Small Town USA, Would You Live There?

I've had a lot of thinking time this week, as I had to spend a large amount of time away from the internet and my friends on Twitter.  As I pondered many topics, I kept circling back to a passion of mine, my hometown.

I understand completely why people move away, and leave North Dakota (my home state) completely for that matter.  But as much as it may benefit me to move away, and be around more people with the same mindset as me, technology wise, I would rather be the guy who turns things around, and gets people to move here.

Big City Living     Big towns/cities (more than 50,000 people is big to us) offer a lot of conveniences that we don't have.  The late night trip to Wendys or Taco Bell.  Walmart ALWAYS being open.  More competition on gas prices.  Movie theaters open every day.  Churches with more resources.  More 'stuff' to do.  Faster internet.

Small Town Life     Small town USA offers many things too though.  Less, if any, crime.  You know everybody.  Cheap housing, cheaper cost of living.  Better education, largely due to smaller class sizes.  People trust you with just about anything.  Personalized service.  Minimal traffic.  Great hunting.  Low cost barrier to starting businesses.  Hard working people.

Differences     It's obvious people want things that the big city offers, that they can't get in a small town.  For me, the internet has opened up a lot of things, namely shopping, so that I don't NEED to go elsewhere to get things, they can be shipped to my door.  Sure, the hardware store, groceries, and gas might cost a little more.  But I don't spend so much time in traffic to get somewhere, which saves a little money.  I've got friends that need 20 minutes just to get to Walmart.  I can go to the hardware store, grocery store, and be back at home in 20 minutes.  There's no pollution.  I can leave my car/house unlocked and not worry.  If I want to play basketball in the gym, I can usually find a teacher to let me in, and will probably even play with me.

Needed:  More Technology     Perhaps the single biggest dislike I have in my small town, is lack of technology.  Rural America, the place that needs mobile phone service the most, has the worst coverage.  Internet speeds from our ISP (yes, we only have on choice when it comes to internet providers) are even worse.  A lot of people are simply old, and don't see the need.  Of course, why should they care, they'll likely die before the town does.  The problem I see is the people with money have no vision, and the people with vision have no money.  This is compounded by the people that have the clout to do something, don't want to listen to young people with 'radical' ideas like blogging and social networking.

What Do You Think?     So I guess my question to all of you is, what keeps you away from Small Town, USA?  What does a small town need to offer you, in order for you to live here?  Is there something you don't like about small towns?  I really want feedback on this, whether in the comments, or responding in your blog (use the trackback link).  I want to make a difference, I want to make my town relevant.  But I also want to know what other people want here, not just my desires.  Hopefully this will generate enough feedback to do something with.

Comments

[Becky McCray]

Terrific thoughts! I'm looking forward to hearing the responses. You and I think along similar lines, and despite hundreds of miles of distance, we face similar small town challenges. Thanks for kicking off a hopefully interesting discussion.

[Stu Andrews]

Awwww, this is such a cool post. Reminds me of where I grew up, little country town. Lazy saturday afternoons where nothing is happening, and yet cosiness exists.

What keeps me away from Small Town USA is a little thing called the ocean. Stupid ocean. We need that Time and Space bending.

But what keeps me from Small Town AUS is the lack of jobs. Once the world of development bows before me, and every single computer in the world runs my software, then I could be self-sufficient enough (just, heh heh) to move to our ideal place. In between the ocean and the mountains. Ahhhh.

Becky hit us up on twitter about this, so kudos Becky, and Kudos to you .. That .. Tall .. Dude (Shawn, heh).

[Jack Lhasa]

Small town, any day.

[Dayngr]

Work is the #1 thing keeping people away from small town America in my opinion. It is what's keeping me away. I'd love to leave the big city behind but work is an issue. Small towns have better housing prices but lower paying jobs. Another major issue for me is technology. I need cell phone service that works and is competitive along with internet service that is the same. While living in VA in a not so big city area and not so small town area everything took forever in the technology department - but at least there were options. Schools have to be top notch too.

I'd move to a small town in a minute - especially now that I'm a mom.

[Des Walsh]

I'm not in a small town, not even in the USA. But I did leave the Big Smoke - in my case, Sydney, Australia, pop 4.28 million in 2006 - and moved to a pretty quiet, seaside town. There are plenty of small towns and villages only a short drive from here. I love this environment and I can see the attraction of living further inland, but I suspect that the not so brilliant internet access we get here would become less reliable and certainly slower. And let me assure you it's not just younger people that don't get a hearing on radical ideas like blogging and social networking.

But maybe we need to look for a moment beyond our own local communities and connect with others of us in the small and maybe the "not quite so small towns but not cities" in a global network. If nothing else, that might help with lobbying efforts for better broadband! And if the global network helped create business and profits for people, maybe others like local town councillors would sit up, stretch, scratch their chins, look for signs of rain and say, "Maybe that young whippersnapper who talks about social networking is onto something here". Or not, but it could be fun in the process.

What prompted that little flight of fancy was seeing that a commenter here is Dayngr whom I know from Twitter. I assume Dayngr lives in the US but here we are, having a chat across thousands of miles of ocean.

So here's a thought. Why not create a network of smalltown entrepreneurs, across the globe? There is plenty of software, much of it free, to facilitate that, Ning for instance.

Do we need another social network? Maybe.

[Mike]

Interesting topic and comments. I use to think that the availability of jobs (or lack thereof) was the biggest dilemma for rural communities. Then I got involved in trying to make a difference and learned that the issue was much more complicated.

While difficult to boil it down to any one thing, I believe the population loss in rural communities is largely attributable to the loss of a sense of opportunity. People first settled the plains because they saw opportunity; the Homestead Act created an opportunity to own land -- an opportunity not available anyway otherwise.

For generations now, society has taught us that cities are the land of opportunities. The media is largely responsible for this, but rural communities must take responsibility as well. We don’t identify those opportunities that are available. Making things worse, we allow ourselves to be lumped together with the same characteristics.

When I read your post I saw some elements of similarity (low crime, high trust, and lack of shopping opportunities to name a few). But I sincerely doubt those characteristics make our towns the same. In fact, it’s my experience that small town offer more diversity (not ethnically, but yet socially) than urban areas – especially if one lumps in the mundane suburbs.

To find that diversity, I’d hoped the link you provided to your community’s website would show me what makes your community different from mine, and what opportunities might be available to me. Unfortunately, I did not get the sense of either.

My community has worked on this issue, and while I don’t know if we’ve got it right, I’d like to offer the following link for people to check out www.opportunityhoward.com. I’d love to hear your comments as well. Do we offer the opportunities people are looking for? Can we do a better job of communicating those opportunities?

I make these comments because my community actually has many jobs to offer right now, but we are struggling to find people to fill them. What can we do better?

PS – I haven't checked to see what jobs are available today; so when I say we have jobs, I’m not saying we have jobs for everyone, but there are still many quality jobs.

[Kalei]

I moved to a small town for the very same reasons that you mention. We have about 10,000 people in Heber City, Ut - and I still think it's too many. I love that they make birthday announcments and shout outs to people who are celebrating before the movie starts in our theatre. And that everyone in my neighborhood stopped by with goodies when we movied in. I love to see the little kids walking or riding their bikes to school everyday - even the kindegarteners! And I love that it's one of the safest places I've ever lived.
Downfalls - similar to yours. Everything is closed on Sundays. Bad for technology (I have an antenna on my roof that shoots across town to the graveyard for my internet). I can't get cable - satellite tv all the way! And when the power goes out in town - it goes out in the whole town! And last but not least, I really wish there was a Walmart or something similar here. All we have are antique shops and bad places to eat! :)
Love your website.
~Kalei

[Monica Marie]

I find myself asking these same questions, Shawn. Why can't my family settle in one place? Why must we continue to travel back and forth? Because I grew up in Jackson, Tennessee (population 62,711), I feel qualified to say that convienience and variety are musts. I am not from a wealthy family and it took everything we had, and then some, to move back up here. Jackson isn't huge, but in 10 minutes I could be at Wal Mart or the mall or even on campus. There were about 5 colleges in Jackson and MANY more surrounding. My dad was paid twice what he was getting here, but only having to do half of the work. Jackson had awesome used book stores and video game stores. We had cell service from almost any provider. Groceries were so cheap compared to the fortune they are worth here. It is so easy to be there. My family are there. But the people are horrible. Of course, there are good people in Tennessee (obviously, I am from there :p), but honestly they are few and far between. Children in their BMWs with 500 bucks in their wallet driving straight past the homeless who sit on the corner of the street with their shopping cart and trash bags. The world is cruel. I didn't even enjoy church when I was there because the people were so hypocritical. One church I went to actually stopped in the middle of service for a smoke break. I'm not saying people who smoke are bad or horrible or even non-religious, but addiction bad enough to put church on the back burner is pretty ridiculous. There are so many gang relating shootings...rape isn't uncommon, murder happens every day. It is scary. I lived out in the country. I lived basically in the forest...ever watch Bambi? It's like that but with houses around. lol. One night my Aunt Renee from Florida came up to visit and I offered her my bed. Andrea and I were staying in the living room watching TV with the window open because it was pretty warm out. We heard something outside and a gun shot and thought it was just the screaching of a dying animal because there were about 20 raccoons out. The screaching lasted nearly all night long and made it hard for me to sleep. The next morning we found out that a woman had been shot by her husband and was left to die all night. This was a house down from ours. She almost died. Her husband thought he had killed her. We heard it all and didn't even know. There were two known sex offenders on my street and it was a very short street. Life here in North Dakota is hard, but it is worth it. If my family members were here, I would never want to live in Tennessee again or anywhere else for that matter. There are things I don't find appealing about small town life. Having everyone know your business, before you do, is very annoying. I miss the ability to make a spontaneous trip to Wal Mart or when I really don't want the food we have in the house and go out to Wendy's or Taco Bell at the drop of a hat. I miss SONIC. lol. Gas prices are outrageous here. But the trade-off is far better. I would rather be in a place secluded from the real world if the real world is full of nothing but hatred. I can get annoyed by the people in a small town, but when you need something, they are here for you right away. North Dakota is a pretty amazing place. You can't know that without being secluded here for a while. You really learn how to be a good person by surrounding yourself around them. The only thing that would make me leave here again would be my family. If you ever want to know more about me, read my blogs on myspace. I had to get a new page because my old one was all goofed up, but in case you aren't on my friend list anymore, my url is www.myspace.com/monica_skywaker. I know I didn't tell you anything that you didn't already know, but I hope my input helps a little. Feel free to ask me if you have questions.
-Monica

[John Crabtree, Dougherty, Iowa]

I do live and work in Small Town, USDA and wouldn't have it any other way. And there are solutions to the challenges that rural communities face, but they won't come about if rural people wait for Washington and Wall Street to get the job done.

if you wants to find some strategies to revitalize your community/main street or some ways to get in the fight for the future of rural America check out...

http://www.cfra.org/blog
http://www.cfra.org/competition

[Brett Hands]

Hey Shawn, wicked cool post, I agree with everything you say! Small towns rock in a different way that big citites do and you nailed that. Posts like that are needed to show ppl what is reallt going on in small town USA!!

[Crystal]

@Shawn Great question, great post! I grew up a suburb girl, but I loved the years I spent in a small town next to a big state college. I also liked living in a wee Michigan town of 375 or so. I remember kind folks, limited resources, walking everywhere, and owning a big affordable house.

Unfortunately, I also remember stares and hostility, vibrant cattiness, and a postman who apparently read my mail.

And when I eventually moved to a big city, I got all the bad without the good, and with crazy crime as the cherry on top. Now I'm building an online business so I'll never be tied to a place I don't want to live, or leave a place I loved, because of job opportunities.

I look forward to finding a smallish town next to a larger one, hoping to have the best of both. Quincy, MA is looking good.

@Mike---Your website is terrific! It looks very modern, and up-to-date compared to other town websites I've seen (and I see a lot, since I'm looking for a small town to go to).

You've hit all the right buttons, especially with your discussion on using technology to fill in gaps and increase opportunities for education. The website makes your town look very "together", like you all are committed to being a small town with a big future.

And you raised a good point in your post: ethnic diversity. For us, it's been a real challenge finding a small town that's not 98% monochrome. And as a mixed couple, we don't want a large racial majority in any direction. Finding a wide mix of people in a small town setting is a huge challenge. Finding that in a small town as progressive as yours would be stellar, and so I keep on lookin' :)

[Becky McCray]

So glad to see John Crabtree from CFRA came by! They work on rural development issues every single day.

Amazing discussion! Glad you kicked it off.

[IBTerri]

Small town living is not for everyone, but I would not have given it up for anything. I found it very comforting knowing just about everyone I ran into. Of course that has it's downside too. Your parents knew what you had done wrong before you realized it because the nosey neighbor next door told them before you got home.

I love going back home to the little town I grew up in. It's pretty much the same place, just different people (unfortunately).

[J.R.]

I love this post. I have given a lot of thought to what kind of business would work in a small community.

If the technology infrastructure were there rural communities would be ideal for call centers. People could work from their homes, receive decent wages and remain in the community. Lower wages than the cities would enable the call centers to compete based on efficiencies. Plus, wouldn't you rather receive tech support from someone with a Texas drawl or a mid-western twang than from someone who barely speaks English, much less American?

I could be totally wrong about this, but if someone has a decent plan or other ideas this would be fun to pursue.

[Rod Murrow]

I find it mildly disturbing that so many folks can create a "family outing" by going to the local Wal-Mart. There's pretty strong evidence to suggest that WM has effectively shut down most 'Mom and Pop' businesses in Smalltown, USA...and yet, many folks continue to flock there while their local businesses flounder and struggle to keep their doors open.

I admit to shopping at WM - but nowadays, in many small towns at least, it's the only business that carries the merchandise (they've run everyone else out of business).

I'm also curious to know what most folks think of when they hear the term "small town." I live in a town of about 200 people, give or take a few. I work in a town of about 5,000, give or take a few. One is obviously smaller than the other - both are struggling in various ways. But for many folks, a "small town" is something smaller than Oklahoma City or Tulsa.

Enid is a 'small town' by comparison -- but when I was growing up in my little hometown of Dacoma, Oklahoma (population perhaps 250 at the time), a trip to Enid was a trip to the city...a trip to Oklahoma City was really an incredible experience, such a huge city by comparison to my hometown, whose Main Street was finally paved in the mid-1960s and who finally got dial telephone service and a modern sewer system in the same era. Now, for all practical purposes, it is a ghost town, like so many small rural towns.

[AB]

Low crime, low pollution, and a ski area are some benefits here.

However, my town has less than 600 people in it. Town close to the Colorado,New Mexico boarder.

The town is close to 8000 feet.

Cons-

Bad restaruants, people know you too much. Not a lot of young people year round. THe only places open at night are bars. I drink some but don't do what a lot of people do around here. A lot of alcoholics and drug abusers. A lot of rumors just because people are so board apparently.

Too cold, we still get snow in may. I'm lived in Fort Worth, Texas for so long. So I'm getting very tired on the long winters. Summers are nice but once the monsoon sets it basically just rains for about a month and 1/2. late june to mid august about.

Since this is a ski town, prices for small town living are very very high here. This small town is an exception since there is a ski resort. I'm becoming a teacher and am going to have to move out if I want something fairly decent in the next 10 years.

Power goes off a lot. Roads don't get plowed when they should.

I like small towns but I think SMALL SKI Towns are much more of a vacation place than a full time living area.

[Leanne]

I grew up on a farm outside of a small town. There are 3 things that most small towns don't have that keep me from living in one:
(1) Lack of diversity
(2) Not gay-friendly -- it seems like a lot of small towns are fairly hateful to gay people
(3) Few transportation options -- I love being able to walk or take a streetcar or underground to wherever I need to go in a city. I can often go 5+ months without driving.

If there is a gay-friendly diverse small town with transportation available that wasn't dependent on my car, I'd love to know about it!

[Brenda]

I love small towns and small town living. That is how I found this site, I put into search small town living because I am thinking of moving. I know the town I grew up in I always thought of as being small but it grew up too. I have moved to bigger towns like Dallas,Tx., St. Petersbutg,Fla. and even Texarkana, Tx.(which was not that big at that time)but I always came back here.Family was the main reason and now that is almost not the factor anymore.

I have alot of bad memories here and would like to move somewhere and try to make some good memories. I have not been in trouble or anything like that it is just a lot of hurt in the past and would like for the rest of my young years to be better and happier ones.