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That's becuase you just assume you know what goes on in a smal town.
It's not me, but other people here who are always saying that small towns have no stop lights, supermarkets, or hospitals. The way make it seem like small towns are still stuck in the stone ages and have not caught up with the 21st century. So if small towns have none of those stuff, why would they have a Walmart or Applebees of all things.
I live in small town N. Carolina, my town has a population of about 4000 and is in parts of two counties. When you walk down the street, people you don't know will smile and say "good mornin' to ya". We also have a Town Library bigger than the libraries of most of the 25,000 to 50,000 population towns in the area. Of course we are within 50 miles of Duke University, N.C.State University, U of N.C. @ Chapel Hill, U of N.C. @ Greensboro, N.C.A&T University, N.C. Central University, Guilford College, Greensboro College and about 4 Community colleges. I do not believe this to be a stereotypical "small southern town". We also have 2 coffee shops, both come complete with lively conversations. Small towns in this area have changed a bit in the last 20 years. Oh, yeah, one other thing, I do a really nice garden each year, my tomatos make delicious sandwiches. I suspect a big city is any urban span that is home to more than 500,000 people.
Milbrae isn't the retail hub for that area. In a rural area a town of 7500 might be the largest town for 100 or more miles. That makes it the retail hub, and people from other even smaller towns will come there to shop. When these larger chains look at a market, they analyze not just the town, but the larger area of economic impact. If they feel they can draw enough people in from surrounding towns, they will locate there.
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It may also help if you realize there is a difference between a small town, and a rural town. Millbrae, for instance, is a small town. As are lots of other towns in that section of CA. They are not rural. There is little or no space dividing these towns. People easily drive between them for different shopping and amenities. Rural towns are not like this. Large amounts of space separate them. They need to have enough shopping to meet basic needs. People can't easily/cost effectively drive between them to accomplish basic shopping and utility needs.
Really great observations and explainations about the differences in these kinds of towns!!
Milbrae isn't the retail hub for that area. In a rural area a town of 7500 might be the largest town for 100 or more miles. That makes it the retail hub, and people from other even smaller towns will come there to shop. When these larger chains look at a market, they analyze not just the town, but the larger area of economic impact. If they feel they can draw enough people in from surrounding towns, they will locate there.
Not to sound snide... But, based on the comments you've made in this thread, it seems like you need to get out of the city and see what other lifestyles and areas are also like. You might expand your horizons a bit.
It may also help if you realize there is a difference between a small town, and a rural town. Millbrae, for instance, is a small town. As are lots of other towns in that section of CA. They are not rural. There is little or no space dividing these towns. People easily drive between them for different shopping and amenities. Rural towns are not like this. Large amounts of space separate them. They need to have enough shopping to meet basic needs. People can't easily/cost effectively drive between them to accomplish basic shopping and utility needs.
It's not me, but other people here who are always saying that small towns have no stop lights, supermarkets, or hospitals. The way make it seem like small towns are still stuck in the stone ages and have not caught up with the 21st century. So if small towns have none of those stuff, why would they have a Walmart or Applebees of all things.
If Big-Chain-Store studies an area, and decides that it would be profitable to put a store in a certain town, they'll do it.
Building a hospital requires coming together and raising the money - which usually means raising taxes.
There are small towns with a Big-Chain-Store and no hospital, and others with a hospital and no Big-Chain-Store, and still others with neither! It just depends on what's available in other nearby areas, what the citizens of a town want and are willing to pay for, and whether or not the big chains feel they can turn a profit in that area.
Wow the definition of Rural is amazing. To the OP, I know of plenty of places that would fit the bill here in California. Some are within an hour or two from a populated area. Still the deffinition of what a small town, area is would fit. Still I don't understand the question as these areas would still have access to much of what we have in the populated areas. I do remember one community that had a Sears store that you came in and ordered items from, they did not carry any items in that "store". The internet I am sure was the demise of places like that.
Milbrae isn't the retail hub for that area. In a rural area a town of 7500 might be the largest town for 100 or more miles. That makes it the retail hub, and people from other even smaller towns will come there to shop. When these larger chains look at a market, they analyze not just the town, but the larger area of economic impact. If they feel they can draw enough people in from surrounding towns, they will locate there.
Not to sound snide... But, based on the comments you've made in this thread, it seems like you need to get out of the city and see what other lifestyles and areas are also like. You might expand your horizons a bit.
It may also help if you realize there is a difference between a small town, and a rural town. Millbrae, for instance, is a small town. As are lots of other towns in that section of CA. They are not rural. There is little or no space dividing these towns. People easily drive between them for different shopping and amenities. Rural towns are not like this. Large amounts of space separate them. They need to have enough shopping to meet basic needs. People can't easily/cost effectively drive between them to accomplish basic shopping and utility needs.
Definitely...level of isolation of a smaller community is a definite factor. This is one reason why a smaller community that's more remote may have more amenities than a somewhat larger community that's more or less one of many such towns in a fairly well-populated area. A small suburb doesn't need a ton of chains if all the other small suburbs around it have them.
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