Pagan Journeys
General Topics => General Chat => Topic started by: Satine on July 31, 2011, 11:48:12 AM
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So I was watching Runaway Bride and Practical Magic among other Sandra Bullock and Juila Roberts movies when the charm of the small towns got to me. I've grown up in a small town but i had to move to a city. My small town actually went south but i want my kids (when i have them) to grow up in small town atmosphere. Does anyone know where any small towns are that are cute and the people that live there are close knit? by the way I'm stuck for 4 years in the city im in now but i will move afterwards.
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It honestly just depends on where in the country you want to live and what type of small town you'd enjoy living in. Most all small towns are close knit, that is part of their nature. Many also often have something of an old fashioned mindset, so that is something else that you have to take into consideration when contemplating where to move. I lived in a cute, tiny little town for a while, but the narrow mindedness of the majority of the people was incredibly unattractive to me. Obviously, not all small towns are going to be that way, but in certain parts of the country, you are going to find that to more often be the case. Close knit can also mean that everyone is in your business. If you are a private person at all, this may or may not be what you are looking for.
Small town covers a huge range of sizes as well. Are you looking for a town that still has all the basic amenities such as shopping and groceries (which would actually be on the larger size of "small town"), or are you willing to live farther away from a larger city to get the small town feel, yet still have to do a little driving to get some of those needs taken care of? Where I lived, I didn't have close access to most any shopping, so it was a drive to get anything done. My preference would have been to have had something more convenient, but that would have also meant living farther away from the rest of my family than I was willing to go. It also meant a lot fewer options for employment. Neither of which were issues I was willing to live with to get that small town feel.
To really be able to start looking for what towns are appealing to you, you may need to create a more definite list of what it is you are looking for in a place to live as that will make a huge difference in where you should start looking. There are lots of areas of the country and towns that seem extremely appealing on the surface, but once you look deeper, you may find that the community just doesn't fit your needs or expectations once you see what it would be like to live in it on a daily basis. Until you have defined your own personal needs, like proximity to shopping, availability or quality of employment and education (especially when talking about raising kids), it will be very difficult to even start looking.
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well, id like to have a good schools (if i dnt home school), i don't mind driving to get to wrk 20 minutes at the most, employment is a must. i want a type of town that will grow not too big but let business in. my city wouldnt let businesses in to preserve the small town effect, but that means more people on welfare, and less jobs and eventually we had problems with gangs. i need grocery stores and medical centers not just doctors offices but they can be 15 minutes away. basicly i want to live in the country where you have to walk for 10 mins to get to ur neighbors i hate how i can hear my neighbors next door i live in an apartment. I hate how the neighbors would watch me cut grass and dont like people in my business. i dont mind people knowing what i do but dont really like people poking their noses around. i just want to have a safe and happy enviroment for kids to grow up. as long as we can provide for them and buy chocolate bars every once in a while ill b happy and sure they will too.
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What sort of climate do you want? Since there is such a wide range in America, that might be a better way to help narrow your search. Temperate year round? Four seasons? Do you like winters? Do you prefer summers? I grew up in suburban Chicago so when I hear "small town" I think typical Heartland stuff - flat, with cornfields as far as the eye can see. But even that idealized view is incorrect - all places will have their problems with crime and poverty. I had a friend who lived in Ligonier, IN (population 4,405 in 2010). Indiana heartland. Amish country. the illegal immigrant population was also the rise, at least until the recession, largely because of the RV manufacturing in the area.
Every place has problems - the question is figuring which problems are ones you can live with.
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Agree with Tirya. If you don't mind telling, where have you lived so far? You are more likely to enjoy living some place similar to where you grew up if you didn't despise it.
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well im from South Carolina and the hubby is used to cities in California. we would like four seasons but not bad winters and not humid summers. i just want really green! and i want a fall season.
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The only place I can think of that is sort of neat is Ashville North Carolina. I think it is pretty around there, there are some pagans but like most places in the heartland lots of fundies.