Do you live in a community that had thriving businesses?

Our small rural township has a surprising number of businesses for its population of 4600 residents.

It has a small grocery store, a number of fast food places, a variety of restaurants (Mexican, bbq, American, Asian fusion, pizza etc,) an adorable gelato/ice cream place, a dentist, a couple of dollar stores, doctor’s office, trendy coffee shop, lawyer, boutique clothing store, vet, gas station, farmers market, daycare, and more I can’t remember…..an astounding variety for the size of its population!

12 minutes away is a thriving commercial area with everything you’d expect, from a Hobby Lobby to clothing and shoe stores to goodwill and everything in between!

This little township we moved to back in late 2024 is a rare find! We’re unhappily waiting for it to be discovered and exposed for the gem it is! Then it will change character and cease to be what drew us to it to begin with.
 
We still have quite a few small bars, coffee shops, restaurants, hair care, and auto repair shops.

We had some great old butcher shops, bakeries, hardware stores, etc… that just couldn’t subsist when their main customers all chise to patronize Wegman’s, Walmart, Home Depot, etc…

I’m just as guilty as all the rest, I went for selection, price, and convenience over loyalty and tradition.
 
Ronni said:
Our small rural township has a surprising number of businesses for its population of 4600 residents.

It has a small grocery store, a number of fast food places, a variety of restaurants (Mexican, bbq, American, Asian fusion, pizza etc,) an adorable gelato/ice cream place, a dentist, a couple of dollar stores, doctor’s office, trendy coffee shop, lawyer, boutique clothing store, vet, gas station, farmers market, daycare, and more I can’t remember…..an astounding variety for the size of its population!

12 minutes away is a thriving commercial area with everything you’d expect, from a Hobby Lobby to clothing and shoe stores to goodwill and everything in between!

This little township we moved to back in late 2024 is a rare find! We’re unhappily waiting for it to be discovered and exposed for the gem it is! Then it will change character and cease to be what drew us to it to begin with.
Click to expand...
My neighborhood just outside city limits, and is very much like this.
 
This has been a zero growth community for years, but there are housing additions going in. My best information sources indicate most of the residents will probably commute to other cities since there aren't many employment opportunities here.

Walmart is always busy. Not many other businesses, although we are getting some new restaurants, which surprises me in this time when news reports say people are cutting back on eating out.
 
yes...aside from the farms, and the Horse riding and Equestrian schools... we also have a a few little stores including a butcher , hair salon, and post office... In my immediate area...

In my local market town, there's a big variety of restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, Estate agents, small supermarkets... hairdressers galore... pubs... take away food shops... Independant designer clothing shops... hralth food shops... library etc.
 
Most of the big chain type businesses are in the bigger town near me, all about 10 miles in a triangular pattern.
The town closest to me only has a MCDs and a Harbor Freight, the rest are all family owned businesses.
So we can have whichever way we want. Small and personal or big and get it done and over. Everything we need
is within that triangle of driving.
 
OTOH, part of the charm of a small town is its smallness. A town teeming with an enormous number of business establishments covering every contingency is not really a town, it's a city.
 
Debodun, you live in luxury compared to my village. Not so long ago, the village had two shops, a garage, a school, church etc, but now all gone.
The village was founded in 1760 and in time, became well known for making shoes. There is still 'Souter's cottage in the village. (Souter is the Scottish name for shoemaker) With no local businesses, we have to travel to the nearest town for almost anything - doctor, dentist, food etc.
For some needs, word of mouth is often the best way to get things done. Somebody in the village will either have, or knows where you can get what you want.
 
The town I came from had 2 supermarkets but one went out of business. We were down to one small one. We had a Alco but it closed. There was a Dollar General. A few restaurants. One on main street that housed a place with homemade hot meals never could stay open. It changed hands IDK how many times and could never make it work. There isn't much there to choose from in the way of shopping or doing any kind of business downtown.
 
I heard somewhere that one of the best places to live (for me it sure would be) is what they used to call a "bedroom community." It's a smaller town that's no more than about a 30 min drive away from a large city. So you can kind of get that small-town living but are close enough to civilization for good medical care, interesting culture, restaurants good enough for special occasions like anniversaries, special birthdays, etc.

The article said unfortunately that there are very few places like that in the U.S. and Canada since we're so spread out; they mentioned one in New Jersey (don't remember which town) and it works because it's across the river from NYC. They said that the geography of being separated by a river like that is the main condition for these kind of places to exist. I don't remember which place it was in Canada. Sounds like heaven to me anyway; you could live in a place where you could have and actually afford to have a small yard if you wanted but be close to civilization.
 
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