7 Reasons to Love Living in a Small Town
One of America’s greatest strengths is its small towns.
While small towns aren’t inherent or exclusive to the United States, we just do small towns better than anyone else. I’ll prove it.
Close your eyes and think of the word ‘Americana.’
Now, what do you see?
Ok, you’re going to have to open your eyes to keep reading, knucklehead.
I’ll tell you what I see: I see baseball, apple pie, white picket fences, store fronts decorated in holiday colors and seasonal fare. And people—I see people, all kinds of them, walking from shop to shop, waving, smiling, and greeting one another. Some are picking up a grocery order, some are getting in their work van, and a handful are standing on the sidewalk laughing before they return to their shifts behind the counter or barber chair.
Idyllic? Of course!
We had to have a bunch of plumbing work done this week. Do you think I’m going to be smiling and waving to anyone after that bill comes due?
No way!
But, what may just brighten my day is walking down to the park at the end of my street, driving five minutes to our local bookstore or plant shop, and on the way home I’ll pick up a nice pizza at the place where the owner knows us by name. Small towns, baby.
Sure, you can do all this in a big city.
But in a small town, you can move at your pace; you can slow down and look around, enjoy the scenery. You know you’re part of the culture and identity—part of the fabric of the place you live.
So, let’s take a look at a few more things we love about living in a small town.
1. Short Commutes and No Traffic
Alright, let’s get this one out of the way. When was the last time you sat in traffic in your small town? Now, I’m not talking about having to sit through a light for an extra cycle; I mean honest-to-God traffic. Even in smaller cities like Buffalo, Louisville, and Indianapolis, traffic can be a bit of a bear around rush hour—both on surface streets and 465 or the 190 (iykyk). But in a small town, if you know you’re usually home in 7 minutes, you’re not going to miss that mark by much, no matter what’s going on in front of you.
We can’t talk about traffic in small towns and not talk about our commutes. The longest commute I’ve ever had while living in a small town was 15 minutes when I had to drive from one side of Anderson, Indiana to the other. A year later, I moved and cut my commute time down to three whole minutes. Yes, I could hardly get one full song into my drive before I arrived at work. Beat that!
If you live and work in a small town, you’re blessed. You save on gas, you get more time with your family, and it makes running errands before or after work so much easier.
2. Friday High School Sports
Is there anything better than being part of a small community that all comes together on a Friday night to root for the high school football team in the crisp fall air? I love sitting in the packed bleachers of a basketball game and witnessing the imperfect but exhilarating drama and competition unfold between two rival schools.
3. Mom & Pop Shops
I’ve got to admit, this is one of my absolute favorites. Small, locally-owned stores have been one of my favorite things in the world for my entire life. I love the ding of a bell that sits above the door when you walk in, the blast of a decades-old scent that rushes to welcome you in, and the quiet calm of a shop owner hard at work or sitting peacefully as they wait for someone to come in and chat with them.
Mom & Pop shops are integral pieces of a small town’s identity and its culture. Think of the small towns you know. Don’t you first think of the bakeries and restaurants, the coffee shops and bookstores? Have you ever been to a small town toy store? My goodness, what a treasure trove they are!
If you want some cool ways to get to know the Mom & Pop shops in your area, you can check out my GET TO KNOW MY SMALL TOWN ACTIVITY BOOK. It’s a collection of games and challenges that connect you directly with small businesses in your town! Try it with friends, your kids, or even on a quiet Saturday morning you have to yourself!
4. The Best of Both Worlds
When you live in a small town, you get the best of both worlds—society and isolation. People and peace. Community and cloister. In a small town, you can spend a day in town, working, buying lunch and dinner, running to the bank or the post office, and then spend your evening driving down a country road to your friend’s house for a bonfire, and still be within shouting distance of your own house a block or two off Main Street.
5. The Sounds
George Bailey: “You know what the three most exciting sounds in the world are?”
Uncle Billy: “Uh huh. Breakfast is served; lunch is served; dinner…”
George Bailey: “No, no, no, no. Anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles.”
Far be it from me to argue with the protagonist of the greatest Christmas movie of all time (those who disagree are wrong), but I think the following sounds might beat out George Bailey’s travel sounds for the best in the world:
• The honking horn of a friend driving past you as you’re walking down the sidewalk;
• The ding of a shop bell;
• A roaring crowd at the Friday night football game;
• Your neighbor’s windchimes you can hear two or three doors down while you sit on your front porch;
• Train whistles. I’ll give George this one. I’ve lived in a lot of different neighborhoods in small towns and a couple small cities. I have yet to be out of earshot of a train’s whistle or its gentle rumble. Home.
What sounds am I forgetting? What does your small town sound like? Tell me in the comments on this post or on the Facebook or Instagram post where you found it.
6. Grocery Store Meetings
Alright, hang with me on this one, because it was the worst as a kid. You’re nine years old and you go to the grocery store with your mom, and you’d be in the middle of the canned soup aisle when you’d hear “Oh my gosh! Martha May! Is that you?” Next thing you know, you’re being introduced to someone who says things like “I haven’t seen you since you were a baby.” Well, listen, Toots, I’m a big boy now with a big appetite and I’ve got my eyes on that Ham & Cheese Lunchable in the cart, so if you could move along, I’d love to get out of here before puberty ravages my body.
As a kid, a huge time suck.
But as an adult, I love seeing people I know (and like…huge caveat) at the store. We spend a lot of time isolated from each other now, and as we get older, life gets busier, so we have less time for our friends. Someone making a cameo while you’re picking up fabric softener and a rotisserie chicken is the adult equivalent of making a surprise stop at the park on the way home so you can eat your McDonald’s at the picnic table and then burn off your energy on the monkey bars.
7. Family and Friends Within Arm’s Length
This one may be the best. Living in a small town means you probably live near friends, family, and other folks you care about. Being able to walk down the street and in their side door or take a ten minute drive to meet your parents for dinner—that’s rich. That’s wealth. This is something we take for granted. Before I moved away from Indiana, I was no more than an hour away from the people I loved most in the world; most of them were only five or ten minutes down the road. But as you move, you grow; you make new friends and some of them live just across the park, some live down next to your favorite antique store and wing place. And as much as they may drive you crazy, some live right next door.
What did we forget? What do YOU love most about living in your small town? What do you miss most about the small town you grew up in or where you went to college?
Tell us in the comments!
Enjoy the weekend and remember to take time to visit a local bookstore or coffee shop this weekend.
Listen to the sounds as you walk to the post office or park.
And wave to that neighbor who you know is going to start mowing his lawn before breakfast on Saturday morning.
We’ll see you next week!
-AT
Adam Tidrow is a serial entrepreneur, expert in American business and economic history, and scholar whose work focuses primarily on local economic development in the American Rust Belt.
