In my life I’ve lived in or by many towns of various size. I’ve gone from the extreme of living near a town of 50 people to living in the middle of a city of 4.3 million. In these vast extremes of population I learned a lot about what makes a town worth living in and by these lessons I have found that living in a small town can be both a blessing and a curse.
The other day I asked myself why had I predominately lived in small towns. Well, the first part of my life that was an easy answer. I lived where my parents lived and Dad has never been a fan of large crowds of people. I think that the farmer in him was raised hearing the winds blow through the corn and not the drown of city traffic. As a general rule, most of us follow the example our parents set, but many of us run off to the big city and never want to leave. My sister for example loves the big city and would never live in something less then a million people. So, why have I picked small towns.
Working at an employment agency has afforded me a view of small towns that most people of wealthy or upper middle class don’t get to see. Being raised in middle class my parents sheltered me from the pit falls of small town life. Most of the people I see pass through the door each day at our office have never felt they could leave the poverty they were born into or had any options of that changing. Their vocabulary is simple and full of slang. Most don’t know what a regular shower is or what its like to sleep in a home free from drama and violence. These people are easily swayed by popular culture and listen to anyone that tells them life is better if you vote for this person. Most have barley finished high school. Some will see a little bit of community college, but they won’t make a career out of it. They are hard working and yet somehow pretend that excepting nothing better in life is ok with them.
With this type of community things change very slowly in small towns. Only the forward thinking leadership of some small town governments rise to make their community better, but most get stuck in arguments and petty details. This creates a feeling of hopelessness for each person that lives in these towns. If things don’t improve around them why should they? What a vicious circle. In larger city’s there are development committees, art associations, social services, outreach programs and various other organizations. This is not to say that large cities don’t have their poverty stricken areas or challenging issues with community development, but they seem to have more hope for change.
So with both a social and economic disillusion in poor rural communities why do people move there from larger cities? From the small amount I’ve talked to the reasons vary greatly. Most want to be in the country with nature surrounding them, some can’t take that amount of humanity in one place, and others simple want to return to a place where they grew up in simpler times. Each person finds that one thing that I have to come to love as well. Small town charm. Sure the community progress is lacking, shopping can be not much above necessities, but there’s something about living in a place where you drive down the road and recognize the people on the street. You run into the store and see a friend to say hello. You walk into the library and the librarian knows you buy name. You go to the coffee shop and they already know what you want to drink.
The other day I realized why I like living in small communities and what inspired this blog. Everyday on my way to work there is an old man who walks his dog. Everyday he has on the same type of cloths. Jeans, leather vest, wool jacket with a black rain poncho over it. He’s wearing a brown leather hat that has so many pins stuck on it you can hardly see the hat. In his hand is an amazing walking stick. There are so many things attached to it I can’t even begin to know whats on there. At the top of the stick flies two American flags. The crowning gem of this amazing sector. The beautiful part of this whole experience is that he waves at every person that walks or drives by. Everyone waves back with a smile or a thumbs up. Somehow that simple gesture makes someone feel like they are home. It doesn't matter what town in America, just as long as someone is willing to waive at you and say hello. In small towns you have a better chance at that. A better chance of feeling at home.
