Abstract
In the present study, our intention is to reveal the positive and negative aspects of living, in the rural communities appearing in Romania in the last 5-6 decades; often, these have occupied territories with astonishing natural landscapes, situated close to large rural settlements with a century-old history. If, from the perspective of the quality of the natural components of the environment, inside the perimeter of these settlements we can talk about extremely favorable habitat conditions, from the perspective of the access to utilities and technical facilities, we can identify a primitive, rudimentary lifestyle, whose only goal is most oftenly, the access of the minimum resources for subsistence. This case study has been made on two communities, situated at the contact between the Subcarpathians of Arges and the Iezer-Papusa and Leaota Mountains, respectively: the Gura Pravat village, a formal settlement, which extends along the left bank of the Argesel river, north of Namaiesti tourist village and an informal village situated on the left bank of the Dambovita river, inside the Complexe Reserve Cheile de la Cetateni.