Could You Move to a Small Town

[NoName 16,354]

4 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

As there is mention about living in a small resort town, there can be pros and cons about that as well.  While you get the benefit of more extras (restaurants, bars and stores) than non-resort towns, you also have to deal with large number of tourists or visitors.  If you own a store benefiting from them, then you are ok with it.  Otherwise you will soon dread when the tourists flock to your town.

i live in a tourist town. you learn to get around it. i am quick to point out how many towns around us are dying, dead or headed that way. there are still people here who want it to be what it was 20 years ago or even further back when it was literally a 1 stoplight town.

[We’reTexas 1,473]

2 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

I don't think any area that has an aquarium, 5 museums, a Trader Joe's, the Naval Postgraduate School, an airport with 8 non-stop connections, or freaking Pebble Beach qualifies for this thread. I would move there in a heartbeat, but I'm not moving to Memphis, TX.

Yeah I think towns that are small by virtue of wealthy residents obstructing development are not quite the spirit of things. 

[tigol 2,398]

You can't make this shit up: "I can't move to a small town because I don't know anything about them at all, but I'm gonna go ahead and pass judgment on them that because of where they live they must be bigoted, racist, misogynist, judgmental scourge of society. And because you want to live in a sparsely populated area that means you are too!". I think that's enough internet for me today.

It’s easy to see how they vote.

I live in a small tourist town, but there is no way in hell I’d live in a red one. We still have racist pieces of shit that crawl out of their holes from time to time, but they are in the minority.

Same with LGBTQ bigots. They get appropriately shamed.

[Al_4_ISU 12,469]

My town isn't a tourist town, but it's really close to a couple of towns that sort of qualify (they're more of the weekend getaway kind of places than true vacay spots) and I do include those towns as part of my regular circle.

Frankly, the level of annoyance that the outsiders cause seems like an easy price to pay for being in a rural area and having decent amenties.

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

I live in a tourist area, and by the end of the summer I will admit that I'm looking forward to them leaving.  But tourist dollars pay for everything in the Denali Borough.  The only tax levied here is the bed tax.  There are no property, sales, or income taxes so the bed tax pays for all Borough services.  Plus the money the tourists spend supports a lot of the population year round even though the vast majority of the tourist season is in the summer. 

The Asians come in the winter to procreate under the Northern Lights.  A child conceived under the Lights is supposed to be blessed.  One of my favorite sights in the winter is the red bus parked on the side of the road.  It's a modified bus with "sleeping compartments."  In actuality the bus drives around the highway looking for the Lights.  When they come out, it pulls over and the people on the bus go into their compartment to screw.  I've often wondered how the bus driver passes the time in those situations.  Always makes me chuckle when I see that bus pulled over. 

[tigol 2,398]

I live in a tourist area, and by the end of the summer I will admit that I'm looking forward to them leaving.  But tourist dollars pay for everything in the Denali Borough.  The only tax levied here is the bed tax.  There are no property, sales, or income taxes so the bed tax pays for all Borough services.  Plus the money the tourists spend supports a lot of the population year round even though the vast majority of the tourist season is in the summer. 
The Asians come in the winter to procreate under the Northern Lights.  A child conceived under the Lights is supposed to be blessed.  One of my favorite sights in the winter is the red bus parked on the side of the road.  It's a modified bus with "sleeping compartments."  In actuality the bus drives around the highway looking for the Lights.  When they come out, it pulls over and the people on the bus go into their compartment to screw.  I've often wondered how the bus driver passes the time in those situations.  Always makes me chuckle when I see that bus pulled over. 

That is some shit I did not expect. Fortunately, my small town does not have a fuck bus…..that I’m aware of.

[crash_davis 23,113]

25 minutes ago, mooseoutfront said:

I live in a tourist area, and by the end of the summer I will admit that I'm looking forward to them leaving.  But tourist dollars pay for everything in the Denali Borough.  The only tax levied here is the bed tax.  There are no property, sales, or income taxes so the bed tax pays for all Borough services.  Plus the money the tourists spend supports a lot of the population year round even though the vast majority of the tourist season is in the summer. 

The Asians come in the winter to procreate under the Northern Lights.  A child conceived under the Lights is supposed to be blessed.  One of my favorite sights in the winter is the red bus parked on the side of the road.  It's a modified bus with "sleeping compartments."  In actuality the bus drives around the highway looking for the Lights.  When they come out, it pulls over and the people on the bus go into their compartment to screw.  I've often wondered how the bus driver passes the time in those situations.  Always makes me chuckle when I see that bus pulled over. 

Add this to the "things I did not expect to learn today". 

[Chopper 17,238]

On 3/6/2023 at 11:09 AM, Hefeweizen said:

No, Pacific Grove.  Carmel is a little out of my means unless I want to live in a tent.  But the whole peninsula is a nice place to be.  Hell, seaside and marina are “affordable” by Cali standards, and are nice places and pretty safe.  Only area nearby that is rough is Salinas, and that’s a solid 30 minute drive away.

 

My parents have a house in PG. Putting aside whether it qualifies as a small town, it is beautiful and I love the foggy beach weather but, damn, the traffic and the tourists suck. Salinas however is quickly becoming a bedroom community and is far less rough than it used to be. Phil's Seafood, formerly on Moss Landing, relo'd there.

Wife and I came so close to buying a house in Monterey just days before the pandemic, in fact the seller's agent told us "It was ours," but that's a different story for a different thread.

 

[Native Horn 3,504]

1 hour ago, mooseoutfront said:

I live in a tourist area, and by the end of the summer I will admit that I'm looking forward to them leaving.  But tourist dollars pay for everything in the Denali Borough.  The only tax levied here is the bed tax.  There are no property, sales, or income taxes so the bed tax pays for all Borough services.  Plus the money the tourists spend supports a lot of the population year round even though the vast majority of the tourist season is in the summer. 

The Asians come in the winter to procreate under the Northern Lights.  A child conceived under the Lights is supposed to be blessed.  One of my favorite sights in the winter is the red bus parked on the side of the road.  It's a modified bus with "sleeping compartments."  In actuality the bus drives around the highway looking for the Lights.  When they come out, it pulls over and the people on the bus go into their compartment to screw.  I've often wondered how the bus driver passes the time in those situations.  Always makes me chuckle when I see that bus pulled over. 

The Big Bang Bus?

[tx 3 putt 77,073]

The Bang Bus has been around for a loooong time 

[52-80 19,167]

if its more than 1.5hrs from a major airport hub... its a tough sell for me.

[Chewbacca 7,780]

2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

As there is mention about living in a small resort town, there can be pros and cons about that as well.  While you get the benefit of more extras (restaurants, bars and stores) than non-resort towns, you also have to deal with large number of tourists or visitors.  If you own a store benefiting from them, then you are ok with it.  Otherwise you will soon dread when the tourists flock to your town.

As long as you're far enough away from the immediate tourist area and can stay away during peak times, it's not usually a problem.  Don't ski at the resort on weekends if you can avoid it.  Stay out of town and away from the resort the week between Christmas and New Years, as well as the 4th of July and you're good.  Do your grocery shopping early in the morning before the tourists roll out of bed.  That kind of thing.

Sure, they are around but the benefits (biggie being restaurants) make it worth it, at least in our case.

[GringoSalado 1,651]

Folks who think small town Texas sucks have not been to other States' small towns. I grew up in one and have lived in others and am pretty much jealous of every small town in Texas.

 

For small town smack talk I'll submit my Hometown and places I've lived in were listed as ghost towns.

[HiggyBaby 2,538]

I already did. The only thing I really miss is a much larger choice of restaurants.

I don’t miss the traffic at all.

No I couldn’t move to a small town. Would be boring as fuck

Pretty much describes my 2 1/2 years in San Angelo. Spent most of my adult life in the metroplex minus is that stint in San Angelo. Was definitely a lot easier on the nerves but man there was nothing to do.

[Herbie Hancock 7,368]

San Angelo isn't a small town, it's an overgrown shitbox. When you run into Angelo State skanks in Abilene because they're looking for a place to party you know that place sucks ass. Also, we used to call Lake Nasworthy "Lake Nastywater".

[CooterBrown 18,015]

That is some shit I did not expect. Fortunately, my small town does not have a fuck bus…..that I’m aware of.

Sounds like a business opportunity.

[Al_4_ISU 12,469]

1 hour ago, GringoSalado said:

Folks who think small town Texas sucks have not been to other States' small towns. I grew up in one and have lived in others and am pretty much jealous of every small town in Texas.

 

For small town smack talk I'll submit my Hometown and places I've lived in were listed as ghost towns.

In my limited experience, small town Texas has a mix of legitimately nice small towns and crumbling shit holes.

It seems if the surrounding area has either a tourism aspect or thriving ag economy, it’s rest.  If not, woof.

I chuckle when people in the rural Upper Midwest call a local town a shit hole.  These people have never been to the rural lower Midwest.  Rural Missouri, Oklahoma, and Indiana have some of the shittiest small towns I’ve seen outside of West Memphis and the Arky Delta, or the 4 Corners area rez’s.  A few nasty ones on the high plains as well in Colorado and western Kansas.

[Anastasis 23,475]

Absolutely. After the kids are out of the house. In the mean time a substantial social network, educational opportunities, and top tier athletics are necessary. 

[DalTxHornFan 3,106]

Even the real shit hole towns in Texas are blessed with something of an economy.  There are lots of places in the Midwest/Appalachia/Northeast that really have nothing going on at all.  Ghost towns in the making.

[tx 3 putt 77,073]

2 hours ago, 52-80 said:

if its more than 1.5hrs from a major airport hub... its a tough sell for me.

And medical care 

[Herbie Hancock 7,368]

Absolutely. After the kids are out of the house. In the mean time a substantial social network, educational opportunities, and top tier athletics are necessary. 

Careful, South Austin and ConVinced will be along shortly to shame you for being the second coming of William Joseph Simmons because you have an aversion to large crowds.

[High Plains Drifter 11,050]

10 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

These small agrarian towns have such a utilitarian aspect to them.  You rely on the locals.  You know your neighbor because you have to.  Maybe you share a fence line.  Livestock get out.  People get hurt.  Trucks break down.  

Funny story - took a friend out to our place one.  He's a big trail rider so we threw his bike in the bed of the truck.  He gets out there, gears up, and heads off.  Later I see a truck pulling up.  It was our neighbor.  The ranch shredded both the front and back tires.  Just gone.  The neighbor, he's laughing:  "this city boy belong to you".

Another time recently, all the fires in West Texas.  Funny how politics and grudges disappear when everyone has to come together to help one another.  Many of the older fence lines are still supported by wooded stakes/logs, not t-posts, so downed fences and livestock is a big GD problem that are fearful of the fires and panicking.  

 

I live in a small town, very rural. Years back, shortly after I moved there, I was helping a friend move a refrigerator. We were in his truck, and about a quarter mile from his house it broke down. He walked on to his house to get another truck to tow the broken down truck, while I sat in the broken down truck and waited. In the maybe 15 or 20 minutes I was waiting, three or four people drove by. Every single one stopped to ask if I needed help, or a lift.

I thanked them all kindly, and said no, someone's already on their way. Couple of em stayed to chat. The last guy asked me "Is this your truck?" I said no, it belongs to so and so. He says "I ask because I used to own this truck. I sold it to (a different) so and so about 10 years back."

 

 

[tx 3 putt 77,073]

If you were black, you would have been shot by the local cops 😂😂😂

[conVINCEd 21,469]

34 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:

Careful, South Austin and ConVinced will be along shortly to shame you for being the second coming of William Joseph Simmons because you have an aversion to large crowds.

I have an aversion to MAGA idiots.   The best way to avoid them is to stay out of small town America.  If you would like me to post election maps from 2020 I will be happy to do so, but I suspect you know what they look like.

[Jkwellborn 6,709]

I have an aversion to MAGA idiots.   The best way to avoid them is to stay out of small town America.  If you would like me to post election maps from 2020 I will be happy to do so, but I suspect you know what they look like.

You are aware that plenty of conservatives don’t talk about their politics or religion with everyone they meet, right?

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Some of y’all need to travel more. There are A LOT of shitty near dead towns and ghost towns in Texas. A big number of them are just south of the red river from Ft Worth to Amarillo.

I have spent many years scouting maps and looking for these towns as I like to photograph them and the abandoned buildings. Some of y’all are naming metropolises when compared to:

Estelline
Toyah
Barstow
Mentone
Megargel
Goree
Mcadoo
Premont
Sarita

Etc etc.

[tx 3 putt 77,073]

6 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

Sarita

Id be curious if anyone could ‘move’ to Sarita. That place has had the same 200 to 300 people for 100+ years. Maybe @Lat22 knows some residents around there 

from the wiki page - The only venue that sells soft drinks is a vending machine at the Kenedy County courthouse.

[tigol 2,398]

4 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

Sounds like a business opportunity.

Zactly.  We're a "Dark Sky" community, so bless your bang under a shooting star!  Needs work.

[Brothahorn 10,087]

1 hour ago, conVINCEd said:

I have an aversion to MAGA idiots.   The best way to avoid them is to stay out of small town America.  If you would like me to post election maps from 2020 I will be happy to do so, but I suspect you know what they look like.

[fattyflattie 4,639]

50 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

Some of y’all need to travel more. There are A LOT of shitty near dead towns and ghost towns in Texas. A big number of them are just south of the red river from Ft Worth to Amarillo.

I have spent many years scouting maps and looking for these towns as I like to photograph them and the abandoned buildings. Some of y’all are naming metropolises when compared to:

Estelline
Toyah
Barstow
Mentone
Megargel
Goree
Mcadoo
Premont
Sarita

Etc etc.

Premont is alive and well, sir. 

[conVINCEd 21,469]

44 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

You are aware that plenty of conservatives don’t talk about their politics or religion with everyone they meet, right?

Sure.  The silent majority.  I would never live in an area that went north of 80% for Trump.  That is most of rural Texas.

[fattyflattie 4,639]

8 hours ago, Herbie Hancock said:

You can't make this shit up: "I can't move to a small town because I don't know anything about them at all, but I'm gonna go ahead and pass judgment on them that because of where they live they must be bigoted, racist, misogynist, judgmental scourge of society. And because you want to live in a sparsely populated area that means you are too!". I think that's enough internet for me today.

You ever heard about that guy that keeps running into assholes all day, everyday?  Think we found him. 
 

Fuck outta here with small towns are the problem with America. Fucking lol. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by fattyflattie

[Gatorubet 30,246]

8 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Fuck outta here with small towns are the problem with America. Fucking lol. 

DT.  NM

Edited March 8, 2023 by Gatorubet

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Premont is alive and well, sir. 

It is, but Premont likely isn’t the destination of choice for the vast, vast majority of people.

[fattyflattie 4,639]

Just now, Patricio Swayze said:

It is, but Premont likely isn’t the destination of choice for the vast, vast majority of people.

I know.  Even the folks there would rather be in Fal. But I can attest that Lopez bar and Oasis are popping on Saturdays, at least thru hunting season. 

[GringoSalado 1,651]

6 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

Sure.  The silent majority.  I would never live in an area that went north of 80% for Trump.  That is most of rural Texas.

You think the majority of rural Texas is 80% Trump?

1 - that is oddly specific, so you may be right, but I would be surprised
2 - it appears your aversion to a good portion of the populace is sincerely held. So if anybody knew the specific % contagion, it would be you.

I'm pretty sure I've lived in a 70% TX (or close)Trump county, and I'm sure I now live in a 70+% Biden county, and those two things would be the absolute last on my list of relevant factors in what it was like living in either. It sucks this would matter to anybody. One of them has no fucking HEB, I will tell you that. And then I will tell you again.

 

Also forgot to mention if I had enough money of course I could live anywhere, even Oklahoma.

[Anastasis 23,475]

6 minutes ago, GringoSalado said:

I'm pretty sure I've lived in a 70% TX (or close)Trump county, and I'm sure I now live in a 70+% Biden county, and those two things would be the absolute last on my list of relevant factors in what it was like living in either. It sucks this would matter to anybody. One of them has no fucking HEB, I will tell you that. And then I will tell you again.

Proximity to H‑E‑B gets top weighting and nothing else is really close. 

[Grande Mart 517]

1 hour ago, Patricio Swayze said:

Some of y’all need to travel more. There are A LOT of shitty near dead towns and ghost towns in Texas. A big number of them are just south of the red river from Ft Worth to Amarillo.

I have spent many years scouting maps and looking for these towns as I like to photograph them and the abandoned buildings. Some of y’all are naming metropolises when compared to:

Estelline
Toyah
Barstow
Mentone
Megargel
Goree
Mcadoo
Premont
Sarita

Etc etc.

"Radio said there's a Johnny Law in Estelline

You know 287 ain't never been a free ride"

Cooder Graw

[squib 1,120]

1 hour ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I live in a small town, very rural. Years back, shortly after I moved there, I was helping a friend move a refrigerator. We were in his truck, and about a quarter mile from his house it broke down. He walked on to his house to get another truck to tow the broken down truck, while I sat in the broken down truck and waited. In the maybe 15 or 20 minutes I was waiting, three or four people drove by. Every single one stopped to ask if I needed help, or a lift.

I thanked them all kindly, and said no, someone's already on their way. Couple of em stayed to chat. The last guy asked me "Is this your truck?" I said no, it belongs to so and so. He says "I ask because I used to own this truck. I sold it to (a different) so and so about 10 years back."

 

 

Couple of years ago I get a flat on a trailer outside of Justiceberg—between Post and Snyder—on the way to Lubbock. I hit the ditch to change it and have easy access to all my tools. No big deal. 

No less than 5 ranchers pull over asking if I need help. I didn’t want to mess with their treks home to get a beer so I told them all that I was fine, I appreciated the offer, and that they should get home after what I assumed was a long day working in the sun. Some of these guys took a lot of convincing, but they all eventually headed off down the road. 
 

I got the tire changed and was putting up the tools when one of the guys from earlier pulled back up. He says: “I got home and my wife poured me a glass of tea and I sat down to watch TV. But I kept thinking about you out here on the side of the road. Finally just figured it was better to come back than to worry about you.”

Friends ask me how I can live out here. Sometimes I ask myself. But the story above is one of the reasons. No place like it for neighbors watching out for neighbors. Small town West Texas folk are generally good folk. I don’t agree with many on everything—but most of them will leave a glass of ice tea and some A/C to help a stranger. I’ll take it—and return the favor when I can. 

[Brisketexan 105,158]

"Weight staff"
I'm regarded.....

That’s what caused you to bow your head in shame, and NOT the BBW cook offs?

I would like to learn more. Are the BBWs being cooked or are they doing the cooking?

Vic Mackey wants answers, goddammit!

I live in a tourist area, and by the end of the summer I will admit that I'm looking forward to them leaving.  But tourist dollars pay for everything in the Denali Borough.  The only tax levied here is the bed tax.  There are no property, sales, or income taxes so the bed tax pays for all Borough services.  Plus the money the tourists spend supports a lot of the population year round even though the vast majority of the tourist season is in the summer. 
The Asians come in the winter to procreate under the Northern Lights.  A child conceived under the Lights is supposed to be blessed.  One of my favorite sights in the winter is the red bus parked on the side of the road.  It's a modified bus with "sleeping compartments."  In actuality the bus drives around the highway looking for the Lights.  When they come out, it pulls over and the people on the bus go into their compartment to screw.  I've often wondered how the bus driver passes the time in those situations.  Always makes me chuckle when I see that bus pulled over. 

“Asian Northern Lights Fuck Bus” is the name of my experimental jazz/kitchen appliance noises fusion album.

[Brisketexan 105,158]

And…on the other points…both things can be true: small towns regularly have a “help your neighbor” attitude…and also a hostility underneath that to anyone or anything foreign/outside.

I regularly hunt on a friend’s place outside of Brady. Last year, on my way out, I stopped at the Tractor Supply in Brady to pick up some additional supplies for the crew. Come back out, old shitty truck won’t start (turned out to be the fuel pump). As I popped the hood, multiple people came up to help me - offered a jump (no help), and one old gal who might have been something 30 years and 10,000 packs of cigs ago actually had a diagnostic tool in the debris in her beat up SUV, and helped me hook it up (confirming it wasn’t a quick fix problem). Even as I sat there waiting for my friend to get me, multiple people stopped to offer help.
Most of them had Trump stickers (McCulloch county went solidly that way). Hell, one guy was strapped. Another was attending the table for the giveaway of an AR. And I’ve overheard some pretty racist shit out that way.
They are helpful and kind people who follow a code that is born of where they are from. They work hard…but they are also caught in a cycle of working hard for not much money.
And they are often very narrow minded and racist. All those things can be true. Life, and people, are complicated.

Also, one of the best scenes I ever saw was in Brownwood. Driving through at dinner time, just wanted to grab a sandwich to eat on the road. I see a Long John Silvers, say what the hell. As I’m waiting for my sandwich, a beat up farm truck pulls up. Three dudes get out, all there are bow-legged, and wearing real deal worn spurs. And they go in to order some LJS. Kinda cracked me up to see. Just a juxtaposition of rural small town life and modern America shitty dining.

[DalTxHornFan 3,106]

4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I regularly hunt on a friend’s place outside of Brady. 

I've had deer leases in McCulloch, Menard, and Schleicher counties continually for the last 25+ years or so.  Good people out that way.  I had a fuel pump issue en-route in Llano and a battery issue en-route in Brownwood.  The folks that I encountered those days could not have been nicer or more helpful. 

"Three dudes get out, all there are bow-legged, and wearing real deal worn spurs"

The cowboy life ain't for sissies!

[tx 3 putt 77,073]

28 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

And…on the other points…both things can be true: small towns regularly have a “help your neighbor” attitude…and also a hostility underneath that to anyone or anything foreign/outside.

I regularly hunt on a friend’s place outside of Brady. Last year, on my way out, I stopped at the Tractor Supply in Brady to pick up some additional supplies for the crew. Come back out, old shitty truck won’t start (turned out to be the fuel pump). As I popped the hood, multiple people came up to help me - offered a jump (no help), and one old gal who might have been something 30 years and 10,000 packs of cigs ago actually had a diagnostic tool in the debris in her beat up SUV, and helped me hook it up (confirming it wasn’t a quick fix problem). Even as I sat there waiting for my friend to get me, multiple people stopped to offer help.
Most of them had Trump stickers (McCulloch county went solidly that way). Hell, one guy was strapped. Another was attending the table for the giveaway of an AR. And I’ve overheard some pretty racist shit out that way.
They are helpful and kind people who follow a code that is born of where they are from. They work hard…but they are also caught in a cycle of working hard for not much money.
And they are often very narrow minded and racist. All those things can be true. Life, and people, are complicated.

Also, one of the best scenes I ever saw was in Brownwood. Driving through at dinner time, just wanted to grab a sandwich to eat on the road. I see a Long John Silvers, say what the hell. As I’m waiting for my sandwich, a beat up farm truck pulls up. Three dudes get out, all there are bow-legged, and wearing real deal worn spurs. And they go in to order some LJS. Kinda cracked me up to see. Just a juxtaposition of rural small town life and modern America shitty dining.

found video of brisket walking around Brady and brown wood. Looking like a local ….

[atomheartbevo 89,732]

8 hours ago, GringoSalado said:

Folks who think small town Texas sucks have not been to other States' small towns. I grew up in one and have lived in others and am pretty much jealous of every small town in Texas.

Depends on where in Texas.  A small town in Texas where the nearest Walmart is an hour or two away is going to have issues.  You'll usually have shit for internet, prices will be ridiculous, you could have a grocery store that literally has stuff on the shelves that's expired, and if you have kids, medical care can become an issue.  I've lived in a small town in West Texas, spent way too much time in Alpine, as well as lived in East Texas, and a medium-sized city (Lubbock) and the larger cities - Houston, Austin, and a few other points in between.  If you are in a small town near a decent-sized town, that means you might have decent internet, you might have decent delivery (Amazon, etc.), because said town is probably trying to become a suburb and is encouraging a lot of development, and you have stuff you can do with the kids if you drive to the bigger cities.  But if you are in the boonies, and you have small kids, unless you are a full-on ranch or farm family, it's not that fun when you run out of stuff to do. 

And I spent my summers as a kid working on my grandparents' farm (an hour away from a large city, but 10 minutes from a town of around 7,000), and there's a reason why I'm more than happy to let a cousin farm it and send the occasional check, even if it's not much - I love to visit family there, but while it's been offered to me, I could not live there.  

I've also lived in small towns in other states (mostly the South, but up north for a few years), but that was as a kid, and tied to my dad's job, and so we didn't have much of a choice, and the areas we lived were not that desirable (oil field jobs/exploration).  I saw a lot of the same problems at small towns across multiple states/regions, including Texas, including the racism and the "fuck outsiders" attitude that some have.  Until high school (Houston area), I was always going to school in small towns because that's where we lived, and when I look at those elementary/junior high friends on Facebook versus my high school friends, holy fuck, we may all be the same age, but more than a few of my friends from small towns, it's like they've aged a few years older than the rest of us.  And way too many seemed to have fallen into the trap that happens with way too many small-town types.  They are clearly unhappy and feeling tied down because of family, etc.  There's just a whole attitude about "well it's expected of me" which is not present in my friends from the larger cities (then again, those friends from larger cities are usually not from those cities, so moving around for them is not as much of an issue).

I'm rambling, but anyways, it can work as long as it's all by choice and you choose well, but I just have too many friends from when I was a kid who..for lack of a better word, have stagnated in small towns.

 

 

[atomheartbevo 89,732]

And I'm considering a small town move.  I've been in Austin since the 90s with a few moves out of the area but never for too long.   Wife loves her job, I like a lot of the amenities (restaurants, rock-solid internet, etc.), and we like our kids' school and our friends here, but I'm ready for a change. 

Having moved around way too much as a young kid, I planned that my kids would live in the same area through high school, they'd not have to change schools, and they'd go to junior high and high school with friends they've had since kindergarten, because I fucking hated being the new kid way too often and having my friends from my childhood scattered across multiple states.  But when talking with my kids, they aren't quite as tied down as I thought they would be - my 10 year-old, he's like "we play Minecraft and chat on Facetime or in-game and I can do that from anywhere with my friends." 

He's actually interested in living somewhere else because he's gotten a bit bored - we find ourselves doing the same stuff every weekend, or we'll occasionally go to Houston or Dallas, but even then we've done the coolest stuff in both places, and we are going to New Mexico or Colorado or planning Ye Olde Disney World trip during our summers instead of sticking around here.  My youngest, she's got the same attitude, and she has already technically changed schools/groups of friends from pre-k to kindergarten and she reminds us that her pre-k friends across town still exist and she will video chat with them or we'll meet up at a park.

Wife is coming around to use living in New England for a few years (probably Vermont) and we'd be in a small town (under 10,000), but we'd be within 2-3 hours of 5 different states, less than 2 hours away from Montreal, a few hours from Boston, and we'd have a shitload of state and national parks within a few hours (and a few within 10-15 minutes).  I think we'd be about an hour away from a decent train station that then opens up a big chunk of the East Coast to us - popping down to NYC or D.C. on a Friday after lunch kind of thing.   I can't get that in a small town in Texas, even if it's close to some place like Houston and Dallas where have friends there, because we've been everywhere and done the things we wanted to do.  With small kids, we are at the point where we want to be doing cool stuff and traveling with them and not limiting ourselves to doing that stuff during the summers (or giving up Christmas break).  Finding a decent small town up in New England gets us an affordable house (way, way, way more affordable than Austin) and puts us in a position to do a lot more travel and outdoors stuff (hiking, camping, canoeing, fishing, etc. in the summers) and I want to make it to all of the Civil War battlefields out East, the museums, etc.

It's fucking weird because we were really sticking around Austin for the kids, no matter how much I kept wanting to really consider a move, but now all of the sudden, everybody reached kind of the same conclusion on their own.  We might still wait a few years - our kids are far enough apart that we could let our youngest get to 4th/5th grade and still move before our oldest is in high school.

Okay, this is less of a small-town rant and more of a Texas-rant.

And I could kind of see myself moving back to the small town family farm in my late 60s or 70s, but that's 20 years off.  I need to go listen to John Cougar Mellencamp.

Edited March 8, 2023 by atomheartbevo

[tx 3 putt 77,073]

9 hours ago, GringoSalado said:

Folks who think small town Texas sucks have not been to other States' small towns. I grew up in one and have lived in others and am pretty much jealous of every small town in Texas.

 

For small town smack talk I'll submit my Hometown and places I've lived in were listed as ghost towns.

upstate NY sucks donkey Boner, lot of small shitty towns 

[GringoSalado 1,651]

30 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Depends on where in Texas.  A small town in Texas where the nearest Walmart is an hour or two away is going to have issues. 

No I was jealous of that one too. I lived in a town that was an hour from being an hour closer to something much, much, much shittier than a Walmart. If it was open.

[EastHorn 281]

Charlottesville was mentioned earlier and not getting enough love. 2 hours from DC if you need big city activities or pro sports. Mountains nearby. Good food scene. ACC country so no one cares if you root for Texas. Thinking Durango will be my next move. 

[JesusSweatDuck 17,784]

19 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

BBW cookoffs

Kinky

[JesusSweatDuck 17,784]

13 hours ago, tigol said:

That is some shit I did not expect. Fortunately, my small town does not have a fuck bus…..that I’m aware of.

What about a sex tent?

5 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

Sure.  The silent majority.  I would never live in an area that went north of 80% for Trump.  That is most of rural Texas.

We get it, small town Texas isn't for you. Take the political bullshit elsewhere. Quit ruining an interesting thread with this shit