Why Do People Live By Lakes?

People live by lakes for diverse reasons. Two obvious reasons are situational, and other reasons people live by lakes are contingent on economics, availability of essential resources, a need for a certain type of job or education, and lifestyle choices. Where people prefer to live can also change throughout their lifetimes.

Situational reasons why people live by lakes is because they were born by a lake or into a lake lifestyle environment and do not want change as adults or people choose to live by a lake when they are adults. The lake lifestyle may appear opulent, but some people live by lakes because it can be economical to live by a lake. There are many, many more reasons.

Some people live by a lake because they love to bask on beaches, boat, camp, fish, hike, hunt, and swim. Or they love to go off-roading on ATVS, dirt bikes, or 4-wheel drives, take part in watersports, or hang out at party coves or the boat-in party restaurants and bars. Some people live by a lake because they love the rural lifestyle afforded by many lakes or like living on their boats at a marina, or they want to raise their families in a less hurried lifestyle.

Some people retire and choose to move to a lake to enjoy a slower way of life after years of working. Some people love to own and work in businesses that cater to lake tourism and local life, like as fishing or hunting guides, a B&B host, or a down-home restaurant owner that serves local specialties, or they own marinas, and others become a glamping camp or RV park owner. Some people invest in a second home at the lake for family weekends and vacations or for a vacation rental home for extra income until they retire,

Other people’s families were farming or ranching in the region long before the lake was built and they are carrying on the family business or they grew up in a small town or community near the new lake, and they like it. Some people live at the lake because it can be much less expensive than city living, in other words, less is more. Whatever the reason, most people who live at the lake love the way of life lake living has to offer.

What Are the Advantages of Living Near a Lake?

The answers to, “What are advantages of living near a lake?”, are subjective in terms of how valuable are the necessities people need or desire to be living a productive and relatively positive life. This question begs the questions, “What environmental conditions make my life productive?”, “What do I need in environmental conditions to be as positive as possible throughout my work and lifestyle activities?”, and “What are my long-term goals to achieve these two conditions?”.

Continuing academic and scientific research from just before the 21^st century answers this question with results that show living near a body of water enhances mental and physical health, even in cities. Many research results show that people who live the city life are more mentally calm when they live right on top of an ocean, lake, or river in their city.

To understand, we can take a deep dive into the mental health aspects of living near a lake, or academically speaking, living near “blue” and “green” spaces. We can start with the most mentally ill people and the psychosocial institutions that serve to help them, if not recover, live a better quality of life. People of all mental states naturally respond mentally and physically to the colors of nature positively, as evidenced by overwhelming positive research results, even in an artificial natural environment.

The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine defines the term psychosocial as referring to the mind’s ability to, consciously or unconsciously, adjust and relate the body to its social environment. An American Psychology Association journal article entitled this enigma, “Healing by Design”. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health clinics and hospitals typically balance their décor with subtle blue and green hues, natural-looking wood grains for floors and/or walls, and plenty of plants and sunshine, along with comfortable seating with plushy cushions.

How does this transfer to most people without mental health issues who are living their lives as best they can, focusing on their careers, raising their families, and trying to ensure their futures? Humans are classified as a species of mammals. How many other mammal species survive on earth in nature without the essential needs to survive that humans must secure without the conveniences of opposable thumbs and the ability to read, write, and speak languages? All of them except, humans.

That fact alone explains why lakes attract humans to live near lakes. We do not need science to explain why humans are attracted to nature. The main difference between humans and animals remains scientifically, today, a regular bipedal locomotion and a relatively larger brain with its well-developed neocortex, prefrontal cortex, and temporal lobes. Recent scientific research has found another key difference, which is that humans are unique among mammals when it comes to the types and diversity of microorganisms living and hosting on human skin.

Scientists are dedicated to future investigations on how these differences have positive implications for human health and immune systems. Why would this unique element of microorganisms on human skin have something to do with why people live by lakes? Do these phenomena have something to do with pheromones? Are the microorganisms living on human skin naturally attracting humans to interact with nature and water bodies by design? Maybe we will know the answers some day.

What Are the Pros of Living by a Lake?

We have subjected you to yet another subjective question. However, the pros of living by a lake far outweigh the cons of not living by a lake. No doubt, some people thrive in crowded cities and never complain about the high cost of living or the traffic. They love the rapid pulse of the variety of social opportunities and entertainment venues for all sorts of lifestyles. That is the beauty of cities.

However, even the most populated cities all over the world invest in parks with water bodies and greenery so their citizens can enjoy a bit of solitude and contemplate the platitudes that affect their busy lives. These cities realize that they must include a budget that supports their Parks and Recreation Departments. In most cities, citizens have not one negative problem with their tax dollars funding their parks. Forty-two million people visit New York City’s Central Park each year, which features eight water bodies.

If we analyze the opinions of citizens who range from the lower to the uppermost class income levels and who live by a lake that offer the same benefits to all socioeconomic sectors, we consistently get these results of how they view the benefits of living by a lake: