Why not move to a smaller city?

I live in a city of 250,000 and it is too big. My mom lives in a town of 400,when I go home I see the milkyway galaxy. Everyone knows me.

to a ranch outside of small-town California. Big difference.

opera, symphony, and plays.

Anyway I live in a small city inside a big one. I can't go anywhere without tripping over someone I know. :D

True we don't have good Thai food and forget finding sushi. But, there are a few high end eateries. Itzak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma performed there in the last two years, lots of local and traveling theatre, a small university. And two high schools make cut throat athletic events that are really great to follow - think "Hoosiers".

And, I really don't bump into too many of the same people that often unless you hang out only at one spot.

There's adequate shopping, no traffic, great schools and cheap houses. We do have a meth problem but the community is really putting a lot of effort into it.

Housing is so affordable. 4 bdrm for $150,000. I loved all the things you get in Seattle, but now with a family, it's unreasonable to make it there. We wouldn't be able to afford all those things anyway after buying a $500,000 3 bdrm house.

And my 3 br was $150k. ;)

But you mistook what I said... I *like* bumping into the same people over and over again. Makes me feel like this IS a small town. :P

but how small is to small? I think, if you feel comfortable in the small town, and you enjoy the atmosphere, go for it. My hometown is 15,000, i lived in Sacramento for 4yrs, and i believe there population was around 300,000 if not bigger, and I didn't mind that either. But I worked in bigger cities, Chicago, Denver, Seattle...and those cities, were just a bit BIG for me...

On the other hand, i'm in a town of 400 or so people...i'm out in the country, there are other bigger towns in the area, biggest is rogers/bentonville, or joplin, and they have just about everything you could possibly want, except pro teams...

My main mistake of moving to a small town, was I didn't really want to be here in the first place, and at times, that wears on me. So, be sure, if you move to a smaller town, its what you want...:)

on edit: The main thing i miss about bigger towns, is stores that stay open 24/7, man, its so hard trying to find booze after 10pm, in my county! Its such a pain...

I figured that a sign you have reached civilization is that there are place open 24/7. It does not really take that many people though. Even a town of 5000 will usually have a 7/11 type store.

true, Neosho Mo is about 10 miles from me, and they do have a few stores that stay open 24/7, a gas station, and wally world. But, I do miss bigger cities from time to time, after a night of drinking, or during...:) when the urge to eat strikes, I do miss the late night drive thru for jack in detox, or other places. There aren't to many bars/clubs around here either, unless you go to Joplin, but there bar/club scene, is weak at best...

What I miss is the comic book shops...man, its so damn hard to find them. WE have a few vintage stocks, but most of the people working them, don't have a clue...example "do you have superman 234 in Action comics?" usual reply "whats action comics?"...:)

In some small villages, there are almost as many bars as houses. In villages of even a few hundred, you have choices of places where you want to drink.
If my husband and I were into going to bars, where we live now would be fine. If we did go to bars at night though, we wouldn't have anywhere to pick some fast food up on the way home.

thats how it is, in SE Alaska as well. My hometown of 15,000 has about 100 different bars/business that allow you to drink. In the county i'm in now, there is over 20,000 people, and yet, I know of 4 bars...

In Neosho, i know of 3, but its in a diff county. Back home in the Big Ak, my hometown has a race going on, who can out build who...cause, there are just about as many churches, as there are bars...I hope the bars win...:P

such as dining diversity, retail options and entertainment.

Me, I prefer small towns. You don't get lost in 'em, literally or figuratively.

whose horse is whose. ;-)

Everyone seems to know each other here. I hate it.

I want to move to a city where I am completely anonymous...like LA. No one would know a thing about me there. :)

I'd enjoy having a little getaway in the country or something, but I would never be able to stay away for too long. There's always something to do here, and such diversity, if anything, I want to move to an even bigger city someday! :)

We all have our different needs. Some people need to see the stars at night and have a house and a yard and be "close to nature", and then some people feel 100% at home in a condo on the 50th floor of a skyscraper. Obviously these are two extremes, but you get the idea.

I don't need a car, I can walk to almost everything or take public transit. I live 3 minutes away from the grocery store! I've lost a lot of weight since I gave up driving.

tourists about every day, but I'll always be a country boy. I've become used to urban living -- well, Western style, not in the mode of northeastern cities -- but small towns and the boonies will always be where it's at for me. I'm glad I grew up in the boonies...only way to go.

speaking it SUCKS. I live in the reddest county of one of the reddest states but, the countryside is SO beautiful and like you my sky is simply amazing. I have the ocean close enough for a weekend trip and the high mountains are only 1 hour away. I have metropolis 1 hour south and east of me. And to the North and West by one hour I have very scenic cities that are very blue politically. My job is only 15 minutes away and yet when I am at home you would think you were miles away from civilization. I think I have the best of both worlds as nearly as possible and for that I am grateful.

and I get nostalgic for it from time to time. Then I remember;

that even the gossip goes into summer reruns

I'm related to half the town by marriage and the other half by blood, or so I thought until I found out that half of ones by marriage were also by blood.

even before the bowling alley (4 lanes) and skating rink burned down, they were only open 2 days a week during the school year and closed in the summer. Same for the movie theater before it closed down. And the town no longer has a laundromat where we used to go to watch the dryers turn.

everybody knows me (yes, that cuts both ways) and everything I'm doing, want to do, plan to do

biggest excitement in my lifetime was when the firehouse burned down.

I live there because it is close to work. I'd like to point out though that is why many people don't live in small towns, because if you want to live close to work, your choices are limited are non existent depending on what you are looking for.
I suppose that we haven't made enough effort to really become part of the community and would perhaps enjoy it more if we did. The town isn't tiny, between 5,000-10,000, but there are things that it doesn't have to offer. There are many things that one cannot buy in town, at all or that are only sold at Walmart. For the items that can be bought somewhere other than Walmart, there isn't really a big selection. We do have a hospital, but there is only one ambulance which makes frequent transports to the big city hospital a ways a way, meaning that if my 250 lb husband has a medical emergency where he cannot move himself we are SOL if it happens while they are out of town. Despite having a hospital and clinic, many specialists don't see patients there or only a time or two per month and are usually fully booked. Aside from a grocery store and convience store, bars are the only thing open after 10 p.m. or 8 p.m. on Sundays. There are few community groups or activities for adults in town. There seem to be a lack of educated people here. For shopping, any adult activites, to see a specialist, to dine late at night, etc we have a 30 minute drive which can expensive because of the price of gas. Also, despite this smallness, we don't feel like the people are particuliarly friendly because they seem to view outsiders with suspicion. I suppose if we made more of an effort, but it is something that you have to work at just like in a bigger city.
I suppose that a good thing about the place though is that if we wanted to buy a house that we could get something at a price relatively low compared to the rest of the area.

Small towns don't see you as part of them until you've been there at least 5 generations.

now I don't. I haven't moved either.

New Orleans, in case you were wondering.

was never a "big city" on the scale of NY, LA, Atlanta, etc.

1.2million metro area puts it in the medium size or smaller -- however, it was unique in that it had many big city ammenities due to its history and tourism. Excellent culture, food, no car required (if living in the FQ), etc.

I miss NOLA :cry:

I was just making a grim joke. After all, what is Mother's Day if not a time for gallows humor.

My parents were both born there, my grandparents still lived there, and one set of great grandparents lived there as welll. They all lived in different neighborhoods and my parents went to different elementary schools and junior high schools. I went to a different elementary school from them. Both families belonged to decent sized churches. Both families were involved in local politics, belonging to the opposite parties. They were also involved in other community groups. My sister and I spent a significant amount of time with both sets of grandparents and went everywhere with them to the places that they frequented. They also had a lot of people over at different times. One of my grandfathers, who had diabetes, walked everywhere. As a result, we got to know many people. It was big enough though that we didn't know everyone where ever we went. No one knew everyone, with the exception of a former mayor and postmaster who allegedly did.
When I go back there now, I am very anonymous, though.

x(

Sometimes while traveling I picture myself living in this or that small town and I feel depression descend upon me immediately.

Just my own feeling/opinion ...

Not to mention the fact that small towns are generally places devoid of culture or commerce, and they tend to be inhabited by small-minded, gossipy busybodies who worry entirely too much about what their neighbours are doing. I'd sooner live as a hermit in the middle of nowhere than live in a small town, personally.

the smaller cities wouldn't be smaller anymore? :shrug:

which flanked Toronto.

Moved to a city of 650,000...then to a city of 30,000 for 2 years, then to one of 65,000 for a year. Back to that first city. (not my hometown)

I could deal with the latter (near the mountains, so there was some escape), but the 30k was too small for me...never mind isolated (450km north of Edmonton)...and COLD!

If it were a small town right outside a city, I could probably deal with it...my parents came from a town of 1000, and I used to go nuts when I visited there, even as a kid. Nothing to do, all the gossip...:eyes:
Small town Alberta = Redneck Central :scared:

I like the city (or being very close to one)...not too large, though.

I grew up in a rural-ish suburb (pop. 10,000) that was still mostly farmland and forest when I lived there. It was far enough away from the city to be insular, and I hated it.

I went to college in another small town (pop. 8,000), which was only bearable because the college had a liberalizing cultural effect on it.

After college I briefly lived in London, UK (pop. several million), which was absolutely amazing. Sure it felt big sometimes, but the neighborhoods had a village-ish quality which offset that.\

Then I lived in a smallish city (pop. 65,000) which was fairly ethnicly diverse-- but it was also very stifling, because everybody knew who you were and knew all your business.

I now live in a medium-sized city (pop. ±250,000, metro area pop. 2.5mil), which is a good compromise. Many neighbors know me, but OTOH I am also quite anonymous-- which I like. It's the best of both worlds.

For everyone to know who you were and to know your business or have something rather unique about you. I have been mostly anonymous in much smaller towns. The only people who can know close to that many people are people who make it a point to know a lot of people. Once you get above 10,000, most people don't know most people. Maybe, I'm anti social though so I don't really know what is going on.

I've been politically active since the mid-80s, even before I could vote. So yes, I was pretty visible.

I like my town. It is a pretty good balance. I've lived here all my life for the most part. Good number of people. Mixed community. Nice place to live. A little bit country but close to New York City. You can't beat it.

BUT, if you need access to high tech medical care or a job that pays a lot, you are screwed.

We live in a fairly small town (13,000 or so) where everybody has at least an acre of land. While we don't hate it, it's just so damn inconvenient to have to drive 15 minutes to get to a large grocery store... 20 minutes to get to a movie theater or to the local shopping mall (and the surrounding Target, Home Depot or Lowe's) ... and, 10-15 minutes to get to one highway, depending on traffic... and, a bit over 30 minutes to decent Chinese food.

We used to live in Newington, CT (pop 30,000 or so) and everything was 5 minutes away... within 20 minutes, we could get to 5 or 6 movie theaters, 3 shopping malls... several large grocery stores, including the biggest Asian grocery in CT or Western Mass... and there are 3-4 authentic Chinese restaurants. Within 5 minutes, we could get onto 4 major highways.