Anyone live in an isolated super small town- please read on

[questioner]

I recently took a long car trip into rural Eastern Oregon. There are a number of small towns in Eastern Oregon that are incredibly isolated, and to be quite honest, have little going for them.

Many towns seem like they are dying, with very little population growth, no new businesses or shopping. You drive through the town and see very few people on the street, or much of anything going on. Many towns have no restaurants/fast food.

Why do people live in towns like this when they can move to bigger cities with more leisure and economic opportunities?

If you live in a very small town far from a big metro area- tell us what life is like in these towns. Why do you stay? Do you like living in a very rural area and do your friends and neighbors?

 

[Skatermom23]

I don't live in the small town, but if I could transport my 5000sq foot house to a small town, I would in a second! I would love to be so isolated. I think I have driven in DC traffic for too long..... My thinking is warped!

 

[L107ANGEL]

I love living in a rural area. I don't mind the 30 minute commute each way if I can live in the woods. I know most people can not understand my point of view. I enjoy the peace and isolation!

 

[ahutton]

DH grew up in a coastal town of Oregon. They lived there because his father worked for the State Forestry Office. Only had a DQ and a couple family places to eat, and that was in the not too far away "big city". Living in a metro area has been a huge difference in lifestyle for him, you don't have to drive an hour to run to the store. They lived there because of DFILs job, it was just a different way of life.

 

[Barb]

I live in a small town. We only have a post office/fire company (all in the same building) and a bar. I hate it. I'd be out of here in a heartbeat if I could. (I can't) We live near other towns that are a bit bigger. We have grocery stores, fast food and gas stations within 5-10 miles of our home. We have a Super Walmart coming in soon and the local mall is 20 minutes away. But to do any serious shopping, we need to go 35-40 miles or more in any direction. There are no easy ways to get anywhere here.

 

[OhMari]

I recently took a long car trip into rural Eastern Oregon. There are a number of small towns in Eastern Oregon that are incredibly isolated, and to be quite honest, have little going for them.

Many towns seem like they are dying, with very little population growth, no new businesses or shopping. You drive through the town and see very few people on the street, or much of anything going on. Many towns have no restaurants/fast food.

Why do people live in towns like this when they can move to bigger cities with more leisure and economic opportunities?

If you live in a very small town far from a big metro area- tell us what life is like in these towns. Why do you stay? Do you like living in a very rural area and do your friends and neighbors?

Somedays yes, somedays no.

You can always jump in your car and be in a large metropolitan area in an hour or less.

Being in a small town, you get tired of your surroundings. I live near an area that has one of the largest marshes in the world. People travel from all over to visit our marsh, yet I maybe ride my bike through the area once a year. Plus you tend not to participate in village activities, because it is the same people you see all the time. In our town, our h.s. sports program is the adults activities. Adults live for their kids games, other than that, there isn't to much to do.

I would love to live in a large metropolitan area, my husband would go nuts. He thought moving from a small township of 80 to our town of 2200 was a huge move. He wants to move to the country with 10 acreas. Now that would really make me feel isolated.

 

[bananiem]

We lived in a small town for 6 years for dh's job. My experience was that the people who were happy in this particular town were the ones who'd been born and raised there and didn't know any other way of life. It was a very odd town though. Not at all welcoming to "newcomers".

 

[NMAmy]

DH lived in a tiny town in New Mexico before we moved in together. He was 30 miles from the nearest town (and that was relatively small, as well--where I lived.) His "town" consisted of a post office that was in a trailer, a convenience store/gas station, and a volunteer fire dept.

He loved it--he could see the mountains from every room in his home and he lived on 7 acres. He wasn't born there (he's from England) but he was friendly with his neighbors and there were all sorts of critters around plus, boy, could you see the stars at night. I loved to stay with him out there but with a teenage daughter, we knew that would never work out--we'd have been constantly driving back and forth to town for activities.

It all depends on your mindset really. When I first moved to New Mexico, my ex was stationed at a very isolated Army post and it took me more than a year to adjust to the fact that you just couldn't go out to dinner at the drop of a hat. After 15 years in small towns and isolated areas, I did get used to it and even learned to appreciate it.

 

[pat fan]

We live in a small town and wouldn't live in the city for anything. That said, even if someone wanted to, maybe money is a factor.Things tend to be more expensive in the city and if you can't find a job that would afford you to live there......Besides, I'd rather drive a while to go shopping and feel safe in my hometown than be able to go anywhere/do anything and worry about crime etc....(not that all big cities are not safe, but compared to small towns, they are usualy more dangerous).

 

[C.Ann]

My summer place is in a small town - a couple of churches, fire/ambulance, 2 general stores (one on each side of the lake), a couple of restaurant/diners.. The next "big" town has a 7/11 type store, five & dime, small (expensive) supermarket, drug store, 2 banks, post office, hardware store, video store, some eateries & gas stations, laundromat, etc..

I would live here year-round in a heartbeat, if I could.. The people are very friendly and watch out for one another - the "quiet" is unlike any other quiet you have ever experienced - the wildlife is awesome - and the mind set is extremely laid back, none of that "rat race" mentality.. People have less material goods and are truly happy with their lot in life.. If you've ever heard that c/w song - "What I Love About Sundays" - that's kind of what small town living is all about.. A "Type A" personality could never survive here, but if you're content with less material goods and have the type of personality that would be happy to "take the long way home", this is the place for you!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Life in those kind of places certainly isn't about shopping.
I grew up in a small town. We had a diner but it was mostly for the Farmers and breakfast coffee. I think they closed after lunch - around 3pm. Nightlife did greatly center around the kids and school. I'm glad they still have their school, so many of those small towns have consolidated and the kids get bussed for hours into bigger schools.

Out of curiosity I looked up their test scores a couple of months ago. They are still beating state averages by huge margins with a very low per student expenditure. I think there is ALOT to be said for class sizes of 16 kids.

 

[live4christp1]

We live in a small town, right at the base of a mountain. We used to have an elementary school that was K-6 but after I went to middle school they closed it and bussed everyone to the next town (where we went for middle school & high school so there was already bus service). We have a post office that used to also have a small store in it but when the owner died they closed and the post office took over the rest of the space. We have a Baptist church, a Methodist church and a Church of God. No stores, no traffic lights. But we can be in Chattanooga in 15 minutes or head in the other direction and you are in an area with shopping centers and fast food in 15 minutes as well.

It is very peaceful. We know our neighbors. No one ever bothers us. It's beautiful, spring, summer, fall, and winter......winter especially if we get a little snow (doesn't happen often). DH and I both work in the city and if we have to go out toward Hamilton Place Mall area on a Friday evening, we will both look at each other and say, "so glad we don't have to deal with this traffic every day."

 

[SillyMe]

I love living in a rural area. I don't mind the 30 minute commute each way if I can live in the woods. I know most people can not understand my point of view. I enjoy the peace and isolation!

I don't want to hear horns beeping and music blaring during the night when I'm trying to sleep. I don't want to have to worry about my neighbors being nosy. I love living in a small town/rural area. I'd never make it in the city.

 

[mickman1962]

I live in a small town with NO post office/traffic/light/police/garbage pickup/anything. Its 12 miles one way to get a gallon of milk or gas. I have major shopping 30 miles (one way) away. And I commute 35 minutes to my job. To me there is nothing more leisurely than walking out my door and not being able to heat any sounds except for nature. I'll take the 95% time in the boonies with the occasional trip to the metro area rather than vice versa. I would like to ask this question of the people I see traveling north out of the city every Friday and south again on Sunday if they would move.

 

[C.Ann]

Out of curiosity I looked up their test scores a couple of months ago. They are still beating state averages by huge margins with a very low per student expenditure. I think there is ALOT to be said for class sizes of 16 kids.

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This is very true of many small towns.. I recently read that here at the elementary school, 64% of the entire sutdent body made the honor roll and the school came in 4th (in all of New York) for some sort of testing (can't remember offhand what it was).. Also, the teachers who teach here truly LOVE their work, love their students, and love the small town atmosphere and that is reflected in their performance.. I believe there is even one teacher who "volunteers" her non-work time to teach the little ones a foreign language..

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

We live in a town of about 15,000 people in Mississippi.

the good stuff:
--3500 square foot house on 1.5 acres costs about 250K
--I don't have to hear car alarms, ambulances, and police sirens all hours of the day and night
--I don't have to lock my doors at night
--the taxes are reasonable

the bad stuff:
--no gourmet food in grocery stores or restaurants
--few restaurants
--decent shopping is unheard of unless I want to drive 2-3 hours.
--acceptable shopping is available for an hour drive
--there are few qualified medical professionals
--no veterinarian for my bird...not even someone to trim his nails and wings
--small town atmosphere means everyone knows your business all the time...and since it's the SOUTH, they know if you don't make it to church on Sundays.
--the activities for kids are limited if you don't play team sports
--limited or no job opportunities; when there are jobs available, the pay is at or near minimum wage...and jobs are often filled by people with college or advanced degrees.
--limited choices for things like auto repair


All in all, I'm pretty miserable where we're at because of the negatives and will look forward to moving to a larger city next year.

 

[C.Ann]

Also forgot to mention the taxes.. School and land combined, a little over $300 a year.. With that we get great road maintainence and garbage pick-up.. Where I used to live, I paid $2500 - and got neither..

 

[TigerCheer2009]

I live in a medium sized town...we have a library, a movie theater, post office, police/fire department, an elementary school, a high school/middle school combo, a drugstore, many bars (insert shaking head smiley here), two banks, a Daily Queen, two pizza places, a McDonalds, a grocery store, two car washes, football field, a roach motel, gas stations (at least three), a couple furniture stores, a park with baseball fields, and at least six churches within walking distance.

It's actually very nice. The biggest town near us is 30 minutes away. We have a two day summer celebration every year with rides, fair food, rip off games, competitions, fireworks etc. We have parades (our marching band was the Best Band in the Land as of 2000...comps in FL!!) and all that community Christmas jazz, too.

We're very close knit. Everybody knows everybody...which can be good or bad. Sports, concerts, dinners, drama productions, fundraisers (like auctions and spaghetti suppers), Meet the Team nights...anything that has to do with the kids is at the high school and draws a huge crowd.

I love living here...quiet, good access to everywhere (though it may equal out to a drive or a long walk) but it's awesome. It's like one big family (notice I didn't say we were happy!) We've had a lot of water system breakdowns of late; pipes are so old that they BURST quite literally. Scandals in the public offices (a guy got paid $70,000 a year and did absolutely nothing...fueled quite a few bad habits like **coughcough** bad things). But other than that (the stuff they keep out of the public newspaper), it's pretty great!

 

[vettechick99]

Oh this is me! We just moved from Atlanta to my DHs hometown in Central GA. We've been here since January. The population is less than 5,000.

When I first visited the area 2 years ago I laughed. I'm from a smaller town, but not this small! There are 3 stoplights and a dozen restaurants. We have two grocery stores. I take that back, Winn Dixie is closing this week so we have one.

There are pros and cons to living here. A great pro is people. We live right behind his parents and know a lot of people on our street. I wouldn't hesitate to let my kids run around the neighborhood. That's how I grew up and want the same for my kids. We spend time with friends BBQing and going to parties. You have to make your own fun which can be boring sometimes, but overall it's not bad.

Another pro: the cost of living here is amazing. We bought a 3/2 house on one acre and fixed it up and our mortgage payment is half of what our rent was for a 2/2 apt in the 'burbs of Atlanta. We plan on building a house in the next couple years (if we stay) and I can get my dream house for $200K.

Now everything you said about low population, limited industry is a huge problem for my town. I find that the older people are mostly to blame. We've had opportunity for industry to come to town and they are scared of the change it brings. They used to come out in droves to object to this company or that company and it's really hurt us. Fortunately all those old people are dying off (well not good, but good for the town) and the new city council is full of younger people (aged 20-55). Our town is really pushing for development and recently built an industrial park in hopes!

As with any city, there are pros and cons. I sure miss going to Best Buy and Carrabbas whenever I want. But I don't miss the high cost of living, traffic or the unfriendliness of the big city. Small town life isn't for everyone, but not everything is what it seems.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Pop. of 15,000? That is a pretty big town to me, LOL!

We live in a rural COUNTY! Not just the town. We do live in the county seat which has all your fast food places, a couple of family restaurants, pizza place, etc. Comfort Inn (a pretty nice one), a couple of grocery stores, a theatre with 3 screens, and 3 traffic lights.

One of the cool things about our town is it is MOVING. Yes, due to flood problems, one side of the town will be demolished and a mountainside across the river has been removed in order to build the "new town". You can check it out at www.grundyvirginia.com.

We also are home to the Appalachian School of Law and the pharmacy school is opening this Fall. So now it will be the University of Appalachia!

Due to these changes we are getting a lot more new construction around here. Many new apartments, new grocery stores, Wal mart is building in the "new town", more restaurants (mexican, chinese, another Italian), and new people (students). It is an exciting time here for sure.

We are located in the little peak at the Western end of VA, in the coal mining area of VA. Our mountains are straight up and down with the town built along the river, because that is where the majority of flat land was! Most homes are built in between the mtns, where the streams come through to get to the river (Levisa River). This is what a holler is. Yes, a holler (hollow). I was raised in one and now I live in a different one. Most people have their lots bulldozed out of a sort of flat area on the mountainside so we can get a larger lot for our houses.

It takes about an hour either way to get to a Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Applebee's, Mexican, Chinese restaurant. 1 1/2 hours to get to a mall. Farther to a decent one!

The thing is we are used to it. We make it a Sat. thing where we go out to eat or to shop and think nothing of driving over an hour to do things like this. This is also why we take several trips per year. To WDW, the beach, the Smoky Mtns., Cincinnati, D.C., etc.

I like living here and we have a good time. I was born and raised here but I did live in other places in college and when I began working. So, it is not like I haven't been exposed to other places. But to be honest, this is home! When we go to somewhere that is flat, like the beach, I feel kind of exposed without the mountains that I am used to having around me. It is a weird, mildly scary feeling, and then it passes!

Anyway, I don't have any desire at all to live within 15-30 minutes of a "major metropolitan area" at all. That is way to close!