Smalltown, USA

[B_lrgeggs]

Sometimes I feel I just want to run off to a small town get a job and live the rest of life..right there. Ok guys/gals from small towns....would you say that small town living is what its all about

thanks

 

[mariamluvsEMbig]

there are pluses and minuses to living everywhere...small towns are nice when you want to get away from it all but everyone knows everyone else's business blah

 

[nudeyorker]

I tried that for a year. It really did not work out for me. It was sort of like the movie Baby Boom but with no baby and no cute boyfriend, and no thriving business but rather... an old house that was constantly having a $10,000.00+ problem every few months and busy body small town people who I did not get them and they did not get me... I mostly ended up missing NY most of the time!
But the day the lady at the dry cleaners and a guy at the supermarket told me I was the most glamourous person in town was the day I started packing and put the house up for sale.

 

[deleted3782]

Sometimes I feel I just want to run off to a small town get a job and live the rest of life..right there. Ok guys/gals from small towns....would you say that small town living is what its all about

thanks

Small towns might work if you can get a circle of very close friends around you for socialization and entertainment. I have friends that are lonesome and bored in New York City...but the number of options (in every sense) in small towns is truly restricted. If you can't find someone to hang out with or get along with, it can be brutally isolating.

 

[HiddenLacey]

I will always choose to live in a small town. I dislike crowds and cities and the noise.

Living in a small town is great if you're ok without going out to clubs and living the high life all the time. Though even my small town has a bar that has been there since before I was born. I think it's great to walk outside and not have a neighbors house five feet away and I couldn't imagine living in an apartment. I like laying in the pool staring at the sky at night and hearing nothing but the sounds of crickets chirping. You could always choose to live in a small town an hour or so outside of a city. Then it's not really inconvient, atleast not to me.

 

[Bbucko]

I'm not really sure if this qualifies, but I currently live in Wilton Manors, FL, with a population of not quite 13,000 people. It's also the epicenter of everything gay in a very gay place, so Milton Manors is kinda like living in a small-town gay ghetto.

Physically, it sure qualifies. My street doesn't even have sidewalks, for instance, and in most parts of town there's rarely more than one street light per block. I doubt there are more than twenty buildings attached directly to each other aside from our "Main Street", Wilton Dr. In most ways it feels like a kinda scruffy beach town, a quiet and out of the way place that just happens to be about 70% LGBT

My mom grew up in a real small town in south-central Maine, on an island in the middle of the Penobscot river, called Old Town (like the canoes). I spent at least a month there every summer (plus most holidays), and can vouch for the absolutely authentic feel of a reasonably-isolated, small town atmosphere it had in the 60s and early 70s. Everyone everywhere knew everyone else's name and where s/he lived (at the very least): everything was located within a comfortable 15-20 minute's walk. At the time I thought nothing of it, but by the time I was a teen felt a distinct lack of privacy. I can occasionally feel that way where I'm living now, but part of that is my very public job.

The rat race is run in the suburbs, IME. When I lived in Boston or NYC, my life rarely went further than a 4-block radius except sometimes for work. It's only in sprawl that one is obliged to climb in the car and drive endlessly for everything. Here in Wilton Manors, my whole life is essentially lived within 1/4 mile; it was much the same for my grandmother in Old Town, who never learned to drive. It was only when she became elderly that she stopped walking to the grocery store or the Post Office.

 

[m_lucas89]

If you're one for parties and late-nights, a small town is not for you. I grew up and still live close to my childhood home in western MA. Lots of tourists, and the town was very tight-knit, but it was a fun place to grow up. Everyone tends to be friendly and kind, and there was a bunch of wilderness to explore. It's great for relaxed people and for kids - not so much partiers.

 

[B_Hornaplenty]

...small towns are nice when you want to get away from it all but everyone knows everyone else's business

I grew up in a small town of 11,000 population, small enough to permit relaxed living, but large enough to have a variety of recreational pursuits. You won't find a lot of innovation in such towns.

The spirit of my former hometown was: everyone knew what everyone else was doing, but they read the newspaper to see if anyone got caught at it.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

But the day the lady at the dry cleaners and a guy at the supermarket told me I was the most glamourous person in town was the day I started packing and put the house up for sale.

Um, not quite sure what you assume they meant.
Were they tactfully claiming to have you in a neat lil' box?

Small towns might work if you can get a circle of very close friends around you for socialization and entertainment. I have friends that are lonesome and bored in New York City...but the number of options (in every sense) in small towns is truly restricted. If you can't find someone to hang out with or get along with, it can be brutally isolating.

Unless I had some very good, very compatible friends, I would go snake.
And even in that happier case, I would have to be within easy reach of a reasonably-sized city.

In other news: I grew up in a small prairie town of 5,000 souls. It had had 5,000 souls since 1910. It was not exactly a jumpin' joint in any way.
I had some good friends, and some very good relationships with teachers, but felt little in common with the great majority of people.
I left that town at the age of 17 to go to university, and I have never looked back with any regret.
My parents are buried there, and I do go back to make that visit.
But my siblings are in a much larger city now, I don't know what friends remain in the town I grew up in, and in the course of a year I think of the place maybe twice.

 

[Rikter8]

I couldn't stand it... Sure it was serene, and quiet. But there isn't anything to do...at all.
Everybody knows who you are, and everybody wants to know your business.
Hard to get a Job in a small town community unless they Favor you.
The cops SUCK ASS BIGTIME as they have no real source of revenue, so they pull you over for running over a snail on the road.
LOTS of corruption generally. If it's not family running the town, it's relatives of family...and they aren't willing to give up that power(greed) easily.

I live in a smaller town, but it's on the fringes of three big cities about 5 minute drive each way, so people here are a bit bitchy...but it's easily solved by re-routing your needs through the larger towns.
I live somewhat in a wooded area, nice scenery, spacious lot, and it's quiet. Takes me about 20 minutes to get to work, and I do all of my shopping in nearby towns.

If you want to... Live in a small town, but work/shop/dine/party in a close larger town if possible. More opportunity, less drama.

 

[IntoxicatingToxin]

I lived in a few small towns for short periods of time - it drove me batty. The lack of things to do, the lack of various types of people, the gossip. I can't do it!

 

[SpeedoMike]

...if you can find a job.

 

[Hoss]

Sometimes I feel I just want to run off to a small town get a job and live the rest of life..right there. Ok guys/gals from small towns....would you say that small town living is what its all about

thanks

It can be nice, especially if you like being in the quiet and away from humans. The best way is to find a space that's a 2-3 hr. drive to a medium-large city that way you can drop back into the chaos whenever the urge strikes.

I've lived in places with less than 100 residents and in places with a few million and places in between, they all have benefits and drawbacks.

 

[accemb]

I grew up in a very small town (pop 2000) within commuting distance of NYC. Everyone knew everyone. Everyone was too nosy. Once I began working in NYC I moved to the county seat (pop about 44,000), and later to my current location, which is a commuter town of approx 15,000. Like others have said, if you are within commuting or driving distance from cities with more activity, it's a good mix.

 

[whatireallywant]

I lived in a few small towns for short periods of time - it drove me batty. The lack of things to do, the lack of various types of people, the gossip. I can't do it!

I grew up out in the country, and the nearest towns were small towns, and I HATED it!!! I couldn't wait to get out of there and move to the city. And now that I have lived in cities for 15 years, the prospect of having to move back to where I grew up (due to lack of money) is making me practically suicidal. I was also bullied growing up, because I didn't "fit in" with what people thought you were "supposed" to be like there. In cities, there are more different kinds of people and you can find people who are more like you are (personality wise I mean). I also have said that I don't ever want again to live in a place where EVERYONE is white. I want diversity! In the cities I've lived in, I've lived in racially/ethnically mixed areas in each place that I've lived, and that's my preference.

And, although I like peace and quiet, I also like having things to do and for things to be conveniently located so I don't have to drive forever to get to them!

 

[Rikter8]

And, although I like peace and quiet, I also like having things to do and for things to be conveniently located so I don't have to drive forever to get to them!

Or pay double or triple the price since "Its a convenience for you to not have to drive to a larger town"