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My husband is a small PA hometown country boy and I am a city girl... both of us has been mainly residing in the suburbs of the many city(s) we have moved to and we really prefer the quiet of the country much much better.
Even my children, they will spend the summers in the PA farms prefer the country settings than the suburbia / city lifestyle.
Now we have best of both worlds in my opinion.
We bought a location in a secluded country town of about 2400 (+/-) population, yet is 15 mins to a suburbia shopping / work and 30 mins into the big city.
Before I got married I lived, with my parents, in a small Dutch farm community out side of Holland, MI. As a kid I was didn't really care for it, but now that I move to "the big city" all the stupid stuff that we did and got away with would have us arrested in a heart beat in the city. Personally I can't stand all the people, especially the weird-o's, I'm a bit of an anti-social so small town is perfect for me.
I have to agree with some earlier posters that it really depends on the small town. I lived in a small town of 1200 people for ten years. It was a very vibrant, artsy kind of small town with an outdoor Shakespearian theater, a great deal of natural beauty, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin. It was also only about a 45 minute drive to a city.
I loved living in that small town. It was nourishing to my soul.
I have lived in large cities now for 16 years. I enjoy the city life as well, but I could go back to a small town again as long as it wasn't way out in the boondocks and as long as everyone wasn't closed minded and narrow.
I just drove through the panhandle of Texas and southeastern New Mexico. I don't think I could handle living in a flat, treeless area so far from a big city. On the other hand, I have never done it, so maybe I would love it.
I just drove through the panhandle of Texas and southeastern New Mexico. I don't think I could handle living in a flat, treeless area so far from a big city. On the other hand, I have never done it, so maybe I would love it.
I do. I've lived in New Orleans and D.C. and the High Plains of New Mexico and Texas are as John Denver once sang, "almost heaven."
I LOL'ed about the OP's 'maybe 10 restaurants' - we have - one. It is the local bar/restaurant. 40 miles away there is a town with a Subway, a Pizza Hut, and a couple of non-chain restaurants, a grocery store, etc. What we have in our town of 145 people is the aforementioned bar, a gas (and propane) station, a feed store, a parts store, a PO, and a garage/mechanic. That's it. We drive our 4-wheeler in the pasture and around town. We go to 'town' about every two weeks. We are involved in the community, which puts on their own plays, has steak, and prime rib, and soup suppers, bake sales and BBqs. But mostly there is nothing going on, which is good - we have a lot of time to take care of our critters, grow, can, and dehydrate our own produce, etc. Most days and nights there is literally no traffic on the 2 lane state highway a mile from the house. We can sit out on our tallest hill and watch and listen to the wildlife, or the cattle in the next pasture over. Every month or so we can hear a jet flying over.
Not a whole lot of folks can live like this, but we love it. After the maddening rush and bustle of city life, where for many years I kept a bag packed so all I had to do was throw in seasonal clothes and hop a plane, where it seemed that everyone was pulling at our coattails and wanted something from us - this is wonderful.
He!! No! If anything, all my life I've been a small town girl and living in bigger cities of 40,000 or more has been too much for me. Put me back in a smaller town of around 5000 or less and I'm good. Oh, wait, I do live in a town of around 3500 so I'm set. Not moving again. Love it here.
I grew up in central Maine in a "city" of 17,000. We moved when I was 17 to Charlotte, NC, (population about half a million at the time) the move was a nightmare to me!
To me, moving to a big city and trying to assimilate is like trying to jumping aboard a moving train. The size and culture of a city does set the pace of life and I was definitely not ready for that much of a radical change.
After 22 years I have finally decided that I am ready to return to a small town, or at least a smaller town. The population of the metro area now about 2 million.
Perhaps the most ironic thing for me about living in a large city is that although it is full of people, it has been very difficult to make friends. You don't have the same built-in opportunities to get connected that a small town offers.
Have not actually moved from a city to a small town, but here is my take on this thread.
I live on a farm in the country, one city (60,000) is 17 miles , and a smaller town (2,500) is 13 miles, I find I go to the smaller town 10 to 1 times.
I hate going into the larger city, only go by necessity such as doctors appointments,or need to purchase something not available in the small town.
I think that there may be differences in the cultures of small towns and if small town life is what you want, as a previous poster said, you should research well before moving.
My husband is into art (doing it) and photography. He is a history buff. We both enjoy political discussions every now and then. We are both interested in interesting conversations with people of varied experience. I have an interest in the Theosophcal Society. We both enjoy lectures for adults at various colleges and the Ethical Culture Society. We attend Socrates Cafe and Conversation Cafe meetings. These are all available in a lot of large cities, but not in small.
In a city you can probably find groups of people who share your interests. You can probably, if you do research, find a small town that offers some of these, but hardly all.
In many small towns people are clannish and resent the newcomer or people who may think differently than they. In many small towns, if you are single or childless you are at a disadvantage because most people meet at children's events planned by schools. In others, the only social contacts are made through the local houses of worship.
I think, if a person can afford a large and well lit apartment in a place like New York City, he is ahead of the game. Medical facilities, an increasing factor as one ages, are usually better and more accessible in cities. New York living can sometimes be walking distance to Central Park. There is also Bear Mt. and the Catskills, not a too far drive away.
Living in the right building in NYC can have early morning light breakfasts with other apartment dwellers and morning jogs/walks, which are good opportunities to meet neighbors.
Which also leads me to the subject of money. Some of the more desirable towns, just like the cities, require that a person can part with a few bucks to live there. I think this may be the reason for some people who consider towns 'the sticks' and others find them interesting places.
Money does not guarantee anything, but it could turn probabilities more in favor of a satisfactory outcome.
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But no, I've enjoyed it.
of 17,000. We moved when I was 17 to Charlotte, NC, (population about half a million at the time) the move was a nightmare to me!
