# Is there any major US city (pop \> 1M) that has a charming rural town within 30 minutes of it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708 "2018-04-19T14:26:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/81 "2018-04-20T19:37:03Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Okay, I’ll get really specific. > > A major city to me, is one that’s going to an adequate amount of well paying tech jobs. Most cities \> 1M suit the bill. Smaller cities are okay if they are known tech hubs. > > Charming rural is mainstreet town that is surrounded by a lot of farmland, population can be _much_ lower than Lancaster’s (I rather like Strasburg, PA as well and that is less than 3K). If there’s horse and buggy’s everywhere, that’s a plus, but not required. I want to build or buy a large house on multiple acres where I could have a horse or two and perhaps a small farm. > > And 30 minutes is from downtown. No bad commutes. Memphis metro has a population of 1.3 million and definitely has small tons within 30 minutes of downtown. However the “no bad commute” could derail this as there are only two bridges across the river. But 30 minutes into Arkansas will have you into very rural areas. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/82 "2018-04-20T20:48:46Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I lived in Morgan Hill for several years. The area is definitely still rural. You’ve got people riding horses down the main street and central town area is surrounded by farm land. It’s growing, and it’s not a small town, but you’ll feel relatively isolated if you live there. . . . Hi, **Sunny Daze**. Morgan Hill-ian here. When did you live in Morgan Hill? I think the horses in downtown are a thing of the past. There’s construction up the wazoo now in the two or three oldest blocks. We have a multi-story parking garage, a trio of restaurants being built, and hipster apartment housing close to the train station to accommodate commuting techies - both newly constructed and ongoing construction. It’s still smallish here and farmland is five minutes away, but it’s growing. No wonder, as few can afford Silicon Valley housing prices anymore. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/83 "2018-04-20T20:57:08Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > Any more opinions on what counts as “charming” within reasonable commute of RTP? I just got a job there, after moving to Chapel Hill for my wife’s job. We definitely like it here, but housing is relatively expensive and the rush hour drive to RTP is just barely tolerable. However, most of the areas closer to RTP that I’ve explored (SE Durham, Cary, Morrisville, etc.) seem to have few virtues other than proximity and price. Apex maybe? Pittsboro meets the charming standard but is well outside the 30 minute one unless you have a helicopter. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/84 "2018-04-20T21:30:42Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Eugene, OR would fit easily. Heck, drive 15 minutes and you’ve reached some tiny little agricultural something. The city just ends. That’s an effect of the land use laws here in Oregon. They tend to make the cities compact. And Eugene is a university town, so there’s probably lots of hi-tech jobs there. It’s much smaller than what the OP was asking about, though. > [@](#): > > Portland, OR also fits, although the traffic has gotten so bad that 30 minutes is pushing it these days. Once you’re out of the city, you will quickly hit rural in any direction. On your typical work day, thirty minutes from downtown Portland means you’re still stuck in the [del]parking lot[/del] freeway. Portland is an exception to the compact city rule, because it grew out before the land use laws went into effect. It’s more compact than, say Kansas City, but that’s not saying much. Now if you could find a job in the outer suburbs, Hillsboro for example, you could get out of there in 30 minutes. Not sure I’d consider any nearby towns to be “charming”, though, but that’s up to the person thinking of living there. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/85 "2018-04-20T21:40:14Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > I think the key to working in Center City Philly while living in a more rural area is access to SEPTA Regional Rail. Lots of more rural areas in the Lansdale area (Hatfield?) and the train runs to Lansdale. Unfortunately, when SEPTA took over the old Reading Railroad as part of their Regional Rail system, they terminated the Reading line in Norristown instead of farther out - otherwise Collegeville would be on the line. Other than distance to Center City Collegeville would meet your criteria. > > ETA: Now that PennDOT is finally close to finishing the 422 improvements over the Schuykill, King of Prussia/Malvern are going to be a more comfortable commute from the Collegeville/Royersford/Trappe area. There’s a SEPTA station within 10 minutes of my house. When I do go into the city, I sometimes take the train, and it takes a little more than an hour. It’s not suicide-inducing or anything (I’d probably just read the internet the whole way) and I could totally do it, I just REALLY want to shave commute times down as far as possible. I’d of course have to get to the station 10 minutes early so I didn’t have a panic attack about missing it, so we’re talking about 3 hours of my life each day. I obviously do not live in my idealized charming rural town either. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/86 "2018-04-20T21:41:58Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > First hand experiences are welcome. > > I figured it would probably be in a ‘flyover state’ which I am perfectly happy with. Ohio is kind of piquing my interest for some reason. Distinct seasons and greenery is a plus. Being a swing state is a plus (didn’t think about that). Anybody live(d) there that can give impressions of the larger cities and surrounding areas? Milwaukee has plenty of small towns within a half hour, especially if you look north. Cedarburg, Thiensville, Germantown are all fairly “small town” while still being within about a half hour from Milwaukee. As you go south, you get more towards the medium sized cities, since Milwaukee and Chicago are slowly growing towards each other. Even still, Racine and Kenosha are smaller, but still fairly close to both Milwaukee and Chicago. Even as you approach Chicago, there are some smaller suburbs that are nice while not being too far from Chicago. But since Chicago is larger, they are further from city center. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/87 "2018-04-20T21:47:45Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Milwaukee has plenty of small towns within a half hour, especially if you look north. Cedarburg, Thiensville, Germantown are all fairly “small town” while still being within about a half hour from Milwaukee. As you go south, you get more towards the medium sized cities, since Milwaukee and Chicago are slowly growing towards each other. Even still, Racine and Kenosha are smaller, but still fairly close to both Milwaukee and Chicago. Even as you approach Chicago, there are some smaller suburbs that are nice while not being too far from Chicago. But since Chicago is larger, they are further from city center. Interesting, thank you. I may have to expand my knowledge of Milwaukee beyond _Laverne and Shirley_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/88 "2018-04-20T22:14:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Eugene, OR would fit easily. Heck, drive 15 minutes and you’ve reached some tiny little agricultural something. The city just ends. I need to at least visit Eugene, there is so much there I want to see. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drewc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@drewc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewc)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/89 "2018-04-20T22:23:50Z")
Crownsville, MD. 1/2 hour from Baltimore, 45min from DC, 15 min from Annapolis which has about as quaint a downtown as you’ll find for a state capital. You got Chesapeake Bay and Severn River constraining growth, it’s decidedly rural when you get out towards Long Point (Herald Harbor section), it’s quaint. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/90 "2018-04-21T00:48:57Z")
It can get rural pretty quickly outside Baltimore. Westminster may be an option. I visited a couple of times this year because one of our sons was considering going to college there. It has a nice main street. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/91 "2018-04-21T02:30:46Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Front end web development. Any mobile development? Would Radnor work? Right off the Blue Route. > [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > ETA: Now that PennDOT is finally close to finishing the 422 improvements over the Schuykill, King of Prussia/Malvern are going to be a more comfortable commute from the Collegeville/Royersford/Trappe area. ::Looks at the date of this post:: Yeah, you’re celebrating today’s, umm, ‘date’ if you think that’s true. :o ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/92 "2018-04-21T06:56:09Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Not sure if Scottsdale (population ~250,000) qualifies as “charming”, it’s certainly not rural (very commercial), and you aren’t going to find multiple acre lots. I was thinking on the east side near the artichoke fields ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/93 "2018-04-21T07:09:59Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Hi, **Sunny Daze**. Morgan Hill-ian here. When did you live in Morgan Hill? > > I think the horses in downtown are a thing of the past. There’s construction up the wazoo now in the two or three oldest blocks. We have a multi-story parking garage, a trio of restaurants being built, and hipster apartment housing close to the train station to accommodate commuting techies - both newly constructed and ongoing construction. > > It’s still smallish here and farmland is five minutes away, but it’s growing. No wonder, as few can afford Silicon Valley housing prices anymore. I moved out a little over a year ago. I visit all the time (monthly at least) for various reasons, including my parents are there. I see guys riding horses on Monterey Highway around Cochrane all the time. I also see them crossing over 101 on Main. Not quite down the 3 blocks of downtown, but definitely down the main road. I think they’re nuts, by the way. There’s a lot of traffic on that road. It’s definitely growing fast, even down to Gilroy. The traffic is horrific. I hope they add more trains and start making other commuting options more viable. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/94 "2018-04-21T10:43:40Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Ohio… what are your impressions of the major cities (particularly Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinatti), and do they really have charming (in your opinion) rural towns within 30 minutes of downtown? Right now I am drinking coffee in Deleware, Ohio, which is 23 miles north of Columbus. A _very_ charming place, though I am not sure if I would define it as “small.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/95 "2018-04-21T11:05:24Z")
[Birmingham, Missouri is](https://goo.gl/maps/4mvfkd24K892) very close to Kansas City, yet very rural. It’s in a farming and woodsy bluffy area north of the Missouri River that was bypassed by suburban development. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/96 "2018-04-21T11:34:32Z")
nashville with all the burbs is pushing a million people. Franklin is just 20 miles south and seems to be adorable (in a 75k population way). ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/97 "2018-04-21T14:06:23Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Interesting, thank you. I may have to expand my knowledge of Milwaukee beyond _Laverne and Shirley_. 😃 Really. At least update to _That 70’s Show_. I second north or west of Milwaukee. Going east is a bit wet. Watertown, Jefferson, & Oconomowoc are outside the 30 minutes but are close to halfway to Madison also. I didn’t list all the one and no stoplight farm towns in between. Milwaukee to Madison is \<90 minutes per google maps. and from what I recall of Mke rush hour traffic, it usually is within the last 5 miles of the downtown before it slows much. ---
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/98 "2018-04-21T15:47:10Z")
> **[63B Topsfield Rd #B, Boxford, MA 01921 | Zillow](https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/56909081_zpid/)** > > 63b Topsfield Rd #b, Boxford MA, is a Single Family home that contains 4855 sq ft and was built in 1986.It contains 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms.This home last sold for $1,230,000 in April 2021. > > The Zestimate for this Single Family is $1,460,000,... ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/99 "2018-04-21T19:36:41Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Upstate New York is largely rural outside of Buffalo and Rochester. A lot of the early industrial cities like Schenectady have declined precipitously compared to national population growth, and nearly twenty percent of the land is state parks or preserves even though New York doesn’t have any major National Parks or Forests. > > There are plenty of areas of California that are decidedly rural, particularly in the north and east, although you may not get that impression if all you’ve seen is is the sprawls of San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles. However, those areas are several hours outside of the major urban cities because of how much suburbia there is. The Kings Range/Life st Coast are can feel as remote as anywhere in Wyoming once you get away from the highways. > > Stranger Thanks. Never been to the areas you mention, but I can believe it. What made NY State different from what I saw in California was that while the latter certainly had rural areas there was none of the emptiness I saw in NY, it was still a rural area you might see elsewhere in the world. Last stretches of NY seemed devoid of human habitation, the only other place in the US I saw like that was North Dakota. One of the things which is interesting is that the US population is based upon clusters\* of cities and metro areas, with sparsely populated areas in-between. Clusters like the East Coast, the Great lakes, the Pacific Coast, the South, etc. You guys don’t have isolated major metro areas like Perth or Riyadh or Novosibirsk do you? \*And now that I think of it, Long Island to Buffalo is, in fact, moving from one cluster to another across aforementioned empty spaces. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708/100 "2018-04-22T02:49:06Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > You guys don’t have isolated major metro areas like Perth or Riyadh or Novosibirsk do you? Maybe Las Vegas? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-major-us-city-pop-1m-that-has-a-charming-rural-town-within-30-minutes-of-it/812708.md?page=6)