Could You Move to a Small Town

[bolverk 29655]

2 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I think some states make designations between towns and cities.  In Iowa, it's all cities.  Be it Des Moines, or my hometown.  If it has a mayor, a council, and a former boundary, it's a city.

But we're talking semantics here.  "City" is both a very specific term to define a governmental unit in some contexts, and a much more vague term to describe a community of a certain size or status.

In Texas, it's pretty much the same in terms of incorporated municipalities in Texas so far as I understand it. There are "home rule" cities that have a population greater than 5,000, which allows the local government to do certain things, and then there are "general law" cities below that population threshold with more limited powers. I'm sure there are other legal designations, but I don't know the details. But, for the sake of this conversation, I think we're all referring to that vaguer notion of a city versus town. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

IMO, you are a small town if you play 2A football or lower.  I also couldn’t live somewhere without good sushi, and I’ve google searched for restaurants on many road trips, and I don’t think I’ve ever come across a sushi restaurant with good reviews in a town with a 2A high school.

[PTINS 3465]

Yes!

Thunder Creek Ranch (my avatar) is near Utopia, 1 hour away from the Walmarts in Hondo, Uvalde or Kerrville. 

A few years after we bought the place, ~15 years ago, I was redoing the interior of the small ranch house and had an electrician doing work late one Saturday. I got to thinking the little grocery/hardware/deer processor store was closing within the hour and we better get there quick or were gonna be SOL.  When we got there, the door was locked and it was dark inside, so we went around the back where they took the deer in. The guy let me in the regular store and told me to just grab whatever I might need, bring the rest back when I was back in town, and we would settle up on what I used.  So I did. 

Neighbors have help me out with all kinds of stuff.

 

Last election, we went into town, and damn near every plot of land had a Trump banner, flag or sign of some type.  No surprise to me. The only issue I've ever had is the aggy who damned up the creek upstream of me. 

I never asked, but I wouldn't characterize them as racist.  They all use, and appreciate immigrant labor.  And they all have guns.

These are some hard working people, that give an honest days work every day, and don't expect anybody to give them anything, yet they come out of the cracks when somebody needs help, or some assistance. 

I tell every body that comes out there to be careful, that everything out there will bight you, sting you, scratch you, or poke you, that everything out there is tougher than you are because it survives in a very harsh environment, and that the life-flight helicopter comes from San Antonio.

They damn sure don't need anybody telling them how to live their lives. 

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

I have taken a few pics of that myself.
Some years ago I did some work very near the Rattlesnake Air Base (?) and immediately when I saw that building I was like "holy shit is that the Pecos Parachute School from Fandango?" I googled around and went looking around for other locations.
 

I’ve been there too. Wish I had made it when it was more intact.



I assume you found this site, but just in case:

http://www.ultimatefandango.com

[Chewbacca 7767]

19 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

But as someone coming from Texas it made no sense to me. I mean we have everything we need at home, why get away? What can somewhere else provide that home doesn't have?

Love your Vermont place, but have to call bullshit on the part I quoted.  If that were true, CO wouldn't be overrun with Texans all the time.

[bolverk 29655]

4 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

More towns for y’all’s R&D efforts haha:

Fowlerton
Gillett
Shiro
Pyote
Lipscomb
Silver
Benjamin
Dougherty

Most towns that boomed because of a railroad or highway (like 90) that has since been dismantled or bypassed are always good for finding dying towns.

Just my Texas map location of places I have been or would like to go for photography. This is why I have 40,000 miles on a 1.5 year old 4runner.

Also, if you have a Brookshire Brothers grocery store, you are likely a medium size town. If you have a Lowe’s grocery story, you are likely a small town.

You've got a pretty conspicuous gap on the map around Big Spring. You'll likely find some decent ruin porn here too since there also used to be an air force base and the "city" was bigger back in the 1960s-70s. There's lots of dilapidated shit around here that you'd enjoy.

[Captain Ron 12870]

5 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Love your Vermont place, but have to call bullshit on the part I quoted.  If that were true, CO wouldn't be overrun with Texans all the time.

I understand getting away. But from a Texan that was more of a vacation. I would hit Colorado once a season or so. There are droves up there this week, they will be replaced with a new drove next week, etc.

Here people sometimes head to the Cape or wherever each weekend. We hit Vermont right now every 2 weeks or so. It feels very different than what Texans do.

[Chewbacca 7767]

5 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

I understand getting away. But from a Texan that was more of a vacation. I would hit Colorado once a season or so. There are droves up there this week, they will be replaced with a new drove next week, etc.

Here people sometimes head to the Cape or wherever each weekend. We hit Vermont right now every 2 weeks or so. It feels very different than what Texans do.

Yeah, I agree with that aspect.  I guess I don't see the difference between a weekend trip and a vacation.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

You've got a pretty conspicuous gap on the map around Big Spring. You'll likely find some decent ruin porn here too since there also used to be an air force base and the "city" was bigger back in the 1960s-70s. There's lots of dilapidated shit around here that you'd enjoy.

I have been out that way a few times and there is definitely some good stuff. I need to update my map. Have a list of locations that need to be added that I haven’t gotten around to.

[SydneyCarton 48057]

41 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

Totally missed this thread when it popped up. It's an interesting read, though I was disappointed when it had the 3 year gap that missed the pandemic. Talk about a chance to maybe live the dream.

So I live in the Greater Boston area. Winchester to be precise. I didn't mean to really like/love the Boston area, but it's really fucking great. 10 years going, I don't have many regrets on moving here.

Now to the small town part: one thing about living here is that people get away for the weekend. Sometimes the Cape, winter sees a lot of ski weekends, summer there is hiking. You have Martha's Vineyard, the Berkshires, New York and the Hamptons aren't far off. Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, you name it. There is a lot to do here. Having a second place isn't an oddity here.

But as someone coming from Texas it made no sense to me. I mean we have everything we need at home, why get away? What can somewhere else provide that home doesn't have?

The answer is that everyone here basically lives in the cities and you just want to get away from that.

About a year and a half ago the wife and I found and bought a place up in BFE Vermont. The town is called Waterford, Vermont - population 1,441. Town? Well that link is the google map to "downtown." That building is "city hall" and the post office. We have a fire department, transfer station for trash And that's about it. The place is tiny. Two closest towns: St Johnsbury, VT - population 7,403 and Littleton, NH - population 6,015.

Dairy Queen? The closest is 60 miles away, the easiest to get to is 78 miles away (drive time to each is about the same).

But I will say this, given that I turn 50 in a year (literally my 49th bday today), the wife and I totally see this place as the future place to chill out at. It's the weekend place now, will be the full time home when the nest is empty. I love living in Boston, but this place 2 1/2 hours away is great. The small town vibe up here is really cool. We have a few good restaurants, some great breweries. I'm about to get fiber Internet (finally, no more Starlink!). The house is a bit of a project (inside if not out), so there is something to do up there. Littleton has good enough shopping, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's. There are good enough groceries close by. Come winter I have about a few ski resorts within an hour or so.

And the weather isn't too bad. Summers are mild, winters are fun. The spring is great and fall ...

And our view isn't too bad either 

 

Damn dude. And just like that, now I'm looking at property in Vermont and New Hampshire. 

[SydneyCarton 48057]

28 minutes ago, PTINS said:

Yes!

Thunder Creek Ranch (my avatar) is near Utopia, 1 hour away from the Walmarts in Hondo, Uvalde or Kerrville. 

A few years after we bought the place, ~15 years ago, I was redoing the interior of the small ranch house and had an electrician doing work late one Saturday. I got to thinking the little grocery/hardware/deer processor store was closing within the hour and we better get there quick or were gonna be SOL.  When we got there, the door was locked and it was dark inside, so we went around the back where they took the deer in. The guy let me in the regular store and told me to just grab whatever I might need, bring the rest back when I was back in town, and we would settle up on what I used.  So I did. 

Neighbors have help me out with all kinds of stuff.

 

Last election, we went into town, and damn near every plot of land had a Trump banner, flag or sign of some type.  No surprise to me. The only issue I've ever had is the aggy who damned up the creek upstream of me. 

I never asked, but I wouldn't characterize them as racist.  They all use, and appreciate immigrant labor.  And they all have guns.

These are some hard working people, that give an honest days work every day, and don't expect anybody to give them anything, yet they come out of the cracks when somebody needs help, or some assistance. 

I tell every body that comes out there to be careful, that everything out there will bight you, sting you, scratch you, or poke you, that everything out there is tougher than you are because it survives in a very harsh environment, and that the life-flight helicopter comes from San Antonio.

They damn sure don't need anybody telling them how to live their lives. 

I'm not expert on this shit at all, and I'm sure it varies by state or even county, but isn't it illegal as fuck to damn up a water source that flows through multiple properties without a ton of fucking permitting and approvals? Because I feel like I've read that you can get into some serious shit doing that stuff. I know someone told me that once, as I was telling then about the idea of having a stream or creek going through a property, and dynamiting the fuck out of a section to create a natural swimming hole. They said that was a good way to get fined into oblivion, and the quick googling I did after seemed to confirm that.

And then they fucking mocked my ignorant ass for thinking that I could just throw a bunch of dynamite in a creek and make a swimming hole, but that's a different story. 

[Schulz2.0 28951]

2 hours ago, bolverk said:

Driven through there quite a bit on the way to Colorado where my sister lives. I imagine a few work at the local restaurant or gas station. Maybe a few up on Capuline - there's a little museum and gift shop on top of the extinct volcano. Very cool view from up there. I'm guessing the rest are on social security or something.

I've stopped at Capulin twice in the past couple years driving between Ft Worth and Denver. All part of having two boys under 5 that are amazed by volcanos.

[Schulz2.0 28951]

13 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

upstate NY sucks donkey Boner, lot of small shitty towns 

I spent ~5 years around Saratoga Springs, NY. I enjoyed it for the most part.

[Captain Ron 12870]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

Yeah, I agree with that aspect.  I guess I don't see the difference between a weekend trip and a vacation.

IMHO different class of trips. A quick jaunt 1-2 hours down the road with minimal packing vs something with long travel and significant packing.

 

[Hate 20106]

I spent ~5 years around Saratoga Springs, NY. I enjoyed it for the most part.

The most outwardly racist person I ever met was from Albany, New York. He was here (Houston) for my FIL’s funeral as he was married to one of my FIL’s sisters. Within about 5 minutes of meeting him, he said something to the effect of “you guys sure have a lot of n-words down here in Texas”. I was stunned and I guess he noticed because he quickly changed the subject. I avoided him the rest of the funeral.

[Schulz2.0 28951]

4 minutes ago, Hate said:

The most outwardly racist person I ever met was from Albany, New York. He was here (Houston) for my FIL’s funeral as he was married to one of my FIL’s sisters. Within about 5 minutes of meeting him, he said something to the effect of “you guys sure have a lot of n-words down here in Texas”. I was stunned and I guess he noticed because he quickly changed the subject. I avoided him the rest of the funeral.

The east coast has plenty of racists. 

[Anastasis 23463]

5 minutes ago, Schulz2.0 said:

The east coast has plenty of racists. 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122963

[Anastasis 23463]

Note: Based on their methodology, that could just be certain search strings related to porn. 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, NoName said:

almost 6x as many people voted for the GOP nominee in the 2020 election in Travis County than even live in my entire county.

again, small tows aren't for you. we get it. you hate them, you think everyone there is a MAGA person, you think they are all bad human beings. we get it. move on to literally any other thread please - you are shitting this one up with your shitty takes.

Yeah, there's  a shit-ton of folks who live out there because it's just easier to avoid the idiots across the spectrum.  It's easier just to be yourself, with no explanation required.

There's +'s and -'s everywhere, including the political spectrum.

[Bevo 13568]

Aspen only has 7,000 people. I could live there.

[SydneyCarton 48057]

28 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

IMHO different class of trips. A quick jaunt 1-2 hours down the road with minimal packing vs something with long travel and significant packing.

 

Yeah, I'm shocked to the point I find the question odd. My wife and I live in Houston, and we've basically termed the maximum distance from a weekend home would be 2.5 hours away, and honestly, that's probably further than I'd like. Someplace you can come home, throw the shit in the car, and be at your destination before fucking midnight, and someplace where your entire Sunday getting back to your primary residence isn't most of your day. Who wants to spend all of Friday night in a car, and half of Sunday in a car, for 1 day and a morning of fun elsewhere? Not me, but I guess everyone is different.

As a byproduct, it also means that since we live in a Houston anyplace worth a shit is out of our range of options. But we have Galveston. 

1 minute ago, Bevo said:

Aspen only has 7,000 people. I could live there.

This point and joke was funnier when I made it a page ago and referenced Jackson Hole, Park City, etc. You non-reading fuck. 

 

Vatican City has less than a thousand people, y'all. Pretty sure I could live there. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by SydneyCarton

[PTINS 3465]

2 hours ago, texasdago said:

That is one of the most godawful stretches of road I've ever seen... made me realize to NEVER take the Amarillo way to CB.  Always go through Lubbock.  Yeah... that right there is saying something.  I'll take that stretch north of Fort Sumner any day over the Des Moines, NM stretch of road... although admittedly would be curious to see the extinct volcano.  Or not.  

We lived near Boulder many years ago and came back to Austin once or twice a year. When you are coming south, after you go through Raton Pass, the mountains open up and you can see the plains of NE New Mexico & the Texas Panhandle below. It always reminded me of a scene from The Lion King, with the fertile flats, bathed in sunshine, running towards the horizon. 

“The only thing I like about New Jersey is the view it has of Manhattan.”

I have been all over Texas, and the only place it looks like that is from that part of New Mexico.

[Bevo 13568]

5 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

 

This point and joke was funnier when I made it a page ago and referenced Jackson Hole, Park City, etc. You non-reading fuck. 

 

Vatican City has less than a thousand people, y'all. Pretty sure I could live there. 

You sure do give me a lot of shit considering we think alike. Are you self-loathing?

Edited March 8, 2023 by Bevo

[AgentZero 19]

 

in my mind, small town = town whose only "grocery" store option is the 6666 supply house.  wouldn't move back if it was the only spot unaffected by a nuclear attack.

[SydneyCarton 48057]

1 minute ago, Bevo said:

You sure do give me a lot of shit considering we think alike. Are you self-loathing?

I mean, it's low hanging fruit. Your comments are just right there, and there was an entire conversation about it a page ago. I guess I have always enjoyed whack-a-mole. Giving people shit is like the adult version of that, I suppose. 

Wait, are we not all self-loathing at least some of the time? I mean, shit, we've all listened to ourselves on an answering machine or voicemail, right? Fucking cringe. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by SydneyCarton

[Brisketexan 105071]

Another observation I made (or maybe it's more of a hypothesis) based on the rural "folks stop to offer help" phenomenon.

People stop to help, because other people are the primary/only reliable means of help you've got.  That is, the "aid infrastructure" just isn't there.  Sure, there may be a tow truck in town....but maybe it's just one.  And Earl, who drives it, is sick, or on another job across the county.  You can't just run around the corner and find 6 places selling new tires.  Calling an ambulance won't result in THE ambulance coming very fast -- same concerns as with the tow truck, etc.

Whereas in an urban environment, there is a known and expected infrastructure of aid available.  Tow trucks all over.  Ambulances all over town, and a great hospital to take you to, etc.  People there, while they still may be helpful (get a flat tire in an HEB parking lot, and people will indeed stop to help....although not nearly at the ratio as in the Brady Tractor Supply parking lot), also know that 1) you're probably not that far from home (your grocery is usually within a mile or two of home, whereas in Brady, many folks drive 20+ miles to get to the grocery store in town), and 2) there's all kinds of help available (call AAA, and they're there right away).

Neither "way" is right or wrong; they're what fit the specific environment.  In a large urban area, it only makes sense to have an aid infrastructure that can handle higher volume needs.  In a rural area, it doesn't make sense, so the community ad hoc approach is more effective and efficient.

That doesn't mean that "city folk won't help you."  It's just that they're not as likely to feel compelled or that they need to help because if they don't, you're SOL.  And it doesn't mean that "rural folks are inherently nicer" -- they are following a code of mutual aid that has within it a good measure of self-interest (I stop and help you so that when i need it, you'll stop and help me).  I think among both groups, the "give a shit about your fellow man" level is generally the same.  Maybe city dwellers believe that goal should be met by a more robust EMS system, citywide foodbanks, etc., whereas rural denizens think that sort of thing should be done more ad hoc.  Again, different situations call for different tools.

And yeah, sure, there are plenty of pieces of shit and racist pieces of shit in cities (man....Boston is the WORST), but the community is large enough that you can mostly self-select and avoid dealing with them.  Maybe the people who live in neighborhood X are really racist shitheads....but I don't live over there, and don't associate with any of them.  The folks in my neighborhood are mostly decent, open-minded, and somewhat like-minded as I am.  In a small town, you know everyone and everyone knows you.  And you really can't avoid dealing with racist pieces of shit, because maybe he owns the only auto parts store in town or whatnot.

[Guadaloopy 10960]

On 3/6/2023 at 12:09 PM, 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.
 

I have a friend whose adult kids work remote from Montana and love it.  I couldn’t take the winters.  

 

On 3/7/2023 at 11:23 AM, 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.

I spent 6 years on the Monterey Peninsula.  Absolutely love the place and it definitely has the small town feel.  It wasn't the small town aspect that gave me itchy feet.  The cold and damp finally wore me down, and I needed more sunshine.  It was a tough call, because I had to leave the favorite gig I've ever had - caddying at Pebble/Spyglass/Spanish. 

[nbmishoid 949]

About that map, and I would share Ana’s doubts, how does one say that blob of red running thru Ohio is on the east coast. 

[Bevo 13568]

1 minute ago, Guadaloopy said:

 

I spent 6 years on the Monterey Peninsula.  Absolutely love the place and it definitely has the small town feel.  It wasn't the small town aspect that gave me itchy feet.  The cold and damp finally wore me down, and I needed more sunshine.  It was a tough call, because I had to leave the favorite gig I've ever had - caddying at Pebble/Spyglass/Spanish. 

We lived in Capitola for a long time. I thought the weather was great. But, I've always heard that Monterey has worse weather even though it is south. I was talking to locals and I can't remember the patterns but there is a difference between Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel. Of course the Highlands will have better weather but I thought the other spots would be about the same.

I would consider moving somewhere south of Big Sur like Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo..., but I really don't feel like having a big mortgage at my stage in life. My wife would be happy though because all of her best childhood friends live there. But, a couple mil for a piece of shit home is tough to swallow.

[Bevo 13568]

14 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I mean, it's low hanging fruit. Your comments are just right there, and there was an entire conversation about it a page ago. I guess I have always enjoyed whack-a-mole. Giving people shit is like the adult version of that, I suppose. 

Wait, are we not all self-loathing at least some of the time? I mean, shit, we've all listened to ourselves on an answering machine or voicemail, right? Fucking cringe. 

I grew up in Houston but we had a ranch near Round Top. I like visiting the area on occasion but ranch work kind of sucks. And if you are old, there is no healthcare.

[Al_4_ISU 12451]

41 minutes ago, Hate said:

The most outwardly racist person I ever met was from Albany, New York. He was here (Houston) for my FIL’s funeral as he was married to one of my FIL’s sisters. Within about 5 minutes of meeting him, he said something to the effect of “you guys sure have a lot of n-words down here in Texas”. I was stunned and I guess he noticed because he quickly changed the subject. I avoided him the rest of the funeral.

I drive by a house outside of Etna, Minnesota roughly once a month that proudly flies the Stars and Bars, but not Old Glory.

[conVINCEd 21469]

I think Ohio people are just couch burners who like to throw shit at opposing fans after losing in the shoe at night.  I don’t think race has anything to do with it.  They’re just sore losers with anger management issues.  If you throw a bottle at both a white guy and a black guy because they’re both wearing orange, you’re not a racist for throwing the bottle at the black guy, you’re just a dick who deserves to have his ass kicked.  Ohio is full of dicks.

Edited March 8, 2023 by conVINCEd

[SydneyCarton 48057]

2 hours ago, Bevo said:

I grew up in Houston but we had a ranch near Round Top. I like visiting the area on occasion but ranch work kind of sucks. And if you are old, there is no healthcare.

My FIL has land near Belleville. I'm not much of a hunter, but the work associated with the beauty it offers is...not a good trade off, at least not for me. Like you, apparently, I'm not one of those "the work is the reward" types. It's flat and ugly, and the FIL has let it all go to absolute shit so unless I'm up there trying to bag a deer, it's pretty much just a complete suck. 

Edited March 9, 2023 by SydneyCarton

[Guadaloopy 10960]

4 minutes ago, Bevo said:

I would consider moving somewhere south of Big Sur like Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo..., but I really don't feel like having a big mortgage at my stage in life. My wife would be happy though because all of her best childhood friends live there. But, a couple mil for a piece of shit home is tough to swallow.

Yep... that's why we bolted California altogether.  Financially, we were in a really great place, but we wanted to be someplace with a bit more room and a lot more peace.  Couldn't find that in CA without taking out another 30 yr mortgage.  No thanks.  Moved to an unincorporated part of Tulsa county where I am 20 minutes from downtown but have a horse farm across the pond outside my front doorstep.  I see the stars at night and don't hear shit except coyotes now and then.  Will be paid off in 3-1/2 years and 5 yrs after that I can seriously consider retirement.  Probably brought the retirement horizon in by 10 years by leaving CA.

[Frank Drebin 5659]

33 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Aspen only has 7,000 people. I could live there.

Aspen is one of my favorite places in the world.  But Jesus the cost. $30 for a hamburger.  $7 for an iced tea where many places charge you $7 for a refill of said iced-tea.  We have been going there for decades.  It has gotten stupid the last ten years.

And forget about buying something there.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

36 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Another observation I made (or maybe it's more of a hypothesis) based on the rural "folks stop to offer help" phenomenon.

People stop to help, because other people are the primary/only reliable means of help you've got.  That is, the "aid infrastructure" just isn't there.  Sure, there may be a tow truck in town....but maybe it's just one.  And Earl, who drives it, is sick, or on another job across the county.  You can't just run around the corner and find 6 places selling new tires.  Calling an ambulance won't result in THE ambulance coming very fast -- same concerns as with the tow truck, etc.

Whereas in an urban environment, there is a known and expected infrastructure of aid available.  Tow trucks all over.  Ambulances all over town, and a great hospital to take you to, etc.  People there, while they still may be helpful (get a flat tire in an HEB parking lot, and people will indeed stop to help....although not nearly at the ratio as in the Brady Tractor Supply parking lot), also know that 1) you're probably not that far from home (your grocery is usually within a mile or two of home, whereas in Brady, many folks drive 20+ miles to get to the grocery store in town), and 2) there's all kinds of help available (call AAA, and they're there right away).

Neither "way" is right or wrong; they're what fit the specific environment.  In a large urban area, it only makes sense to have an aid infrastructure that can handle higher volume needs.  In a rural area, it doesn't make sense, so the community ad hoc approach is more effective and efficient.

That doesn't mean that "city folk won't help you."  It's just that they're not as likely to feel compelled or that they need to help because if they don't, you're SOL.  And it doesn't mean that "rural folks are inherently nicer" -- they are following a code of mutual aid that has within it a good measure of self-interest (I stop and help you so that when i need it, you'll stop and help me).  I think among both groups, the "give a shit about your fellow man" level is generally the same.  Maybe city dwellers believe that goal should be met by a more robust EMS system, citywide foodbanks, etc., whereas rural denizens think that sort of thing should be done more ad hoc.  Again, different situations call for different tools.

And yeah, sure, there are plenty of pieces of shit and racist pieces of shit in cities (man....Boston is the WORST), but the community is large enough that you can mostly self-select and avoid dealing with them.  Maybe the people who live in neighborhood X are really racist shitheads....but I don't live over there, and don't associate with any of them.  The folks in my neighborhood are mostly decent, open-minded, and somewhat like-minded as I am.  In a small town, you know everyone and everyone knows you.  And you really can't avoid dealing with racist pieces of shit, because maybe he owns the only auto parts store in town or whatnot.

I don't think it's this at all.  People are nice in the country and willing to help because the anonymity of the city is not their default position.  It isn't in their default setting that seeing a person will be the first and last time.

[royiv 9261]

15 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Aspen is one of my favorite places in the world.  But Jesus the cost. $30 for a hamburger.  $7 for an iced tea where many places charge you $7 for a refill of said iced-tea.  We have been going there for decades.  It has gotten stupid the last ten years.

And forget about buying something there.

Weird humblebrag, deacon.

[Chewbacca 7767]

15 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Aspen is one of my favorite places in the world.  But Jesus the cost. $30 for a hamburger.  $7 for an iced tea where many places charge you $7 for a refill of said iced-tea.  We have been going there for decades.  It has gotten stupid the last ten years.

And forget about buying something there.

A 3700sf  townhouse that sold for $8.5 million a couple years ago in downtown Aspen just sold recently for $22 million.  That's almost $6,000/sf.  Aspen is a different kind of place.

[Brisketexan 105071]

Just now, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

I don't think it's this at all.  People are nice in the country and willing to help because the anonymity of the city is not their default position.  It isn't in their default setting that seeing a person will be the first and last time.

There's probably something to that.  But then, it doesn't account for the "help a stranger" aspect.  Nobody in that Tractor Supply parking lot had ever seen me before, and I suspect they recognize most of the cars and people around there.  Now, maybe your hypothesis translates to a default position of "it's too much effort to figure out whether the person is a regular or a one-off, so just help everyone" -- that makes some sense.

But I still think it's largely driven by the fact that when you're out in the sticks, "mutual aid" is the ONLY aid.  It just makes good sense.

[GringoSalado 1651]

2 hours ago, bolverk said:

You've got a pretty conspicuous gap on the map around Big Spring. You'll likely find some decent ruin porn here too since there also used to be an air force base and the "city" was bigger back in the 1960s-70s. There's lots of dilapidated shit around here that you'd enjoy.

Always thought Swayze should shoot the abandoned Mental Hospital (?) or whatever right there in Big Spring (unless they have torn it down). I can't find it now but I drove by there many years ago and snooped around outside some. Looked proper spooky.

[fattyflattie 4639]

10 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

A 3700sf  townhouse that sold for $8.5 million a couple years ago in downtown Aspen just sold recently for $22 million.  That's almost $6,000/sf.  Aspen is a different kind of place.

I read first half of your sentence and thought, man what a deal, as I had looked thru some real estate not long ago, just for shits and grins.  Unbelievable how much it is there.   15-25m condos. 

[bolverk 29655]

19 minutes ago, GringoSalado said:

Always thought Swayze should shoot the abandoned Mental Hospital (?) or whatever right there in Big Spring (unless they have torn it down). I can't find it now but I drove by there many years ago and snooped around outside some. Looked proper spooky.

Really curious about where you were snooping around because the state hospital is still full of patients. Was it in town or out on the highway? There is one small abandoned hospital in the middle of town close to the high school, but that one is about to get rehabbed by the same guy (Brint Ryan) that reopened the Settles.

[Bevo 13568]

27 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

A 3700sf  townhouse that sold for $8.5 million a couple years ago in downtown Aspen just sold recently for $22 million.  That's almost $6,000/sf.  Aspen is a different kind of place.

Damn, we don't go there anymore because my family has a house in Santa Fe. But, that's more expensive than Malibu. It makes me feel a little better about the house we are building near a ski resort. I thought it was way too much but I guess it can always go up.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

23 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

There's probably something to that.  But then, it doesn't account for the "help a stranger" aspect.  Nobody in that Tractor Supply parking lot had ever seen me before, and I suspect they recognize most of the cars and people around there.  Now, maybe your hypothesis translates to a default position of "it's too much effort to figure out whether the person is a regular or a one-off, so just help everyone" -- that makes some sense.

But I still think it's largely driven by the fact that when you're out in the sticks, "mutual aid" is the ONLY aid.  It just makes good sense.

basically, we evolved in a world where there were no strangers.  everyone you would see, you would see again and again.  we behaved accordingly.  so that is our default position.  the coldness of big cities is a learned trait to turn that default mentality off because we learn that there is no consequence for being a nihilist or worse.  country folk never learned that. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181023110620.htm

 

Quote

But their study, "Experience with anonymous interactions reduces intuitive cooperation," shows that the "cognitive shortcut" we have built into our brains to be generous or fair can be easily switched off if we learn there won't be any payback, either positive or negative. The researchers demonstrated this point by exposing 200 volunteers to a social environment devoid of any incentive or punishment for how they treated others, and tracking how their behavior changed over time.

The volunteers, who came to the laboratory in small groups on two separate occasions about a month apart, were asked to play three games that required them to make decisions about investing money and sharing the windfalls with others in the room, and eventually with a charity. But, sitting at consoles with headphones, the participants did not interact with each other. They made all their decisions and collected all their winnings anonymously and privately.

During the first round, the study showed, participants behaved predictably: Acting on habits shaped by their everyday experiences, they split windfalls with strangers fairly and shared about half their earnings with charity. But on their return visit about a month later, they weren't as generous, sharing, on average, about 20 percent less.

"After acclimating to the situation, they realized this was extraordinarily different from the situations they find themselves in everyday life," McAuliffe said. "They realized, 'What I do doesn't really matter. It has no social consequences. Nobody is going to pat me on the back if I am generous. No one is going to think I'm stingy if I'm not.' So, when they come back, they don't act on that cognitive shortcut because they've learned that the same rules don't apply."

McCullough, who has devoted his career to shedding light on human behavior by examining our evolutionary past, said the study could explain why big-city dwellers have a reputation for being more hurried and less friendly to strangers than small-town folk.

"I think what this study says isn't that generosity towards strangers is part of what humans evolved into, but instead that we evolved in a world where there really weren't strangers," McCullough said. "We knew everybody. They knew us, and if we didn't know everybody directly, we knew somebody they knew, so if we were bad to someone they could say, 'That is a terrible person.' Now we live in cities with millions of people and you can legitimately encounter a stranger and say 'I'll never see that person again -- and get away with treating them poorly.' That's less so in small towns, where almost everybody does know everybody."

 

[High Plains Drifter 11031]

37 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

I don't think it's this at all.  People are nice in the country and willing to help because the anonymity of the city is not their default position.  It isn't in their default setting that seeing a person will be the first and last time.

 

Exactly. That guy you see sitting on the side of the road just might be your kid's teacher, or the bank teller you see once or twice a month, or your wife's best friend's husband.

 

[Chewbacca 7767]

7 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

I read first half of your sentence and thought, man what a deal, as I had looked thru some real estate not long ago, just for shits and grins.  Unbelievable how much it is there.   15-25m condos. 

Yeah, I think only Jackson is on the same level in terms of insane property values.  Aspen is just insane.  Makes Vail look like somewhere the poors go.

[crash_davis 23101]

aggy are masturbating to this thread.

[conVINCEd 21469]

Been to Aspen once.  1994.  Freshman at UT, and a decent-sized group of us went on one of those trips put together by the people who plastered flyers all over campus.  Stayed in a shitty condo in Snowmass that,  I’m quite certain, has been replaced by a non-shitty condo.  Ordered a couple of pizzas the first night.  The menu in the condo did not have prices.  Delivery driver shows up and the pizzas were $30 each.  In 1994.  Went to McD’s for breakfast the following morning.  Sausage McMuffin w/egg, hash brown, and a coffee.  $9.  In 1994.

[GringoSalado 1651]

22 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Really curious about where you were snooping around because the state hospital is still full of patients. Was it in town or out on the highway? There is one small abandoned hospital in the middle of town close to the high school, but that one is about to get rehabbed by the same guy (Brint Ryan) that reopened the Settles.

I think I found it, maybe,

810 Goliad St

 

Ck. street view from:

 

32.248433, -101.469646

https://bit.ly/3ZyMvtA

[GringoSalado 1651]

too late to edit but you can see a roll-off in this Street View from 6/2022

 

https://bit.ly/3JphdQh