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I've posted things a few times on these forums about the differences between living in Small Town America and living in LA... I wondered if others had things to add to my lists?
Things that I didn't like about small town living:
1) No concerts, unless you want to drive for hours (one way). In the area I grew up in, concerts for the state were usually 5 hours away. Truly MAJOR acts usually appeared a couple of days away (like a 15/20 hour drive away -- and that's only one way). They didn't even come to our state.
2) I lived in a lovely rural area at one time. It was 7+ miles to get to anything: gas station, 7/11, grocery store. You couldn't even order pizza because they wouldn't deliver that far out of town. Seven miles doesn't seem like much, until you find yourself making that trip (and back) several times a day.
3) Decent jobs were a lot farther than 7 miles away. Try 45 miles away. Or more.
4) No cultural things at all. I mean NONE. No plays unless you want to go see high school plays. No music unless you want to go listen to high school students play. No interesting food because interesting food doesn't sell in rural areas. Everyone seems to want Denny's in those places. Museums? Well, there might be a local museum that you can cover in about 15 minutes and the exhibits NEVER change. Art? Well, you can find that in books.
5) Lack of interesting places to shop. Wal-Mart is nearly everywhere. Sears? I think they are still in some towns. Ditto with K-Mart. JCPenney's? I don't know how many places still have Penney's. Jo-Ann's Fabric? Not such a popular store in LA but if you move across the country you might just want to get to know Jo-Ann's because you can create your own "non-Wal-Mart" clothes if you can sew. (And sewing is very popular in areas outside of LA.)
6) A much more blatant social structure. People who are "accepted" belong to "this club" or "that club." The Rotary Club was incredibly important in the area I grew up in, but as we got older, the Junior League was the thing to belong to. Once you belong to the "club," you gain acceptance, and this can be critical in a small town where you are dependent on others for jobs, etc. If it isn't the club, it's the church. You really have to "belong" to fit in. In small towns, if you don't belong to the "in thing," you are branded as an outcast and you don't have to worry about politely turning down invitations: You won't get any.
7) Having livestock as neighbors. Ever live next to a pig farm or cattle ranch? The smell alone is an acquired taste, I suppose.
8) Finding snakes inside your house. Honestly, there is nothing like finding a snake that has gotten inside your house someway to make you really crave city living. Poisonous snakes count double.
9) Psycho neighbors. They are so much worse when you only have a couple of neighbors. When you have 100 neighbors, the psychos don't seem so bad but when you only have a couple of neighbors -- one psycho neighbor is REALLY bad!!
So, I started this! C'mon! Anyone who has lived outside of LA and likes LA can surely add on to this list!!
i love this thread, because i was in a small town in the midwest last christmas, contemplating a move there. after much navel-gazing over the big stuff (family, career, cost of living, weather, etc.), it was the little things that helped me make up my mind to stay put. a sampling:
i received a gift of the coolest pajamas EVER... only they were the wrong size. when i went to exchange them, i got the last ones in my size. had i waited another day, it's likely that i would have had to choose a different pattern (none of which i liked) or another item altogether because it was the ONLY outlet of that particular store in a 100 mile radius. it was a reminder of a fairly trivial thing that i take for granted, but wouldn't really want to give up: the ability to drive to stores all over town in search of that item that i absolutely must have. it's something i find myself doing about twice a year, and it can become an adventure of sorts. it would be very frustrating if i were forced to give up after the first stop. (yes, i can shop online from anywhere, but that doesn't help if i'm searching for something i need right away.);
considerable doubt existed as to whether there was a hairstylist in town to whom i could entrust the care of my hair. (i'm a black woman.);
i'm a foodie. i wouldn't want to give up great ethnic food from every corner of the globe, and world-class fine dining in exchange for mediocre slop from national chains;
forget about trying out an interesting new recipe at home without having to omit or substitute any mildly exotic ingredient in a place where leeks are considered exotic;
I've posted things a few times on these forums about the differences between living in Small Town America and living in LA... I wondered if others had things to add to my lists?
Things that I didn't like about small town living:
1) No concerts, unless you want to drive for hours (one way). In the area I grew up in, concerts for the state were usually 5 hours away. Truly MAJOR acts usually appeared a couple of days away (like a 15/20 hour drive away -- and that's only one way). They didn't even come to our state.
2) I lived in a lovely rural area at one time. It was 7+ miles to get to anything: gas station, 7/11, grocery store. You couldn't even order pizza because they wouldn't deliver that far out of town. Seven miles doesn't seem like much, until you find yourself making that trip (and back) several times a day.
3) Decent jobs were a lot farther than 7 miles away. Try 45 miles away. Or more.
4) No cultural things at all. I mean NONE. No plays unless you want to go see high school plays. No music unless you want to go listen to high school students play. No interesting food because interesting food doesn't sell in rural areas. Everyone seems to want Denny's in those places. Museums? Well, there might be a local museum that you can cover in about 15 minutes and the exhibits NEVER change. Art? Well, you can find that in books.
5) Lack of interesting places to shop. Wal-Mart is nearly everywhere. Sears? I think they are still in some towns. Ditto with K-Mart. JCPenney's? I don't know how many places still have Penney's. Jo-Ann's Fabric? Not such a popular store in LA but if you move across the country you might just want to get to know Jo-Ann's because you can create your own "non-Wal-Mart" clothes if you can sew. (And sewing is very popular in areas outside of LA.)
6) A much more blatant social structure. People who are "accepted" belong to "this club" or "that club." The Rotary Club was incredibly important in the area I grew up in, but as we got older, the Junior League was the thing to belong to. Once you belong to the "club," you gain acceptance, and this can be critical in a small town where you are dependent on others for jobs, etc. If it isn't the club, it's the church. You really have to "belong" to fit in. In small towns, if you don't belong to the "in thing," you are branded as an outcast and you don't have to worry about politely turning down invitations: You won't get any.
7) Having livestock as neighbors. Ever live next to a pig farm or cattle ranch? The smell alone is an acquired taste, I suppose.
8) Finding snakes inside your house. Honestly, there is nothing like finding a snake that has gotten inside your house someway to make you really crave city living. Poisonous snakes count double.
9) Psycho neighbors. They are so much worse when you only have a couple of neighbors. When you have 100 neighbors, the psychos don't seem so bad but when you only have a couple of neighbors -- one psycho neighbor is REALLY bad!!
So, I started this! C'mon! Anyone who has lived outside of LA and likes LA can surely add on to this list!!
Let's hear the bad parts about small town living!
Those describe one small town - not all small towns. I wouldn't want to live in the place you described either.
I live near a small town, Monument, CO: 53 miles from downtown Denver and 25 miles from downtown Colorado Springs. I can get to any big city event in Denver faster than I could have traveled from Thousand Oaks to any big city event in Los Angeles. Yes, I am five miles from pizza, library, groceries, gas, etc. but I can pick stuff up on the way home from work or make a weekend errand run.
The schools are better (at least equivalent to Conejo Valley), there is no traffic, I can order anything on the internet, the air is cleaner. I have a well so other than the electricity to pump, my water is free. Septic is free except for emptying charges every few years. Within a 35 mile radius I can get to many more jobs faster than in Southern California. I like looking out my windows out at the Searle Ranch's Texas longhorn cattle in the grazing land about a mile away. There are no smells and no flies.
Yes, good ethnic food requires a longer trip (and higher babysitting fees), but OK, that is maybe once a month. In the past we'd have to go to Castle Rock or Colorado Springs to get Thai or Korean, but they've recently opened a combo Korean, Thai, Chinese place about ten minutes away. Sushi is about 25 minutes away. OK, it's a trade off.
Another bummer is cable and internet is less competitive so I am stuck with Direct TV and radio (RF to an antenna on my roof) wireless internet (only around 1.5 Mbps). No DSL, No Comcast.
Also, most doctor specialists are in the Springs so that does require an extra trip hassle.
Small/medium sized towns are great. Almost all of the good and almost none of the bad.
PS. Interesting about the KNX reference. I listen to Jack Salvatore on KNX at 5AM (4AM in LA) each morning on my way to work driving down from the Palmer Divide. Comes in 5X5. Must be ionosphere bounce. (The best thing is not caring about the "on the 5s" traffic reports.)
What I wouldn't like about living in a small town is the lack of proximity to an international airport. It's nice to know that I've only 20 miles from LAX, which has carriers that can fly me anywhere in the world. It would be difficult to live in a town where I'd have to drive a few hours to get to the nearest big airport. Not that I do that much traveling, but it is still a consideration.
The shopping is a big deal to me as well. I like knowing that I'm within twenty miles of five different Target stores, two or three J.C. Penney stores, etc.
Small town America is a nice phrase but misleading Rural America is more apt. I live in a small in LA county Hawaiian Gardens is small suburb of 15,000 next to Long Beach. Years ago when I was a kid we lived in Henderson, TX. where my dad grew up. The town had grocery stores, Wal-Mart(Henderson also had a K-Mart which closed in the early 1990's), motels including a Holiday Inn and Quality Inn. The closest malls were in Tyler and Longview. For big city fun to be had is in Shreveport, LA 70 miles away, Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex 130 miles away and Houston 180 miles away.
The best thing about rural(small)town living is that it is quiet and more affordable ( more often than not) and very little traffic.
Not wanting to offend I will only say that I temporarily live in Central California in an area that has grown and is growing everyday. But despite the new housing and a few new schools, it is a cultural wasteland with people that almost consider where they live to be seperate from California as they speak with a slight southern drawl, are biggots and racists, have almost the highest rate of childhood asthma in the nation, the worst shopping, only a Red Lobster for fish, and race around in their huge trucks nearly killing people. I can't stand small minded people that have no idea what is happening outside of their safe little small town bubble. Good for them, bad for newcomers from "the outside of town".
What I wouldn't like about living in a small town is the lack of proximity to an international airport. ...Not that I do that much traveling, but it is still a consideration.
The shopping is a big deal to me as well. I like knowing that I'm within twenty miles of five different Target stores, two or three J.C. Penney stores, etc.
What is an extra one or two hours traveling to a big airport once or twice a year? Also, I've noticed it is sometimes easier to catch a plane from COS to wherever via DEN to avoid DEN security lines. COS has no security lines. Plus, a lot of airlines reward their frequent fliers if they initiate their travel from a small airport using a major hub in transition (COS-DEN-DCA for example).
Is there much of an advantage having five Target stores versus one Target store within the comfortable driving radius? Is there much of a difference between each store? Sort of like having five McDonalds?
I used to live in a town w/ a pop. of 1200. Now I live in L.A. County. Huge difference. I could never go back to a small town life. I loved it for so many reasons but I was bored out of my skull.
Boredom. Small minds. Nosey neighbors. Limited shopping.
Just to name a few. When I'm in L.A. I never get bored, never run out of things to do and places to see. Plus, here in my area of the midwest I have to PAY to walk. Yes, true. The park for exercising will have a $5.00 gate fee this spring. All the county parks charge also. If you wanna go swimming be ready to pay $5.00- $15.00. We do NOT have to pay to park anywhere though so that kinda evens it out I guess.
Driving the same roads everyday for 30 years and nothing ever changing accept more cars on them, that's depressing too.
The Midwest has very unpredictable weather too, at least the part I live in. I have always wanted a convertable but I will never own one here. Sunny one minute, downpouring the next. Humidity is bad, most summer days are spent inside because 85 degrees with 90% humidity makes you instantly sweat and soak your clothes.
Fashion: When we visit L.A. we feel like total hicks. I love the fashion there opposed to the midwest. When we get moved I'm going to seriously need someone to bring me up to speed on that issue.
Food: Here we have Chinese buffets, Country buffets and McDonalds. Taco Bell and the main chains. Nothing really ethnic. We have alot of immigrants here from Mexico so theres a few Mexican restaraunts, thats it.
Work: When you see your friends or family the first thing they say is, "How's Work?". I hate that. I'm not AT work and I dont need to be reminded of how crappy my job is, yet that is ALWAYS the first thing talked about. That's all some of them have, their work. Theres nothing else to do.
Life: We have high obesity rates. My state is in the top 5 for smokers, everyone here smokes (well, not everyone, I dont) my wife grew up breathing in her Mom and Dads smoke, her grandparents, aunts, uncles and nobody ever told her she couldn't so at age 14 she started up...she's 23 and it's her worst demon. Exercise and health are not really priority here.
This is my town/area. Not the whole midwest is this way I'm assuming. Chicago is about 120 miles from here and it's basically like a mini version of New York...and I don't like New York so there goes that idea, plus Chicago weather sucks too.
Conclusion: The midwest sucks. yes, you can buy a home and affordability is appealing to those on the outside looking in. Car insurance is cheaper. A 1 million dollar house in L.A. would be about 120K here, but then you get what you pay for. Look at what you'll be living in, snow and ice every morning, the bad weather deciding what you will do today.
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