city, village or small town..which?

abel majeed

Member
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
16
for those who dont have to worry about working in the big cities, would you pick a village or a small town and if so would you like to be not very far from the city like 30 or , 40 km or more? how re the ppl in the villages, is it easier to mingle with the ppl in the city or rural areas. what about break ins and crime is it safer in the small villages for a foreigner? i want to live in norther sumatra or aceh..

what is the definition of village.. like less than 5000 ppl or...

you thoughts...
 
So difficult to assess since all areas and people are different. And the family situation and your own background play a big role too. I think your personal situation is rather unique.

Of course there are some clichés that city life is more impersonal and won't allow in depth contacts with local residents but that they are not so nosy and leave you alone too, without interfering in your personal affairs.
.
 
Of course there are some clichés that city life is more impersonal and won't allow in depth contacts with local residents but that they are not so nosy and leave you alone too, without interfering in your personal affairs.


am really not too much of city person i have never been..your point is valid with privacy etc. it crossed my mind as well esp in my situation. i hope maybe i can go for something in betwwen like a small city or a biggy village..sucks though to loose the opportunity to be in a small village with all calmness and tranquility that its comes with...

thx for yr replies
 
am really not too much of city person i have never been..your point is valid with privacy etc. it crossed my mind as well esp in my situation. i hope maybe i can go for something in betwwen like a small city or a biggy village..sucks though to loose the opportunity to be in a small village with all calmness and tranquility that its comes with...

thx for yr replies

Medan is a nice place. It still has that small city feel but with some conveniences. And the food is great too. It's easy to travel to and from.

Maybe you could look for a place just outside Medan so you get the best of both worlds.

I've never lived in Sumatra or Aceh but when I traveled there I've found the people lovely.
 
Currently Medan's air quality index (AQI) is 37 or GOOD, whilst Jakarta's is 151 or UNHEALTHY.
 
Medan is a nice place. It still has that small city feel but with some conveniences. And the food is great too. It's easy to travel to and from.

Maybe you could look for a place just outside Medan so you get the best of both worlds.

I've never lived in Sumatra or Aceh but when I traveled there I've found the people lovely.

Yes Sumatera Utara and Aceh are much nicer than Riau. But see my post in the other thread why that might make sense anyway.

West Sumatra is beautiful.
 
Does Medan still have a lot of power blackouts?
 
Yes, we do, approx. once every three weeks. Ah sorry, I thought you were talking about Jakarta. But Medan was in the news again and went viral because it was the start of Ramadan so everybody freaked out when they didn't have power in the early morning. And the failure of that particular station affected even other parts of North Sumatra and Aceh. The more structural 'we have constant power outages in Medan' complaints date from over four years ago.?
 
Last edited:
It seems that once a city gets much more than about 100,000 people the traffic and other pressures seem a bit overwhelming. Another consideration is access to the internet. Love it or loathe it internet speeds tend to impact our moods.
 
Another consideration is access to the internet

Or access to good healthcare. Or good schools. Or family abroad. Or....

That’s the backside of the medal if you choose to live in that idyllic place in the middle of nowhere.
 
Pematang Siantar (240,000) is quite nice as is Tebing Tinggi (145,000)

Siantar was the Japanese headquarters in Sumatra. It is high up so the climate is a bit cooler.
 
I am very happy with where we live, it is a smallish village on the outskirts of one of the largest cities in Indonesia, we can access all the city facilities fairly easily enough, eg, it takes us 15-20 mins to get to KanIm, 40-50 mins to get to the airport, 15 mins to get to a large supermarket. Less than 1 hour to get to a supermarket that caters to more international tastes.
we have broadband internet, and easy access to medical facilities too.

The average temp is around 26 C as we are fairly high in the hills.

The views we have are extensive. The people in the village are warm and friendly and have not given us any hassles but then again we don't give them any.
The worst we have experienced here is bored kids throwing pebbles over the wall now & then, so in comparison to other places I have lived both here & outside of RI, it is all calm & quiet & perfect for us.

I would not want to live on a beach, 3 reasons: tsunami threats are real here, I have lived by the sea before & sane & salt is very much a PIA after the novelty wears off- salt corrodes all metal fittings & sand just gets into everything. The other reason is I like the temperatures in the mountains, not too hot & usually not too cold.
 
And don’t forget all the wildlife in your area, B_A!
 

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Follow Us

Latest Expat Indo Articles

Latest Tweets by Expat Indo

Latest Activity

New posts Latest threads

Online Now

Newest Members

Forum Statistics

Threads
5,966
Messages
97,420
Members
3,036
Latest member
stats
Back
Top Bottom