# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/81 "2009-11-27T22:02:15Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > 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. Ketchum, would be my guess. ---
**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, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/82 "2009-11-27T22:15:29Z")
Yep. And no I am not rich and annoying. I _work_ here. šŸ™‚ ---
**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:** [November 27, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/83 "2009-11-27T23:08:04Z")
We donā€™t even live in a town. We live in a township on 15 acres. From the road you can only see the roof of our house - thatā€™s it. There are no close neighbors; I can run naked around the outside of our house, and no one can see me. We moved here nine years ago from our house in suburbia. I will NEVER move back. Yea, it takes me 45 minutes to get to work. But I donā€™t care. I love the privacy. I also love the fact that I can do pretty much whatever the fuck I want. I hunt, shoot high-powered rifles, burn trash, have bonfires, work on cars, build stuff ā€“ you name it. When you have no neighbors, and no one can see your house from the road, then (by definition) no one can bitch at you. Itā€™s freedom. ---
**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, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/84 "2009-11-27T23:45:22Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > When you have no neighbors, and no one can see your house from the road, then (by definition) no one can bitch at you. Itā€™s freedom. What the fā€”? I thought that Marxist Obama was supposed to be cutting back on all this ā€œfreedomā€ stuff! Is allowing someone like **Crafter\_Man** to ā€œrun naked around the outside of our houseā€ really what we want from freedom!? Is it!? Is it!? Omg, it is. The horror! :o ---
**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 28, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/85 "2009-11-28T00:14:20Z")
I didnā€™t grow up in a small town, but in a Los Angeles neighborhood that was miles from anywhere, with no public transportation, and whose hilly terrain made bicycles next to useless. Although not without some redeeming characteristics from the perspective of kids looking for some fun, I wouldnā€™t live there again for free. As I was growing up, the simple freedom of being able to walk to some meaningful destination was something I experienced only on vacations, and, of course, later while in college. Iā€™ve lived in urban neighborhoods since I moved out of my parentsā€™ house, and I wouldnā€™t want to go back ever. Probably because of that ā€œvacationā€ association, I still relish the freedom to walk to a variety of places, even if they are mostly mundane. It is true about the Internet and small towns, though. If you want, you can watch German TV on the Internet and pretend youā€™re in Berlin. I probably could be happy in a college town, but it couldnā€™t be one of those colleges where they donā€™t let outsiders check out books from the library. Iā€™m not sure I could handle living near a research library and not being able to use it. On the other hand, I probably wouldnā€™t be there unless I was working at the college in some capacity or other, so access to facilities wouldnā€™t be a problem. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/86 "2009-11-28T00:51:15Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Is allowing someone like **Crafter\_Man** to ā€œrun naked around the outside of our houseā€ really what we want from freedom!? Is it!? Is it!? \<_Look in mirror_.\> I couldnā€™t agree more! šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/87 "2009-11-28T02:15:52Z")
The worst thing about living in a small town is that preening, self-righteous John Mellencamp song. _Well I was born in a small town And I live in a small town Probā€™ly die in a small town_ Donā€™t let _us_ stop you, John. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/88 "2009-11-28T02:22:53Z")
I donā€™t think Iā€™ve heard that song since I moved to a small town. Odd. Between the somewhat eclectic local radio stations and my iPod, though, thereā€™s probably a good explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/89 "2009-11-28T02:34:47Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > Yep. And no I am not rich and annoying. I _work_ here. šŸ™‚ I have never been ski ing, or to Ketchum. But I worked at a business on the coast for 29 years with a guy who lived in Ketchum for about half that time. He became our marketing and product development manager and moved to Ketchum about 20 years ago, before it got so expensive. He worked out a deal where he would come to the coast for a week or so each month and work out of his home office for the rest of the month. And he traveled a lot too. The business is gone now but Iā€™m sure he is still doing well. This whole tread is really interesting because it brings up the whole issue of; does an office related job actually require an office? For jobs where you need face time with the customers I can see where a base camp might be needed, if the customers are used to coming to see you. For the sales rep or marketing person who travels to visit a customer, does it really matter if his base office is a business building or a home office? I used to send e-mails to people whoā€™s offices were 20 feet away, and never talk to them in person all day. I think there are a lot of careers where it should no longer really matter where the work is being done. ---
**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 28, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/90 "2009-11-28T08:06:27Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > For jobs where you need face time with the customers I can see where a base camp might be needed, if the customers are used to coming to see you. For the sales rep or marketing person who travels to visit a customer, does it really matter if his base office is a business building or a home office? Iā€™m not convinced that face time with co-workers can be totally dispensed with. Being able to put a face to a name can be helpful. On the other hand, improving technology and bandwidth make it possible to have visual contact even if there is telecommuting. Moreover, such measures as attendance and productivity can be monitored remotely as well as they can if the worker is on site. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894/91 "2009-11-30T02:27:49Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I live in a village of about 1500. Those of you who call 100,000 people a small town are puzzling the hell out of me. Iā€™m with you. I grew up in a small Oklahoma farm town of 1200 people. My public school graduating class had 32 people. It was awesome growing up there. My mothers house didnā€™t even have working locks on the doors. Her car key never left the ignition. You knew everybody in town. When my mom and dad got divorced my mother gave up an incredible career so she could raise her kids in an environment where they would be safe. If I had to have one negative, iā€™d have to say that Iā€™m a little naive, but even that hasnā€™t necessarily been a bad thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-in-a-small-town-why/518894.md?page=4)