I have been thinking a lot about this lately. Where is it easier to live a "simpler" life? Depending on how "the simple life" is being defined, of course. The automatic assumption is that the country wins over the city. Or another related question is, which is preferable after one reaches FI? Is it easier to manage financially after FI in a city, a small town, or the country? I know there is no right or wrong answer here. It is all related to one's preferences, comfort levels, leisure activities, skill and knowledge levels, etc. etc. Some on this site would never ever consider city life, and then some would be miserable in the country.
I also think it is instructive to get beyond all the emotion and look at cold hard numbers. I know that where I live, paid off house, no debt, own a car, good heath, we get along great under the poverty/no income tax level for 2 people Here we have access to public transportation and everything is close in. Our transportation costs would go up some if we lived in a rural place. Our housing should go down however because of lower property taxes. Food costs would go up also, because of less availability/competition. We could save some perhaps if we gardened, but there is a learning curve and setup costs required for that. And we may tire of doing that after a while.
Everything is a trade-off; this for that. I am wondering if any of you have any opinions, after becoming FI, about which type of environment is best for you? Rural, small town, mid-sized city, large city? Or even on the road/at sea? Permanent nomad wandering the world? All options. I can actually see the latter option being the cheapest.