# Living in a small town - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2009, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894 "2009-11-25T09:48:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/61 "2009-11-26T19:32:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > But one advantage of living in a small town is that money tends to go further. A disadvantage of many big cities is that they are impossibly expensive. From some of the posts here, it sounds like this doesn’t apply in Japan or Australia. I wonder why that is? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/62 "2009-11-26T20:20:30Z")
Well, since **enipla** posted some pics, I guess [I will, too](http://robson.org/gary/landscapes.php). These were all taken on my property. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/63 "2009-11-26T21:04:43Z")
I can’t compete with **enipla** and **Gary** , unless you like [wide open spaces](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/AuntiePam/clouds26-21.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/64 "2009-11-26T21:47:53Z")
I live in a small town because I got a job here. I’d rather live in a larger city, or at least live closer to a large city. But there are many perks: [ul] [li]Clean air.[/li][li]Little to no traffic congestion.[/li][li]No crime to speak of.[/li][li]Lots of nearby, gorgeous scenery.[/li][li]Quiet.[/li][/ul] I do miss access to good movies, though. That’s the thing I miss the most. I have to wait for them all to appear on Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/65 "2009-11-26T21:59:40Z")
We lived in San Fran for about 6 years, moved to a town of less than 7000 people for about 6 years, then moved back to San Fran. I think we could have made a long run in the small town, if not for three things: 1. None of her family or friends were within 2 hours driving distance. Now, several are within 5 minutes driving distance, and most are within 2 hours. 2. None of our neighbors, in all four directions, spoke English as a first language, or even passably. When we had to interact, we’d have to make grand sweeping gestures trying to tell them that their dog was trapped in a tree, or whatever. This led to us having NO local friends. 3. It was ungodly hot in the summer. One year, we had 13 consecutive days of temps over 105 Fahrenheit, and a solid month over 97. Fuck dat. Yeah, we were 25 minutes from major stuff, but we had a full grocery, hardware store, some of the best Mexican food I have EVER had, good pizza and chinese, all within walking distance. If it were in maybe New York state instead of Central Devil’s Asscrack Valley CA, we may have stayed. It was cute and charming, we had a house, with lots of space, and a yard, with fruit trees. But the minuses outweighed the pluses. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/66 "2009-11-27T00:38:23Z")
[We are a 20 minute walk to the beach]( [![](https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d132/Capresesalad/IMG_4118.jpg) ](https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d132/Capresesalad/IMG_4118.jpg) ) There is only one movie theater, but we don’t care. We do have excellent dining and grocery shopping, and the obligatory Target, Home Depot etc. There is live theater but we have to travel for anything big in terms of plays or live music. We don’t lock the door. It’s quiet, and the state park is 5 minutes away. Good fishing. Lots of wildlife right outside the window all the time. Whales, baby sea turtles, manatees, egrets, otters. It’s boring for many, but heaven to us. I’ve lived in big cities. I love to travel–we do that once/thrice a year, But for day-to-day home life, I don’t need the urban thrum. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/67 "2009-11-27T03:28:26Z")
Not only do we not lock our door, I don’t even know where the keys to our house are. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/68 "2009-11-27T04:51:34Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Not only do we not lock our door, I don’t even know where the keys to our house are. That’s hilarious. We sort of nominally lock our door, in theory, mainly out of habit (I lived in bigger cities for years being moving here.) ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/69 "2009-11-27T05:35:04Z")
I live between two towns, one south of me of about 6000 and I am much closer to one just to the north that is nearer 3000 (in ski season, anyway) and while I do lock my house and car doors, it’s mostly because I simply don’t want to get out of the habit. When I first moved here I rented a room in a condo and when I was talking to the friend of the owner who was arranging the rental I asked where the key would be, and he said he supposed he could leave one under the mat if I really wanted it. I did. When I drove into town and found the place it was unlocked. Empty funished condo, wide open. I’d never seen anything like that. When the owner came back after a few months away he never even carried a key, so I had to stop locking the door. Now that I rent my own little house, yeah, I lock it. Single woman and all that. But I don’t worry about anything happening here. **enipla** has a better view from his house than I have from mine, but if I drive for about ten or fifteen minutes north or northeast I get to some _really_ pretty scenery. And where I live is damned pretty to begin with. If you have ever gone to Idaho to ski you probably know where I live. This is a really lovely area. I never lived in anything even half as small as the towns up here, and I absolutely love it. I remember seeing a story in the paper (It made the paper!!!) not long after I moved in describing how somebody had had their _iPod_ stolen from their SUV they’d _left their keys in_ parked by the grocery store. “Why,” I wondered, “didn’t they take the _truck?_” Various stories that make the (twice weekly) paper never cease to amuse me, actually, such as the somewhat recent robbery of the nearby resort deli/liquor store where the criminal made off with – gasp! – _three bottles of cheap booze!_ And the next week he came back with a friend and they took a few more, like seven or so! I laughed my ass off. They caused way more damage by breaking the glass to get in than they got in value of what they stole. Idiots. This is not the world I knew. I like it way better. And I love winter, so I’m in the right spot. And due to a combination of it being 80 miles to the nearest chain stores and my currently not having cable, I miss out on almost all of the Christmas insanity. The local stores do Christmas, sure, but it’s not as oppressive as Wal-Christmas. This is a seasonal advantage, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/70 "2009-11-27T06:40:32Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > That’s hilarious. We sort of nominally lock our door, in theory, mainly out of habit (I lived in bigger cities for years being moving here.) Yeah, I don’t think I have to lock my doors, but I do out of habit. I have stopped locking the car door as soon as I got in though. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/71 "2009-11-27T08:56:32Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > From some of the posts here, it sounds like this doesn’t apply in Japan or Australia. I wonder why that is? Australia is huge and centralised. It costs a fortune to get things from the cities (where the ports and major distribution centres are) out to the country, because there are massive distances involved. There’s also very little work in small towns, IME. My wife and I would like to move to a small beachside town somewhere, but the reality is that we’d have no income once we moved there and the nearest facilities (and decent sized airport) would be hours away. It’s basically not worth it, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/72 "2009-11-27T12:20:16Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > Where I live has a population of 26,000. You drive five miles from the city limits in any direction and you’re surrounded by farm fields. (I’m less than an hour from two major metropolitan areas, though.) > > But it’s a small _college_ town, which makes a huge difference. There are amazing cultural resources here – a symphony orchestra, a chamber music series that brings in the likes of the Emerson String Quartet, a professional summer repertory theater, an arts center that offers all manner of classes and has some really interesting exhibitions in its gallery. > > There are other things you might expect in a college town – a cool little downtown with shops and restaurants and bookstores and an independent movie theater. > > And we have “the north end” where all the box store development has been relegated by zoning, so we also have that kind of stuff. > > Add this to many of the things other have said about the benefits of small town life, and it’s a pretty durned good place to live. Your town is a little bigger than mine, which is around 19,000. Otherwise, it’s pretty much the same. The big-box stores are on the outskirts, such that it’s more convenient to pick up a quart of milk at the corner deli than it is to schlep to the supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/73 "2009-11-27T15:31:55Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I never lived in anything even half as small as the towns up here, and I absolutely love it. I remember seeing a story in the paper (It made the paper!!!) not long after I moved in describing how somebody had had their _iPod_ stolen from their SUV they’d _left their keys in_ parked by the grocery store. “Why,” I wondered, “didn’t they take the _truck?_” Various stories that make the (twice weekly) paper never cease to amuse me, actually, such as the somewhat recent robbery of the nearby resort deli/liquor store where the criminal made off with – gasp! – _three bottles of cheap booze!_ And the next week he came back with a friend and they took a few more, like seven or so! I laughed my ass off. They caused way more damage by breaking the glass to get in than they got in value of what they stole. Idiots. The small town newspapers are the best. When I was dating my wife in college, the first time I visited her house and met her parents, _ **it was in the paper!** _ At the time I thought it was hilarious, now that I live in a small town, I eat it up. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/74 "2009-11-27T15:53:32Z")
When looking at how much time is spent at home, living in a quiet small town where you know your neighbors is a preferred way of life. Shopping is not considered an olympic sport and not having 28 brands of ginger beer is probably one of those things that needs to be experienced to be missed. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/75 "2009-11-27T16:37:22Z")
I still don’t know why they didn’t steal the truck, though I suppose having the one two-lane highway in and out of here would make getting away after stealing a vehicle…interesting. People visiting relatives here would probably make the paper if they were rich enough, which I am not. But I can totally see it. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/76 "2009-11-27T18:42:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Out here, it’s a whole different world: “Take the road to Luther and go to the 10-mile marker. Take the next right, and then turn left on the county road where Jenkins’ old grain elevator used to be…” I knew I was a local here when I described something as being “next to where Wal-Mart used to be”. The Wal-Mart that was there closed over a year before I moved here. My town isn’t the smallest–25,000 or so, I think–but more importantly, it’s a two-hour drive to anything you’d call a population center (Lexington, KY). I’m not sure I would have ended up here if I could have chosen anywhere. I do miss having lots of interesting restaurants close by, and unlike **CrazyCatLady** I enjoy some aspects of nightlife (especially live music). I think I appreciate those things much more because I don’t get to enjoy them very often, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wish there were more around. The other big drawback is what you might call outdated attitudes. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry and ignorance are far more out in the open than they are most places. Even after 4 1/2 years here, it still surprises me sometimes. That being said, I’ve managed to collect a very diverse, interesting, and brilliant group of friends here, and I feel far more connected to the community than I ever did in a larger city. It can take some effort to arrange social occasions, but I find that to be true anywhere; for some reason, I’ve always attracted people who are difficult to herd. My favorite upshot of small-town life is the relative lack of bullshit I have to deal with. I can’t remember the last time I was in a traffic jam. My mechanic isn’t going to screw me because he knows how fast the news will get around town, and besides he’ll probably see me if he ends up in the hospital. Getting my driver’s license renewed took five minutes. A lot of the little stresses that add up during the day just aren’t there. I could be happy in a big city, or a small city, but I’m happy here, too. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/77 "2009-11-27T19:18:30Z")
There’s a big difference between a small town that’s close to a major city, and a small town out in the boonies. We used to live in Castro Valley, a town of 50,000 in California. Within a half-hour, we could be in Berkeley, Hayward, Pleasanton, or several other town. Castro Valley had few real services. Everybody went somewhere else for their needs. This little town of 2,300 where we live now has ten restaurants; over a dozen bars; Ford, Harley, and Kawasaki dealers; a hospital, all the major service organizations (Elks, Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis…); a medical clinic; two vet clinics; a bookstore (mine!); a weekly paper and a monthly paper; the main “necessity” stores (grocery store, drugstore, liquor store, Radio Shack); library; arts guild; museum/historical society; movie theater; and more. It’s self-sufficient, and since we’ve managed to keep Wal-Mart out, we still have a healthy, vibrant downtown. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/78 "2009-11-27T19:55:21Z")
We lived [in this town](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bonfield,+IL+60913&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.409192,69.873047&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bonfield,+Kankakee,+Illinois&ll=41.148591,-88.05675&spn=0.086735,0.136471&t=h&z=13) until just after I turned 11. With a population of 200 (now 300), everyone really did know everyone else and we didn’t bother to lock the door unless we were going on a long trip. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/79 "2009-11-27T20:26:49Z")
Having grown up in Toronto, it’s a race to see if you outgrow the city or the city outgrows you. Barrie, Ontario only has bout a hundred k or so in population but it’s lost that small town feel that I remember it having decades ago. I’d say that small towns are a nice snapshot of what you used to like about where you are from, when you want to get into the slow lane of the rat race. Older houses might be energy inefficient, but they are buit more solidly, nice plot of land and all the amenities of Toronto that you could be forgiven for thinking you are in one of Torontos boroughs. It’s different now, but unless you had a car this place was a hell hole for kids when they outgrew bikes and wanted to travel locally for all the tweener things. I mean it had bars and stuff, but your still likely to be hanging out with folks you went to school with. Not sure what the future holds, but I think that a move further north will be in the cards. Declan ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/80 "2009-11-27T20:56:57Z")
Beautiful pictures \*\* Gary Wombat \*\* and **AuntiePam**. It’s something isn’t it. Hard to describe. Pictures don’t do it. I’m in Pittsburgh for a few more days. And we are having a great time with family. But I miss my home. We all do when we are away. Home is home. Be it small town, the sticks or a big city. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894.md?page=5)