Me and the missus were on our honeymoon, and we basically drove all over Hokkaido. One of the things we discovered about ourselves during our honeymoon (unfortunately) is that we really, really don’t like small towns. We’re fine in either huge bustling conurbations or tiny hamlets (in 2 day doses) but small towns just… bleh.
How do you live in a small town? There aren’t nice shops around, food is kinda so-so and the variety is really limited, and I can’t imagine that there are many more jobs in Kitami (population 126,508) than in Tokyo. Public transport is practically non-existant, barely any entertainment or nightlife to speak of, and it’s not even any cheaper than in big cities!
I suppose I’m a bit biased, having grown up in Singapore and only lived in London briefly. So, to people who prefer to live in small towns, why do you prefer to live in small towns?
My husband and I have lived in “the country” for about 17 years. Every once in a while I have a “What the fuck are we doing living out here?” moment, but the benefits outweigh the hardships.
It’s a low crime area. Most people around here own guns and ain’t afraid to use 'em. Yes, that makes me feel safer.
There are no laws about recycling or keeping your lawn looking perfect. We have 10 acres, sometime we’re too tired to mow.
There’s enough distance between neighbors that if I blast the cast recording to Hairspray(or any other B’way musical I like) and sing at the top of my lungs they will not hear me.
Tax breaks for livestock. Yes, this only applies to rural areas, but this is my domain.
I previously lived in a major city (5 million people) and now happily choose to reside in a small town (app 5k, give or take a few).
I’m an old fart, so going out on the town doesn’t much interest me anymore. There are cafes and stuff down the main street, but they don’t make a better coffee than I do anyway. The cost of living here is the same as in the city, but the benefits for me far outweigh the disadvantages.
#I can always get a carpark right outside the supermarket #The only traffic-jams happen when there is a funeral at the Catholic Church #You get to know the local storekeepers, and they smile at you when you come in the door. #Local crime consists of a bit of tame graffiti on the courthouse wall #I can sit on my back verandah and watch a huge amount of birdlife going about their daily bird-like business (no pics included because they’re basically Avian Porn!!)
Yet, I’m still only 3.5hrs away from my previous city abode, so if the mood takes me I can visit to get my fix of the hustle and bustle. However, every time I HAVE to go there for such a visit, I’m more than relieved to come back to my little corner of peace and paradise.
For all the advantages of living in a busy urban environment, I’d rather hang out in the bush thankyewallthesame.
Oh, and can I add that KIDS in the bush seem to be a far more interesting breed than their city cousins.
‘Round here, kids ride their bikes to and from their friends’ places rather than having the folks drive them. Kids play outside in the backyard, and cricket on the street instead of playing video games inside. Kids here seem to have a far more active life than those I observed in the city…and it is quite rare to see an obese kid up here compared to the plague of fat kids who live in the urban areas.
kambuckta reminded me of another reason: all the store owners know us . If we were to bounce a check(Og forbid) they would just ask us to write another one when the money came in.
And also, if you want to go for a drive in the country, it only takes 5 minutes to get away from the town rather than the 1.5-2.0 hours it used to take when we lived in the city.
And we’ve got frogs here who burp and chirrup all night long. They’re tres cool, and I would miss them terribly if I had to move back to the bustling metropolis.
I live in a small city of about 100,000 in northwestern Ontario. Livability is the biggest plus: a sense of community, regularly coming across people you know, opportunity to develop community based organizations, great food, great entertainment, great wilderness without having to travel, great skiing in town, no traffic, no waiting in lines, no crowds, no pushy people, inexpensive housing, living on the edge of town where there is no noise other than squirrels, birds and trees in the breeze, fresh air and clean water.
Downsides: our opera, symphony, museums and art galleries are small when compared to Toronto, and although we have excellent restaurants, we do not have anywhere near as many.
Overall: living in a small city and occasionally visiting a large city is a really enjoyable lifestyle for me. I get the best of both worlds.
Not to nit-pick, but a population of 126k is what I would call a small city - to me small town is circa 2k - 3k population. I grew up in one.
Its really not that bad, if you drive there is enough convenience for what you need, can still walk around, as to food - meh, you just need to know where to eat.
Could you define “small town”, please? Do you consider Kitami a small town? Thank you.
One of the things we got to study in 10th grade Geography was the different definitions of some terms like “city,” “town” and “village” in different geographical schools: for example, what the Americans called a “town” would barely have made it to “village” in Spain, plus for us there was a distinction between geographical and historical category which doesn’t exist in the US. So I’d like to know which definitions we’re using, please.
I don’t shop, so it doesn’t matter that there’s no shopping. If I want anything, I can go somewhere where there are stores; or else buy it on eBay or Amazon. My house is just up a small hill from the beach, and it cost 1/3 to 1/6 what a similar place would cost in Seattle. I do go to Seattle, 100+ miles away, to work. But only three days a week. Two days a week I can sit on my couch and telecommute. In case of snow, I can telecommute. Why not get a job closer to home? Because I like the job I have, and a different one might not let me work from my couch. And because I like going to Seattle. So I have my house by the beach, I have peace and quiet, I can have my ‘city life’, and it’s cheaper to live here.
I live in a small town of 20K and love it. I lived in a large city (Denver) and never went downtown unless I had to because there were too many people and too much traffic and it was rarely worth the headache.
I can do pretty much anything I want in the town; movies, plays, concerts, festivals, shopping and restaurants. The only thing that I lack that I miss is a good book store but I have started using Amazon and that frustration has gone away. But the benefits are huge I drive past the cows I eat on my way home from work and know exactly where my butcher gets the meet, I have brook trout that live in the stream below my house and huge rainbows that live in the river that runs through town.
I live in a tourist town so the restaurants are pretty high quality and there is always something happening each weekend that I can walk the mile to downtown to enjoy. The only downside is that some of the city services are slow and it takes a bit to get the plows out in the winter and when I went to pay a ticket I walked past to court house 5 times before I found it, of course they use paper tickets and had lost my ticket but they called me up 3 days later when it finally turned up.
It’s quiet but still not a long drive from town and my job, restaurants and shopping. I’m a couch potato anyway so I stay home and pay cheaper rent to live here than in town.
Hold on; you’re referring to 126,000 people as a small town??! Yikes. I live in a very spreadout 2500 people, and “town” with shopping and job is maybe 10K.
I lived in small towns (pop: 4,000 in NY, 15,000 in SD) until I was 14, and loved them. I had freedom to run free as a child, which was wonderful. Nothing bad ever happened to kids, we all spent most of our free time playing outside without adult supervision. I could easily walk or bike anywhere I wanted to (including from one end of town to the other). I don’t like ‘going out’, so a nice, quiet, friendly, low-crime and low-drama place to live is just lovely. Also, you are closer to nature.
It all depends on what kind of person you are, and what you value.
100K people is a small town? I disagree, highly. I live in Albany, which has right around that population and we don’t have a small town feel at all. I call us a medium town or rather, a small city. And I love it.
I can’t comprehend why people choose to live in places like NYC. I have minimal traffic issues, barring rush hour. Things are often within walking or biking distance. I just like the mid-size town feel. When I shut my door, it is QUIET. I don’t hear street noises. And even though I live close to two of the busiest streets in Albany, my neighborhood is very quiet.
I would not live in a town much smaller than this though. I have lived in the suburbs of Albany, which is a slightly different case IMO - I can still get in here easily. And you know? I didn’t like it much.
I need a hub but I can’t really understand why anyone would live in a huge metropolitan area.
Some Big City folks like to vacation in the country/small towns.
Some country/small town people like to vacation in the Big City.
Unless you think many people actually go to vacation in places they don’t like, whats so hard about understanding that some people might actually want to LIVE where other people like to vacation ?
I wouldn’t like living in any small town but I like mine. After thinking about it though, it’s mostly because of the location of our house. We’re right at the edge. We have neighbors on three sides but our back yard looks out on farm fields. It’s almost like country living except the water is better and we don’t have to plow ourselves out when it snows. I wouldn’t like living across the street – I’d feel blocked in.
Other advantages are like what Kambuckta listed – no traffic, it’s quiet, crime is kid stuff. I leave my keys in my car and the only time I locked my house was when my husband was out of town for a week. I’ve read too many horror novels to want to sleep alone in a big house with the doors unlocked.
Sometimes I sigh when it’s time to drive to the next town for groceries, but it’s a relaxing drive.
I hardly consider 126K a small town. I live in a city of about 130K and it’s a freaking megalopolis compared to the backwoods, redneck place my wife is from (about 800, counting the dead).
Is it not obvious that these things are not important to some people?
I live in a town of less than 1000. I joked to my father that the town is so small that for entertainment on Saturday nights, we don’t even have a traffic light to go watch. Having lived in Honolulu, Houston, and Hoboken (small, but just across the river from Manhattan), this is easily and without question the best place I’ve lived.
[ul]
[li]We have almost no crime; for instance, there’s no need to lock the car or house doors.[/li][li]I do all the cooking; besides being cheaper, I’m happy with almost every meal (unless I screw something up…and I have no reason to complain about the service).[/li][li]I don’t like crowds (anymore…they didn’t used to bother me); I prefer gatherings of no more than 6 friends.[/li][li]It’s beautiful here; the air is clean, the views scenic, and the stars at night are stunning.[/li][li]The pace of life is slower; I never realized how affected I am by the harried pace of city (or even suburban) living.[/li][/ul]
In sum, by my reckoning and according to my standards, the base quality of life in this small town exceeds that of the best I could expect in a more populated area.
