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Small town living... like it/hate it?

#61
i_got_a_mohawk said:
I think I'd also enjoy living remotely. Small towns just seem to be the worst of all bases.
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A lot of the downside you're talking about seems predicated on staying in a small town you grew up in though. I'd keel over in shock if someone I went to school with showed up where I live, completely on the other side of the US. ;)
 
#62
Passinwind said:
A lot of the downside you're talking about seems predicated on staying in a small town you grew up in though.
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This is the same thing I was thinking.

We moved across the country into a little town (3,365 people, no stoplights, no grocery store, one gas station, two pizza places) where we didn't know anyone. For me, it's as bad as knowing everyone, just a different kind of bad. I'm very social, an extrovert. Living in a tiny town where I don't know anyone is hard for me.

But hey, if you are an introvert and want to live somewhere where no one knows you and won't bother you, I know some cities in New Hampshire you can move to. :D

-Mike
 
#63
Rather than small town, i prefer small CITY living. I live about 2 miles from downtown Richmond, VA, but all of the outdoor activities and small town stuff is readily available within a 20 minute drive. Go a little farther and you have the blue ridge mountains, or the beach if you go in the other direction. On the flip side i am super close to tons of bars, restaurants, and music venues. Couldn't ask for a better location!
 
#64
I'm 30 miles outside the city on 3 acres and love it...moved out of the city 6 years ago and will never move back. Nearest grocery store is 8 miles away in a small town. Nearest Walmart is 20 miles. We don't live the small town life since we are in a rural area, but the small town we go to for 'supplies' is a nice place that I'd be inclined to move to before I'd move back to the big city if we ended up selling our place and moving.
 
#68
Personally I love the "big city" and all there is to do there I honestly don't get the appeal of a small farm town with nothing to do. It's also the inconvenience of the remote town. To me living an hour or more from Walmart, CVS, a decent grocery store, a dry cleaner, Guitar Center, Office Depot, Best Buy, Pep Boys, Home Depot, a restaurant open past 9PM, more entertainment that the only bar in town etc just seems like such a hassle rather than having all that within 5 miles of my house like I did when I lived in LA or Las Vegas.

It's mindset too. Some people are content with settling and some people are adventurers. I talk to people and they're amazed that I just packed up and moved to a different place. Met someone that's never been out of North Dakota, never seen the beach, never been on an airplane and to me that's weird.
 
#69
My grandparents were both from Barnesville PA, not all that far from Jim Thorpe. I love small towns, but now I need a bigger one nearby to support my need for variety (breweries, non-chain restaurants, beach, multiple dive bars).

I'm in San Diego suburbia, yet most Google searches on San Diego will show you a crowded downtown, the zoo, Mexican border or waterfront. You won't see that living 20 minutes away I have a lake 1 mile from my house with fishing and secluded hiking/running trails. If I wanted to live another 10 miles east I could have acreage and seriously be in the sticks, all the while being within 30 minutes of the ocean and downtown.

I like the hub and spoke model, not the plunked in the middle of nowhere scenario.
 
#70
Tarrbot said:
I can relate to your statements in many ways. It's even worse if your extended family lives there.

With that said, I find city living better for one reason alone. There's a parable that says, "a prophet can not be respected in his home land". Essentially meaning that those around you growing up put you into a box that you cannot escape, until you leave that "home land" and break out of that box.

With the anonymity of city living, you aren't boxed in by your home land as much.
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I can totally understand that, and certainly still see who have never left the hometown still living in those boxes.


Passinwind said:
A lot of the downside you're talking about seems predicated on staying in a small town you grew up in though. I'd keel over in shock if someone I went to school with showed up where I live, completely on the other side of the US. ;)
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It certainly exacerbates it, that's for sure (particularly with high school class mates and ex's).

Though in any small town, you're going to start getting to know more people quicker than you will in a city. After a while you'll still bump into people you know, everywhere you go.

I dare say growing up in a small town has spoiled the experience of it to an extent. Though on saying that, my folks grew up in similarly sized (well, slightly smaller) towns and feel the same way about the town that they settled in when I was a young un.
 
#71
6jase5 said:
My grandparents were both from Barnesville PA, not all that far from Jim Thorpe. I love small towns, but now I need a bigger one nearby to support my need for variety (breweries, non-chain restaurants, beach, multiple dive bars).

I'm in San Diego suburbia, yet most Google searches on San Diego will show you a crowded downtown, the zoo, Mexican border or waterfront. You won't see that living 20 minutes away I have a lake 1 mile from my house with fishing and secluded hiking/running trails. If I wanted to live another 10 miles east I could have acreage and seriously be in the sticks, all the while being within 30 minutes of the ocean and downtown.

I like the hub and spoke model, not the plunked in the middle of nowhere scenario.
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To be honest, I didn't find downtown San Diego to be all that crowded! I can certainly see how it wouldn't be difficult to get into more rural areas. Some short bus and a train trips got you to rural and suburban areas fairly quickly!
 
#73
MJ5150 said:
I may take you up on that since we are coming up 84 on the way home. :D

Dee's Kich-Inn, if it's still around in Stevenson.
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Not sure about Dee's status right now, I'll check. But Double Mtn has great pizza and beer and is less than a minute from I-84. Seven other breweries to choose from within easy driving distance too.
 
#77
RichardCranium said:
Personally I love the "big city" and all there is to do there I honestly don't get the appeal of a small farm town with nothing to do. It's also the inconvenience of the remote town. To me living an hour or more from Walmart, CVS, a decent grocery store, a dry cleaner, Guitar Center, Office Depot, Best Buy, Pep Boys, Home Depot, a restaurant open past 9PM, more entertainment that the only bar in town etc just seems like such a hassle rather than having all that within 5 miles of my house like I did when I lived in LA or Las Vegas.

It's mindset too. Some people are content with settling and some people are adventurers. I talk to people and they're amazed that I just packed up and moved to a different place. Met someone that's never been out of North Dakota, never seen the beach, never been on an airplane and to me that's weird.
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Way more to do out here. More adventure too, unless you mean strolling through the ghetto after dark. That's pretty adventurous.
 
#78
i_got_a_mohawk said:
Though in any small town, you're going to start getting to know more people quicker than you will in a city. After a while you'll still bump into people you know, everywhere you go.
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I think that depends on a lot of things. Some cities on the West Coast are really open and friendly, and some small towns in New England like where Mike lived and some of the ones I grew up in are really insular. I tend to make lots of friends very quickly wherever I am, whereas my wife takes years to do that.
 

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