Anyone live in "small-town" America?

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Denise1952

Well-known Member
I mean the type where everyone knows everyone, and the big, night out is still the grange or at the church for bingo? One where you can still leave the doors unlocked, and walk the streets alone, and there is NO mall, no Walmart.

I want to find a place like that to live out my days. I know I have to be close to a larger city, but, well, I'm reading this book series about small-town living on the coast of Maine. I know I'm a dreamer, but why shouldn't I try to live out that dream. I don't have anything or anyone to hold me here in Oregon, so yeah, I could move to another State. It's just hard to find a place like this unless you know someone, or know someone that knows someone, LOL:)
 

My 2nd house is in a town of 78 People... 80 when we are there! Very rural.. However, I'm done doing the "Green Acres" thing and it's up for sale.
 
I lived in a town like that for about 4 years. It was nice but a little weird because I come from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and only 45 minutes outside of Vancouver. I think with us moving there it was about a 1000 people and the majority were born there! Now we're even more rural. It's so peaceful here, you can hear the crickets even with the doors and windows shut sometimes! Wait a minute, that doesn't sound very peaceful does it?

You know nwlady, you could Google 'small towns in America' and then read up on them and pick one for a little holiday. That's kind of what we did when we were thinking of moving.
 
I worry though about settling in too rural a setting.. Especially as I get older. I want more conveniences around.. I don't want to drive 18 miles round trip to the nearest store.. and I certainly don't want a 30 mile trip to the nearest hospital should there be an emergency..
 
Debby said:
I lived in a town like that for about 4 years. It was nice but a little weird because I come from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and only 45 minutes outside of Vancouver. I think with us moving there it was about a 1000 people and the majority were born there! Now we're even more rural. It's so peaceful here, you can hear the crickets even with the doors and windows shut sometimes! Wait a minute, that doesn't sound very peaceful does it?

You know nwlady, you could Google 'small towns in America' and then read up on them and pick one for a little holiday. That's kind of what we did when we were thinking of moving.
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Thanks Debby,

I so love crickets, and I just get along so well with small-town folks. I've been through so many in my journeys across the US but never thought about moving to any of them. Now I am considering it. I do like the more Northern States, even though I know the Winters can be so harsh. I kind of like that. Not the type to get depressed over bad weather or lack of sunshine.

My mom, grandmother, and several other ancestors are from BC, Victoria mostly. It would be hard for me to move there though, I won't have a bunch to live on. I did google small-towns, and came up with top 20 etc. But they were all growing like weeds, and actually bigger then what I was hoping for. I'll bet the one I would jump at would not even be listed in anything. I think a coastal town would be nice. I know all the coastal towns in Oregon, lots of lovely ones, but they are too familiar to me, I want one, last, great adventurous move, LOL:)

Your home sounds wonderful, I like that population, and if there is something, say, maybe under 50 miles away (just not too close) where I could go to do any major shopping I might need to do, that would be ideal;)
 
QuickSilver said:
My 2nd house is in a town of 78 People... 80 when we are there! Very rural.. However, I'm done doing the "Green Acres" thing and it's up for sale.
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Wow, that's a bit too teenie for what I am hoping for, sounds like the town we lived in when I was born;) Lookingglass, OR. One store, one school, one church;) I bet you will find a buyer easily, the way folks are wanting to escape from the rat-race, best of luck to you QS:)
 
QuickSilver said:
I worry though about settling in too rural a setting.. Especially as I get older. I want more conveniences around.. I don't want to drive 18 miles round trip to the nearest store.. and I certainly don't want a 30 mile trip to the nearest hospital should there be an emergency..
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I would have to be within a reasonable amount of miles, of a large enough city as well. I just need to be realistic about that too;)
 
I don't live in a small town, but have daydreamed often about how that would be. Nobody seems to make eye contact in my town/city; everybody is in a rush. If someone speaks, it kind of spooks me. But your dream is nice and I would like that too.
 
I know your kind of town, mine is like that too crochet lady. It's sad, and I miss something I've never had, just read about in books or seen movies. I wonder if such a place exists, the one we dream about.

Really like your username. I am reading books right now and it's centered around a group of women that meet every Tuesday at 11 a.m. to crochet, and knit together:) I would love to belong to a small group like that:) Well, no one can take away our dreams;)
 
Hubby and I are both big city kids.. so we thought we wanted to have a very rural retirement.. We found a very lovely area in Northwestern Illinois and we purchased an old rehabed farm house 7 years ago. We enjoyed it out there.. we had a huge garden, and being so far out in the country was novel to us. Now we are getting older.. and it's not that attractive any longer. It's way too far out.. you can't just jump in the car and drive 5 minutes or walk to the corner store.. The nearest ambulance is 8 miles away.. the nearest small hospital is 19 miles away and the nearest large hospital is 30 miles away. It's too difficult to be out there even though the neighbors are very nice and everyone is very friendly.. everything you want to do is too far away.. or just to hard to get to..What would happen if we could no longer drive? I'm glad we bought that place because now we KNOW what we don't want.. We may have retired to a place like that without really knowing.. and then we would have been stuck. So.. we want to have a nice place with a large lot... but closer to a larger city.. but a little more rural than where we are now.. I have no idea where we will end up.
 
I think it's great you got to try it out, and you are right, you find out what you don't want. So much better then never knowing what it may have been like. You'll have to keep us posted on what you guys find. I think those States would be wonderful to live in, as long as it wasn't too large a city. Indianna, Illinois, and just today I was scoping out some places in Wisconsin.

Going to curl up with my book for awhile, then watch a Jesse Stone movie, love Tom Selleck, have a good one:)
 
I live in Massey, Ontario with a population of just under 1000... Massey is situated on top of Lake Huron.. Winters up here are not anything like the south.. Snow, snow and more snow but not that cold (considering).. Could drop down to -38c to -41c for about a good week, but that is part of living up here.. We are used to it and that won't keep us from going out.. Great outdoors area with fishing all year round, hunting, Cross country skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing.. Absolutely NO pollution..
Sudbury with a population of 250,000 is about one hour east from us..
Espanola where we do our food shopping (population 6000) is 20 minutes from here..

I realise you are NOT interested in my area, but I just thought I would mention it...

We simply love the life up here.. Quiet, safe, reasonably priced, very pretty....
We bought a few years ago an "A" Frame house built in 1989 sitting on acerage for only $45,000.....
 
oh, it isn't I wouldn't be interested, it's just beyond what I can do Steve. It sounds like heaven to me. My dad was born in Sault Ste. Marie, it must not be too far from where you are?

I'll be around tomorrow, maybe I'll hear back from you;)
 
Denise, I was born about 300 miles west of the Soo. And yeah, it's cold and sNOwy up there. Can we say the winters are brutal as opposed to merely harsh? And can we say it's beyond rural? It's sparsely populated. There are three "big" cities by Upper Peninsula standards...Marquette, Escanaba and Houghton. Marquette and Houghton are college towns so the population is greater from September until June.
 
What's so funny is I am more afraid venturing out alone in a really rural area than I am living just outside of Chicago.. Seriously.. I would not hesitate to walk my dogs at night here.. However, out in the Boonies.... I never go off my front stoop after dark. For one thing.. coyotes... they would LOVE to have one of my dogs as "lunch on a leash" Last weekend I heard one of the neighbor's dogs being eaten alive by a pack of Coyotes at 3am..The poor dog's screaming was horrible!! The neighbor shot the dog... I heard the shot.. it made me sick.. WHY would people leave a dog tied up outside all night?.. Then, there are all sorts of huge Hawks ... my 6 pound doggie would be easy prey. Plus... not to mention the BUGS.... I come home covered with assorted itchie bites... Buffalo Gnats are the worst, but we are overrun with Japanese beetles, orange lady bugs that bite and Box Elder bugs.. with an assortment of hairy caterpillars and giant black spiders... AND of course.. deer.. this is the rutting season and one just wiped out my new car last weekend.. I can't wait to sell the place.
 
Denise..:;
Sault Ste. Marie is about 3 hours west of where we live.. We do go there about 2 or 3 times a year especially if I have a doctors appointment.. I have had both hips replaced in the past and they were both done in the Sault instead of Sudbury because of the waiting time..
As far as winter goes, I originally come from Quebec City where the winters are worse than up here..Just happens we like the winters where there are so many activities and things to do.. Our village thrives on the winter tourist $$$$$ to survive.. 3 motels and 3 B&B's are always "no vacancy" during the winter.. Besides, NO bugs !!!
Where we are situated, we are NOT in the village but rather on the outskirts, sourrounded by forest and that is why we see so many wild animals on our property such as black bears, deer, fox, grey wolves, coyotes, racoons, eagles, and loads of ravens.. There is a stream just down the road from us that has beavers galore.. Unfortunately they keep daming the stream, so we keep on shooting them.. Beaver meat happens to be excellent to eat..

For more information on Massey, Ontario, just Google it and see for yourself....

PS .... The average life up here is higher than the national average because of the clean way of living..... Absolutely NO polution at all !!!! ..... No industry either ..
 
Steve said:
Denise..:;
Sault Ste. Marie is about 3 hours west of where we live.. We do go there about 2 or 3 times a year especially if I have a doctors appointment.. I have had both hips replaced in the past and they were both done in the Sault instead of Sudbury because of the waiting time..
As far as winter goes, I originally come from Quebec City where the winters are worse than up here..Just happens we like the winters where there are so many activities and things to do.. Our village thrives on the winter tourist $$$$$ to survive.. 3 motels and 3 B&B's are always "no vacancy" during the winter.. Besides, NO bugs !!!
Where we are situated, we are NOT in the village but rather on the outskirts, sourrounded by forest and that is why we see so many wild animals on our property such as black bears, deer, fox, grey wolves, coyotes, racoons, eagles, and loads of ravens.. There is a stream just down the road from us that has beavers galore.. Unfortunately they keep daming the stream, so we keep on shooting them.. Beaver meat happens to be excellent to eat..

For more information on Massey, Ontario, just Google it and see for yourself....

PS .... The average life up here is higher than the national average because of the clean way of living..... Absolutely NO polution at all !!!! ..... No industry either ..
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It sounds wonderful for sure:) I got chills as I first saw Happyflowerladies post and had heard my dad's childhood home called the Soo (Sault, not sure how they all spelled it).

I will google it, as I would love to see pics. I had an album that has been lost, my brother and I both had one, full of pics of family, the homestead etc. I figure somewhere around 1900. Anyway, my great grand-dad came from Quebec, and went on to BC and worked with HBC with most of the rest of the family. Here's his story, all I have on geneology thanks to Jill Edwards, a long lost relative (well, I'm more likely to fit that description, lol):

http://www.fortlangley.ca/vautrin.html



Their property included the land which is today William Rivers Community Park. They had eight children, the eldest being Mary Amelia Rivers (called "Mim" or "Mimmie") who was my maternal grandmother. Their other children were Gertrude, Elizabeth (Helen), William, Ethel, Mabel, Charles and Albert


Above is in the 7th paragraph under Amelie's "first marriage". I know I am way off track here but loved looking back again;) Ethel was my gramma:) I got to meet Auntie Mim, and Aunt Helen, that's all I can remember meeting anyway:) Canada is very close to my heart, I used to dream of living there, but I did go up one time and looked around BC on a vacation. It looked to be very difficult to stay/live up there, especially because I didn't have any special degree or job-skills. That was about 93 ish, I don't know if it's changed or not.

Anyway, thanks for the memories;)
 
GeorgiaXplant said:
Denise, I was born about 300 miles west of the Soo. And yeah, it's cold and sNOwy up there. Can we say the winters are brutal as opposed to merely harsh? And can we say it's beyond rural? It's sparsely populated. There are three "big" cities by Upper Peninsula standards...Marquette, Escanaba and Houghton. Marquette and Houghton are college towns so the population is greater from September until June.
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Yes, I think we talked some about this, Bonners Ferry is where my dad headed for in his 20s (down from the Soo). I still have folks there, in Ponderay that is. I know the weather is tough for sure. I guess it's all in what a person can handle, or loves. I know I am getting older, but there is a draw for me to those colder climates. But I have also thought about more tropical, or humid. I love NW Alabama. Who knows, like I said, I'm just dreamin. I could set out for another place, my small truck still runs like a top, and I seem to still have some adventure left in me;)
 
Our town has been able to offer us the best of both worlds-pop. of 5,000 holding steady. When we were looking to leave the San Francisco Bay Area,we wanted small town,but one that was thriving,not dying. We saw lots of dying ones. Our weather can get pretty warm in the summer so you have to like heat (I`m not as thrilled with it as I once was but it`s OK) Winters are relatively mild-only get snow on occasional winters and not much. Gets chilly enough that we have nice Fall colors-Fall is my favorite season here. We are having a heat wave here so it`ll be about 95 today-pretty much what it was all summer. We are a very "senior friendly" town-lots of senior apartment complexes-nice ones too-good bus service that will take you all over the county or to the neighboring county that is a little larger if you want better shopping. We have Kmart and everything else is "mom and pop" type shops. We have a decent sized hospital,2 in the county,and the nearest "big city",with several big hospitals and several big malls is 60miles away. We don`t lock our doors and leave our keys in the car. That wouldn`t necessarily be the case if we lived "in town" but being out in the sticks,it`s not a worry. I wouldn`t necessarily say that "everybody knows everybody" but it`s close. Our 9 yo granddaughter`s birth was announced at the Saturday night football game as pretty much the whole town was involved in the joy of her birth after her brother was stillborn the year prior and everyone had been so sad for the family. The baby would have been(or was) their 5th son so they were well known in town. And everyone was overjoyed,of course,that not only did they have a healthy baby but it was a GIRL LOL! We love our town!
 
I loved reading your story Mrs. R, thanks so much! Your town sounds ideal, and I'm so happy you found it. We are having a weird heat-wave too. Last night I had to keep the fan on, trying to force cooler air in from my wide, open window. This is strange I think for the Oregon Coast. Wonderful for late-season travellers though, RV's and such;)
 
I grew up in such a place. But now it is a bustling large town. Doors were unlocked, neighbors visited. The only thing wrong was everyone knew everyone else's business. We now live in a small town, 40 miles to the nearest city. We do have a nice hospital and great Drs. however.There are stat flights for the more serious injuries. Plenty of churches. But even here you keep your doors locked at night, drugs are a constant problem, and if you aren't from here friends are a problem because everyone has aunts, uncles and cousins to visit. And busy with their own lives.
If I had my rathers I would live in a gated retirement community where shopping is within walking distance and activities are planned so that everyon would have a chance to know everyone else. My friend lives in such a place in Florida, but I would want to stay in Southern Indiana where my children could visit.
 
Wow, you could have been describing my town I grew up in, it's changed and a lot for the worse:( I don't know if I'll find what I am looking for:) but it is fun to look, and especially hear others stories:)
 

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