become everybody's business