I'm in the country here, right on the SW edge of Hermantown, MN
My work (family store) is in the "urban" West Duluth neighborhood. I usually commute the 8.4 mi here (but most of the time not back, since it is a 700 ft climb up the hill!) via bike, which typically takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 to 35 minutes depending on wind direction. If I drive there, it is a roughly 15 minute trip (over the freeway).
Other than power, there are virtually no public utilities out here: no water (well), no sewage (septic tank), no gas lines, no cable, and, after March 2004, no broadband.
From December 2002 to March 2004, I was, believe it or not, at the edge of the coverage area of Monet Wireless's 1xEVDO system (typical download speed 700 kbps), and enjoyed it greatly, but they managed to fold. Duluth has a new wireless service, Clearwire, but they unfortunately decided to cover mostly areas already served by cable and/or DSL! We are planning on getting WildBlue here.
It has advantages and disadvantages. You can't walk anywhere and expect to get there in a reasonable time. Of course, you see the same thing in ill-planned exurban and suburban developments. You burn more gas. You don't see your neighbors much. On the other hand, you have tons of land, you can do whatever you want on it, more or less, without whiny neighborhoods, or even worse, the dictatorial HOA complaining, so if you want 5 satellite dishes and an antenna tower, you can do it, people have what seems to be a liberal attitude towards their land and who is on it, etc.
I have lived here since I was 7 in 1993.
