Do You Prefer Cities Or Small Towns?

[robinb]

I've done both, plus the in-between of a fairly dense suburb. I REALLY miss the city. I miss all-night stores, concerts, sporting events, and nightlife not being a major hassle to get to, bookstores and libraries and coffeeshops, traffic sounds at night... There's not much I don't like about living in the city. I'm not real fond of being a liberal night owl in a guns-and-God conservative town where even Taco Bell closes at 9pm. But here we stay, because you can't beat my town for a safe, quiet place to raise children. Tons of parks, excellent schools, and that "everybody knows everybody" atmosphere. Still, I'm looking forward to the day when we can move back to Detroit.

There IS a place in between a "safe" guns-n-God conservative town and Detroit! Why not look at one of the University towns? I've been to Ann Arbor (no, NOT for a football game) and I think you will get the everything you miss about the big city along with a safe environment to raise your kids. I know that Madison, WI has everything you are looking for!

 

[Alyssa88]

I'm a city girl, I love it! (for the most part)

 

[MomToARedhead]

I grew up out in the country...cornfields to the north and east, a horse pasture to the south and a neighbor to the west. I hated it. There was nothing to do and it was so boring. I couldn't wait to go to college and graduate and get a job in the city....any city, I didn't care, as long as it was big enough to have traffic jams that didn't involve tractors and lots of stuff to do. So I found myself a nice little apartment in the suburbs and eagerly awaited my transformation as a city, well suburb, girl.

And so here I am, 4 and a half years later, moving out to the country because the city is awful. The traffic, the noise, the crime and now it's on the top 10 most miserable cities list! As much as I wanted to be a city girl, I'm a country girl at heart. "Ain't it funny how the very place I ran from is the place I'm running to" sums it up from one of my favorite songs about Podunk by Keith Anderson. 10 more days and I'll be living right at the edge of a small town, backing up to a cornfield. I can't wait.

We're a military family though, so we probably won't be there for long

 

[Princess_Michelle]

.

 

[tennvalgirl]

Living in a small town is fine, but I live 60 miles from ther nearest Starbucks and that ain't right!

 

[portocall]

I have lived in both and I am comfortable in both...and the country too, which I also lived in. I guess, if I had to pick, I prefer the city just because there is so much to do. I love hustle and bustle.

 

[HelenePA]

cities scare the daylights out of me.. no I'm not kidding.. I live in a town of about 2500.. no plans on moving to any place bigger any time soon!

 

[Colleen27]

There IS a place in between a "safe" guns-n-God conservative town and Detroit! Why not look at one of the University towns? I've been to Ann Arbor (no, NOT for a football game) and I think you will get the everything you miss about the big city along with a safe environment to raise your kids. I know that Madison, WI has everything you are looking for!

Yeah, I know there is in-between, but our lifestyle depends largely on the low cost of living we enjoy here. I love Ann Arbor but it is *very* expensive compared to where we live now, as are other communities in the area that have schools I'd consider to be as good as ours. There just aren't many places where you can find the combination of nationally recognized schools and inexpensive real estate, and we're rather attached to the low cost of living that has allowed us to give our children so much of our time and energy. And while I do miss the city, this area isn't all bad - our town is on the water and it's really quite beautiful, we dock our boat just a little ways up the road, I have acres of protected wetlands and forests nearby to practice my photography, and I've been able to indulge my love of horseback riding more often since we moved here than at any other time in my life.

 

[HelenePA]

NOT true at all. People only care about the people they already know. New to town? You're invisible and always will be.

This isn't true either.. I moved here 4 years ago and I've been welcomed with open arms. We love our neighbors they seem to like us. . we are the youngest by far on our block by at least 30 years! Its like a huge group of grandparents for my kids

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

City

Not just a small city, a BIG CITY.

I'm also raising city kids who play in city parks and who will attend city schools.
We like living in an area that doesn't require driving. I like walking across the street to the grocery store. I enjoy having a walkable commute. It's not for everybody, but I love it.

 

[Piglet4Ever]

We live in a town of about 25,000 people and we love it. It has a great small town feeling and everyone is super friendly, we have lots of community activites that we really enjoy and we wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

 

[monkey68]

I wonder how much of it has to do with what you're used to. I grew up in NYC, walked to school every year until I got to high school and then I took the subway, I could run across the street to go to the grocery store or fruit store. Always something going on. And I remember enjoying the parks, as well. Were they littered with needles and used condoms? To be honest, I really don't remember. We were too busy turning the jungle gym into a spaceship. Right now, I live in suburbia because that's where my school is, and I hate it. I can't imagine raising a family anywhere but a big city, to be honest. But it might be because that's where I was raised, and I like to think I turned out pretty good.

 

[C.Ann]

Small town - definitely..