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Question for all the small towners out there... (and those wanting/planning to move to a small town)
Are big city amenities appealing and desirable to those living in small towns?
In today's world, many of the good things about living in a big city are becoming available in small towns, where it seems possible to have the best of both world - the good things that come with small town living (less stress, sense of community, interesting history, natural features and attractions (forests, outdoor activity and adventure, etc.) coupled with attractive features of big cities (infrastructure such as high speed internet, telecommunications - cell phone service, cable TV, etc. etc.), "upgraded" retail such as coffee houses, higher end stores, better dining, entertainment, etc.
It seems an ideal small town would have the best of both worlds. However, sometimes it seems many from small towns are almost scared/resistant to see some of these things coming - for no logical reason at all, and it makes for an interesting dilemma. Opinions?
Don't know small towns, have no interest in moving in small towns and live in Chicago, a truly big city, but I would imagine towns with a major university would have the amenities you suggest, plus culture and educated folks. In Illinois, Champaign-Urbana seems to have the outdoor activities and "sophisticated" retail and dining such as coffee shops associated with a university, but it also has nice nature trails and the small town charm. Granted, the metro area probably has 75000+ people, but its rather isolated from other cities.
I've never had a problem getting internet and although I don't have a cell, it looked like I could have anywhere. My two interests in amenities is a coffee shop and a decent grocery store. So far, I have only lived in one small town that didn't have either. I survived. I'm not too picky on the grocery store either--I don't need exotic ingredients, I just make a big shopping trip every once in awhile to get the harder to find items then. (And I do mean hard-to-find items. All but the one had everything to make meal time great)
People in large cities seem to put a lot of emphasis on amenaties, when to the average rural citizen, it doesn't matter. It really doesn't. We all live healthy, productive, and for most of us, interesting lives--with culture, good food, and great company!
"upgraded" retail such as coffee houses, higher end stores, better dining, entertainment, etc.
The big problem for businesses that need a physical presence, unlike cell phones & internet, is numbers.
Without the population to support walk-in business, there's not a lot of profit to be made.
Define "small". Georgetown, with about 25,000 population, still feels like a small town (though it's very close to Austin), but it has a few coffee shops, a couple of grocery stores (one upscale to the point that I rarely have to drive into Austin any more to buy ingredients), lots of restaurants, a movie theater, etc., etc., etc.
The small town, population about 1500-2000 (we're growing), where I officially live (on the ranch outside of town), has a grocery store, a truck stop/cafe where folks meet for coffee, a bar where the farmers/ranchers gather when it's raining, a liquor store, two banks, and other such amenities. Many of these are supported by the rural community surrounding the town who don't show up on the population count.
I immediately thought of Prescott, AZ. Has most of the amenities of a much larger place. And everything being built there has attracted alot of job seekers and retirees. So now it's really a small city and growing fast. That's the thing about amenities. As an area grows it can start supporting more stores, etc. As it gains the stores it starts becoming more attractive to people wanting to get out of the big city but still have alot of what they're used to. Which eventually leads to even more specialised stores like Barnes & Noble. Which leads to more population growth and, depending on your perspective, either ruins or improves the area. Unfortunately in too many places like Prescott, the growth has attracted too many wealthy folk, and has priced most working class folk out of the market. When I lived in Colorado there were many people living in cheaper areas and driving to where the work was because they couldn't afford to live in places like Aspen. With today's high gas prices I wonder how they're coping?
Businesses that would attract lots of white collar jobs or college educated professionals would attract many of things you mentioned.
Coffee houses, book stores, art galleries, performing arts theater, foreign film movie theaters, high end retailers, ethnic restaurants, and diversity are usually apparent in these types of communities. It's the concentration of wealthy people or educated workers that bring this all to communities.
Of course, larger cities will still have more night life such as large night clubs and bars, sport's teams and sport arenas, more shopping, more diversity, and amusement parks nearby.
Of course larger cities bring out troubles like more crime, more traffic, more poverty, more smog, and lack of sense of community.
The perfect balance would be the communities that do get the cultural scene in.
here are examples in California
small cities and towns-Hanford, Visalia, Redding, Santa Maria, Salinas, Victorville, Palmdale, Lancaster, San Bernardino, Riverside, Hayward, Fremont, Eureka
small cities and towns with high amounts of college educated: Berkeley, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Los Gatos, Napa, Santa Rosa, Roseville
I immediately thought of Prescott, AZ. Has most of the amenities of a much larger place. And everything being built there has attracted alot of job seekers and retirees. So now it's really a small city and growing fast. That's the thing about amenities. As an area grows it can start supporting more stores, etc. As it gains the stores it starts becoming more attractive to people wanting to get out of the big city but still have alot of what they're used to. Which eventually leads to even more specialised stores like Barnes & Noble. Which leads to more population growth and, depending on your perspective, either ruins or improves the area. Unfortunately in too many places like Prescott, the growth has attracted too many wealthy folk, and has priced most working class folk out of the market. When I lived in Colorado there were many people living in cheaper areas and driving to where the work was because they couldn't afford to live in places like Aspen. With today's high gas prices I wonder how they're coping?
This happens alot with these areas. Many people in San Luis Obispo county also do this. People that work in San Luis Obispo can't afford to live there, so live in one the smaller surrounding communities.
Yep, 20 years ago the information superhighway was going to be the savior of small town America - trouble is, it went to Bangalore before most of the small towns got it. Honestly quite a lot of the places I go in PA don't have broadband or even (still in 2010) cell service, or coffee shops. And how many of the people with "live and work anywhere" jobs still live in the metro suburbs, maybe for schools or shopping?
If small town America beyond the odd university or tourist town is going to survive it will have to be a result of government policy directing resource equality to small towns. Which is ironic because real small town America is probably the most anti-government in outlook. Which is reasonable because government hasn't done anything good for small towns since the 1930's, or maybe the 1950's if the town is on an Interstate.
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