I don't want to live in a small country town

Bretrick

Bretrick

Well-known Member
Location
Perth Western Australia
One forgets that small country towns are exactly that. Small.
With almost nothing that the City has.
I visited Muchea, (Moo shea) 50 kms north of Perth. Population - 759.
One combined Petrol Station-Post office-Supermarket-Takeaway Cafe.
Not having been there before I drove around the 10 streets that are Muchea looking for a Coffee Place.
I have an book of Western Australian Country Towns and this place does not get an entry.
I needed to "Google" Muchea to find the "Cafe Strip".
It was on the Other side of the Railway Line.
Sitting here for an hour, one is exposed to a Microcosm of Country Town Australia.
There are Cockies(Farmers) wearing Akubra Hats, Truckies(Road Train Drivers), Bikies(Motorcycle Gang Members), Bikers(Motor Cycle Enthusiasts), Cyclists(Racing Cycle Riders- in their obligatory Lycra Shorts), Grey Nomads(Retirees driving around the Country), Youth with their hair coloured purple/pink/psychedelic. CWA members(Country Women's Association)
Of the 24 vehicles in the car park, 21 of them are 4WDs.
 

Yes, I get it. We don't have motorcycle gangs here, and I don't see "Youth with their hair colored purple/pink/psychedelic", but otherwise, I can add to your list.

The town can't afford to fix the streets, so they dump gravel in the potholes. The water supply lines are old and constantly break, even though the city raised our water bill twice in the past year, supposedly to pay for maintenance.

We do have Walmart, but it's a 35 mile drive to get for anything they don't carry, or go to a nice restaurant, movie, or shopping mall. Having a car is a must (I do) because there is no public transportation of any kind, and no place to rent a car. There are 2 hardware stores. Both charge twice as much as large chain stores for paint, lumber, etc.

I thought it would be nice to retire in a quiet little community - no traffic, low crime, and that's true. Also, my home is within walking distance of the hospital and doctor's offices.

Sometimes I think of selling and moving on, but then I remember how hard it is starting over somewhere else. "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
 
We live by a small town and are 20 minutes from a small city. We have most everything we need just a mile away.
Small town feel, everyone knows you and your business. Always gossiping or rumors. But helping each other when needed.
You know, like family.
I like it.
 

stretch5881 said:
We live by a small town and are 20 minutes from a small city. We have most everything we need just a mile away.
Small town feel, everyone knows you and your business. Always gossiping or rumors. But helping each other when needed.
You know, like family.
I like it.
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That's the thing that is best about leaving a small town. Everybody knows your business and it's really annoying. People are too gossipy in small towns, for every taste that is.
 
We have some satellite "small towns" anywhere from 10 to 30 miles out. The more thriving ones tend to be near a limited-access Interstate highway with a State highway crossing through them roughly perpendicular.

"Thriving" may be hyperbole in this economy, but they have a small supermarket and gas stations and a small "downtown" strip that still has shops open. Near the Interstate many have a medium-sized truck stop, a couple of big fast food chain stores, and a restaurant or two.

Population anywhere from 1500 to 3000, with recent new home building subdivisions on the outskirts. Bigger "supermarket, clothes, and crap" retailers like Walmart and Meijer are an easy drive to the fringes of the nearby population center. Kroger and Aldi and such among them too.

Smaller towns of 700 to 1500 a little further out usually have a gas station, convenience store, and a couple of random small shops and car repair. These almost always border or sit on an "access road" that was made from an earlier State highway that the Interstate replaced and parallels. They aren't cut off or isolated, they just have a bit further to drive to get to a regular grocery store, etc.

Both "rings" of outlying towns tend to have some sort of bus support from the County. So while less convenient, people with no car aren't cut off either.
 
stretch5881 said:
We live by a small town and are 20 minutes from a small city. We have most everything we need just a mile away.
Small town feel, everyone knows you and your business. Always gossiping or rumors. But helping each other when needed.
You know, like family.
I like it.
Click to expand...
I live on the edge of a small market town.......there's quite a lot here.. supermarket.. petrol garage, ..and loads of hair salons & coffee shops.. as well as doctors surgery, and a small hospital...

but everyone knows your business... and gossip is rife..

Until recently you were an incomer if you 'd been here less than 40 years.... but now in the last 5 years whole swathes of the edges of town have been built on, and there's another 4,000 people moved here from all over.....

However we're just 20 miles from Central London
 
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Sounds like the place SO took me to after we showed up in the US - Weedowee, AL. We pulled in with a Pontiac Trans Am. I was dolled up to the T by means of Burberry. The priced hunting dog was successfully attempting to eat the champion fighting rooster in the driveway. Socializing with the women folks did not work which it still does not. Nothing like chatting with the boys about guns and hunting. Shine beats thin coffee.
 
My village has a population of about 75 people in about 2 dozen houses. There are no businesses or services of any kind.
But there's a city of about 25,000 seven miles away and another city of about 40,000 twice that distance in the other direction.
Those two cities provide all the amenities I need.
Property taxes are low and I've accepted the gossip factor........there are more advantages than disadvantages.
 
Where I moved doesn't even qualify as a town. Google maps just calls it a "place". The only people I see are the ones who work at the post office, which is 7 miles down the road and the "neighbors" across the road. Drugs and crime are both much worse here than they were in the Dallas suburb I came from. I am highly suspicious to the locals and get harassed by the criminals who are upset because I won't go away. I have put a crimp in their livelihood. Oh well, it makes for an interesting retirement. I am never bored and on the days it is peaceful and all is working I consider myself fortunate to be here.
 
Most all the small towns that are not commute to large city jobs are dried up, deserted downtowns and building falling apart and down.
The biggest change is the number that have been torn down. Lucky to have a gas station and decent restroom. The day of the busy town square are past. Mom and pop shops closed and falling apart. Someone has bought up all the real old gas pumps. "American Pickers" ?
The bigger business is the Ammonia Fertilizer Co and its equipment. Maybe a Grain Business with storage bins. Even Dollar stores fold.

Occasionally one will drive past 5 acres by the road full of old rusting tractors from the 30-40-50's. Many farmers have everything they ever owned in them too. Trucks, Sedans, bailers, combines, it-all.

I once met a Frozen Fish, Meat Delivery guys business, he said he was So poor he's going to move to Omaha. His wife and kids moved to Dallas, Texas area.
 
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The village where I live used to have a school, shops, garage and a pub. All gone.
In the next village a couple of miles away, there is a school, convenience store, car repair business and a hairdresser. The health centre closed due to lack of staff and the pub has been closed for ages. At least, just about anything can be bought by driving 15 mins to the nearest town.

In spite of the disadvantages, it's a good place to live and online shopping makes life even better.
 
Capt Lightning said:
The village where I live used to have a school, shops, garage and a pub. All gone.
In the next village a couple of miles away, there is a school, convenience store, car repair business and a hairdresser. The health centre closed due to lack of staff and the pub has been closed for ages. At least, just about anything can be bought by driving 15 mins to the nearest town.

In spite of the disadvantages, it's a good place to live and online shopping makes life even better.
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same here.. the village shop. the village post office..one and the same thing.. and the village pub..gone....

Now in the next village there's a shop and 2 pubs.. but they're struggling...
 
Sixty years ago, I was driving a marathon over-nighter cross country, and running out of gas in the middle of the night in Montana. I came to a tiny town named Jordan, which is probably much bigger now, but then, it was just a crossroads for a paved highway and some dirt roads that accessed sprawling ranch lands. There was only one gas station, and it was closed. I stopped, thinking I would maybe catch a few winks until morning when the owner opened the station.

A cop pulled up next to me and asked what I was doing. When I told him I was driving all night and running out of gas, he said he had a key to the station, and would get me some gas. I filled up and paid him. He even opened the cash register and made change (small town cops need gas sometimes too). We chatted for a while, and I told him I was headed for Chicago, but lived in Montana. He asked me if I would be interested in a job as deputy cop. I was 19 years old at the time. I laughed and said, no I didn't think I was cut out for the job. He graciously accepted my refusal, and I got back on the road.
 
I have found the biggest challenge to country is the worry of a Amazing, UPS / Fed X or any delivery truck backing out onto the highway or backing into the drives. Even Vans / PU's backing trailers in from the road on or near a wide curve or Garbage-pickup trucks / Dumpsters!

Cause then you have the Tractors and Trailers bigger / wider than the roads lane. Many Co. roads very narrow 1 laners with no room for a Field Dually Tractor / Mower or Combine and you even in the non-existent ditch rubbing brush. Many times, the shortcut to other small towns to shop are exactly that narrow co road, hilly, curvy, low maintenance mostly and no way to meet a vehicle, let alone a large delivery truck / 18-wheeler.

If you turn down a nice road with Hollow on the sign it will run into a much worse Hollow and finally into a trail hollow before you reach a paved highway again. !/2 - 1 hour of scenic hellish pasture tracks named Hollow's.

Sure, this-it's the wild country trap. U stay home or go into high-risk situations easily. Most all have hit a deer recently. Most all roads are wildlife slaughters.
PU's with cowcatchers are a must have out there. This fall I have seen at least 4 Deer near the road around dark. Deer horns please.

We who just run the I-states / State roads really are Nieve about the County paths. Say for a Horse & Wagon from the 1700's. Remember the early Model T silent movies. Those road movies were gold compared to the County of today.

I saw the other day that Cal. is trying to figure a way to lower the Dust on them.. Raise the taxes and lay Blacktop type surfaces. But they will remain very narrow with steep drop offs.
 
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Though this single senior person loves rural and natural areas, he has lived an adult lifetime in a very modern urban region that has much to offer any of we technically capable adults to make life interesting and valuable. So hopelessly prefers to live in his large urban area and otherwise visit rural areas. That noted, yes he can easily visit such rural areas for extended periods given purpose, but would not choose to live for the rest of his life in those places.

Well unless he found a woman that would satisfy enough social interaction with sharing such life in smaller towns with like compatible others. That noted even then, would never choose more remote situations like being out on some rural farm because that is not a life he has developed ways of interestingly enough coping with. Large urban areas can have myriad choices.
 
Born in the city, have always lived in the city. I like the rural country and the rigidly planned suburbs, but in small doses.

Being a PoC married to an immigrant, we appreciate diversity. The convenience of urban living is a big draw. The geographic beauty of where we live is breath-taking.

It is costly to live here. And crowded, and crime is always higher in densely populated areas. But I grew up in the Chicago ghetto, so crime out here is nothing in comparison.

But if one has enough money to live somewhere reasonably nice, low in crime, and convenient to what one most enjoys and needs -- there's not much reason to live elsewhere.
 
Twostep said:
Sounds like the place SO took me to after we showed up in the US - Weedowee, AL. We pulled in with a Pontiac Trans Am. I was dolled up to the T by means of Burberry. The priced hunting dog was successfully attempting to eat the champion fighting rooster in the driveway. Socializing with the women folks did not work which it still does not. Nothing like chatting with the boys about guns and hunting. Shine beats thin coffee.
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And here i thought Andalusia, AL was small lol
You’re def a badder woman than me if you do that ‘bama shine!
 
I've lived in my small town most of my life, I've watched the surrounding lands become more and more occupied by people leaving the city throughout the years. Our school has expanded with additional building projects twice...the city is an hour's drive away If I need to go there...now.. that is only to see doctors not available here or a rare hospital stay...anyway, I like it here and it is home.
 
From 1944 to 1984 I lived in big cities: Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York City, and Los Angeles. But in '84 I opened up a practice in McKinleyville, CA, 15 miles north of Eureka, on the Redwood Coast. I built a home in Trinidad, CA, population 1500. In 2000 I moved to Gulfport, Miss. on the central Gulf Coast. I could never live in a big city again, nor could I live outside of the deep south.
 
The two “shopping towns” are only 15 miles from me in either direction and both have everything I need. Both also have hospitals with helipads to the mega hospital in Nashville.

This is one section of my road. There is a literal hairpin curve at the top; miss the turn and one finds themselves at the bottom of a cow pasture. No winter maintenance and the road ices over a lot. I live here because it’s my choice . If I want or need town, I have a vehicle.

This was a few years back. I was in the dually, pulling a trailer load of hay, holding my breath I wouldn’t meet anyone as big or bigger than me, because there are very few places to get over.

B75ACE04-A19A-4A9F-8D52-D0C45CEE3DAF.jpeg
 
That is the facts above about rural and what it means to live! If you north with Below zero temps possible, you have to stock up and be ready for a couple of weeks of nothing out there but bad.

The real deal was you are looking at 7 to 10 miles of that or worse until you come to another Hollow road, know it as better or worse is a get to know thing right off the bat so you can choose your dilemmas with good luck.

They are not always known as Hollow's. Those roads really are unpassable a lot.
 
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We lived in a small village in eastern Pa. Shopping consisted of a 35 mile drive one way to Reading. It was a nice place to raise kids. Luckily there were families with kids at about the same age as ours. T V was about it for entertainment.

Having lived in boredom. For retirement planning warm temps, close to medical facilities, close to shopping, & something to do topped the list of must have. Chose Las Vegas Nv. & for the last 29 years in retirement we know we chose right.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
Sometimes I think of selling and moving on, but then I remember how hard it is starting over somewhere else. "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
Click to expand...

Sometimes the grass is actually greener on the other side of the fence. I lost my income due to political corruption in my home State of California, so, at the age of seventy-seven, I packed my bags and moved to Thailand. It was a smart move on my part because I can live here on my social security without touching my savings----which I intend to leave to my son when I croak.
 
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