# Big City vs. Small Town



## missalyssa (Jun 18, 2011)

Where do you live??? Big city or small town? Do you like it?? What do you think you would prefer, and why ?

I grew up in a fair-size city of about 80,000 people. It was ok. Now I work in a small town of 6000. Actually - I live on the outskirts of the town in a community of about 600. 

I LOVE the small town life, people are so friendly here. Everyone DOES know everyone, and my bf is related to half of them (biiiiig families around here !). Unlike the hustle and bustle of the city people here are more liesurely and take interest in other people and their lives. Making friends here was easy - people embrace the newbies and show them the ways of the town... I could go for a walk around town and stop in at a bunch of houses and everyone loves visitors. People stop by our house at random all the time. I just feel such a positive vibe from this community as opposed to the rushy impersonal vibe of the city.

Thoughts?


----------



## Kennnie (Oct 21, 2010)

I live in a big city but would love to live in a small town kinda like "forks" in the movie twilight lmfao
love nature


----------



## Ape in space (May 31, 2010)

I live in a big city. I lived in a small town for a few years (about 30,000) and I hated it. There were a few nice people there, but overall it felt very insular and they weren't really welcoming of different types. I like big cities much more, and even though it feels rather impersonal, at least people don't hate me. And it provides a lot of opportunity for socializing, even if I can't yet take advantage of that.


----------



## DesperateOne (Feb 6, 2012)

I live in a town with ~600 000 people and I feel it's not big enough..In fact it is considered small in my country. I can get to one end from another in 40 minutes. Where's the fun in that? Smaller town sounds even worse.. I dont want to know everyone in the neighborhood or have random people stop by at my place. I like my privacy, although living in apartment building has many many downsides like too much noise from the neighbors.. I would probably prefer to live somewhere quiet but close to the big city.


----------



## BobtheBest (Aug 27, 2011)

My hometown is a small town, with a population of roughly 2,000, and it sucks. It's so boring here, with few job opportunities and hardly any fun places to go.

On the other hand, my college is in a big city with a population of a quarter million. It's super fun. :yes


----------



## Zypherus (Mar 30, 2012)

I've lived in Big, Mid, and Small and Tiny :S

Traffic in bid cities drive me nuts, I've been cut off so many times, it more than supplements my road rage. Mid-size cities are fine along with small towns. I guess I'm just not adapted to the hustle and bustle of big city life, or is it cause I ain't no city slicker, so what if I commute with a tractor? Just kidding ^.^


----------



## Layla (Feb 24, 2012)

I live in a small village on the outskirts of a city, much prefer it here as it's nice and quiet.


----------



## Haunty (Oct 24, 2008)

I grew up in a metropolitan area. 4 years ago I moved to a small town where I got a job. I like it because I live in a house in a rural area and it is fairly quiet and private. And there's no traffic. The cost of living is lower. The cons are that there are not a lot of people to meet, or things to do or places to go like in the city. I have no friends or family here, so I do feel like a stranger in a foreign land and on my own. I only live 2 hours away from the city and family though, so it's not too far.


----------



## pita (Jan 17, 2004)

I grew up in a town of around 30,000 people. I think it was easier to make friends there, but I'd often feel self-conscious, like I was being observed.

I live in a city of about 2.5 million now, and it feels like a pretty lonely place most of the time. On the plus side, I can walk around without thinking everyone is staring at me.


----------



## AllToAll (Jul 6, 2011)

I live in a big city and although I love the convenience of having everything nearby, like someone previously mentioned, it can get a bit lonely.


----------



## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

I live in a mid-sized city and adore it. It's not too small or too big... And because it's geographically constrained, it will never grow too much larger


----------



## 50piecesteve (Feb 28, 2012)

I live in the 4th largest city in the U.S of A, Houstooooooooooooone, Texas

I would prefer to live in the country with a shopping mall across the street and only i could shop there XD


----------



## Double Indemnity (Aug 15, 2011)

I live in a large metropolitan area. The size can overwhelm me. I hate traffic and navigating highways. I like that there are a lot of things to do here. People are overall very friendly.


----------



## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

I live in a community of about 13,000-14,000, and my anxiety is really bad here so gonna have to move.


----------



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

I live in a big city. I've lived in cities or metro areas of them for (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sapporo, Osaka, Cochabamba, Belo Horizonte) most of my life. Only twice have I lived in a metro area with less than 500,000 people. I liked that there wasn't much crime and that you run into the same people often but the long weekends and holidays were really boring cause everyone leaves town. I really don't want to drive, so I'm kind of stuck with living in a city.


----------



## The Silent 1 (Aug 21, 2011)

I prefer to live in the suburb area right outside a big city. That way, you pretty much get the best of both worlds. Its more peaceful and less crowded, but you have everything near you. I couldn't stand living in the heart of a big city like New York, Boston, or Chicago, I need a quieter place.


----------



## Cashew (May 30, 2010)

I've always lived in a small area, on the outskirts of town, and I'm constantly scared of running into familiar people.


----------



## Kuhle (Oct 29, 2011)

I live in a town of about 2,500 people. I absolutely hate it. Things are just so... personal. Everyone knows everyone, gossip spreads quickly, and the chance of running into several people you know every time you go out is pretty high. Everyone notices you if you go out because there aren't very many people around at any given time. I'd much rather live in a city where I could blend in with the crowd and where there's more diversity.


----------



## fallen18 (Aug 25, 2011)

I live in a small town but it's always busy and I live like a 45 minutes away from a big city.


----------



## Nekomata (Feb 3, 2012)

I live in a big city, but in a small village on the outskirts of it. It's the kind of village where you'd pretty much know and say hello to everyone xDD. The city population is around 114,300-132,00. Going to the center of town by bus though is around 40 minutes though =__= annoying, ah well...


----------



## JustThisGuy (Mar 24, 2012)

Small town. Maybe 2000. _Maybe_. 20 minutes away from a small city of 50,000. My place is pretty secluded in this town, and, like Siringo and Kuhle mentioned, I'm always weary of seeing a familiar face.

"What've you been up to?"

"I didn't know you were still living here."

Guh!/Le sigh.


----------



## missalyssa (Jun 18, 2011)

Neat. Lots of variety.

I love the small town but agree that there aren't a lot of "things to do". I like that we are right on a body of water so come summer time it is always nice and I like a bunch of outdoor activities... Joined some sports and groups, but sometimes I get to craving the city. This small town is almost stuck in the 90s it seems - people don't care much for fashion and are semi hicks; the shopping here best suits old people. 

When I crave the city though it is only 2.5hrs to a major city and I don't mind making the drive. They have all the happening clubs, shopping, concerts, attractions... And also, only 1hr to a city of about 125 000, they have decent shopping and I go there once a week with gf's for a college course.. We usually go out to dinner or drinks or shop after.


----------



## nemesis1 (Dec 21, 2009)

I have always lived in a city of around 250,000 and i really hate it. I step out of my front door and theres people everywhere straight away. Houses all overlooking each other, nosy neighbours, no privacy. Constantly bumping into people from my past and having awkward encounters.

I would love to live on the outskirts of a quiet village in a semi-rural location with no annoying neighbours around and not overlooked at all, but still within driving distance of the city so i can see my family regularly or if i need to get something from the city. Infact thats what im planning on doing real soon because luckily this city isnt too far from the countryside.


----------



## Nogy (Feb 13, 2011)

I grew up and lived in a small to mid sized city of about 115,000. I moved to a pretty big city about 6 months ago. Overall, i think i prefer the big city, mainly just because of the diversity of the people. The city i grew up in had pretty much no diversity, it was a very christian town with a church on almost every corner. I don't have any problem with christians of course, but it was seen as odd if you didn't belong to a church...or god forbid you weren't a christian. In the city i'm at now theres people of all faiths and races. I like that. The traffic sucks though, i still haven't quite gotten used to it yet


----------



## Double Indemnity (Aug 15, 2011)

I want to live in a village.


----------



## Libertysfate (Oct 28, 2011)

Can't remember if I've ever posted in this forum, but hi everyone.

Anyway, I grew up in a small coastal town but relatively close to a city, but I've spent most of my late teens and 20s in a big city (2.5 million), and now I live in rural Oklahoma. Yeah... I thought having social anxiety and being introverted this would be a good place for me. Turns out I was very wrong. 
I've been out here three years and my anxiety has gotten worse (where it use to be pretty minor to moderate), I've slowly withdrawn, I'm depress and I pretty much just want to crawl out of my skin. Oh, and now I'm being medicated. 

City life was definitely better for my mental and emotional health.


----------



## Prometheus7 (Mar 22, 2012)

missalyssa said:


> Where do you live??? Big city or small town? Do you like it?? What do you think you would prefer, and why ?
> 
> I grew up in a fair-size city of about 80,000 people. It was ok. Now I work in a small town of 6000. Actually - I live on the outskirts of the town in a community of about 600.
> 
> ...


Small town..............................is........................HELL


----------



## copper (Nov 10, 2003)

Right now I live in a town with a little over 4,000 people. The town is right across the shipping canal from another town with a population of a little over 7,000 people. That is not counting the students from the two Universities here. I grew up in a small village of around 150 people in the middle of the Iowa cornfields. At least we lived outside of Des Moines which is about half of million if you count all the suburbs around it. So I did get a little taste of city life growing up. People were I live consider me to be from the city here. The population of the U.P. is 299,184 in a land area of 16,452 square miles which is 18 people per square mile. Most of the land consist of forest, swamps, and rocks. The black flies and Mosquitoes outnumber the people.


----------



## SunflowerSutra (Apr 14, 2012)

I've lived in different places but right now I'm in a small town (about 5,000 people). I honestly hate this place! I like being in the middle of nature, except when animals run in the road when you're driving  But I've found that people are not open to making new friends because they've known everyone since they were babies. It was really hard for me to make friends here. I would try to join in a conversation but they'd be reminiscing over something that happened in preschool.:roll


----------



## InfiniteBlaze (Jan 27, 2011)

I live in a big city. I never really thought about what I would prefer until someone brought up a very good point in another thread. In a big city, people don't know who you are, so you blend in with the crowd and draw less attention to yourself.


----------



## MobiusX (Nov 14, 2008)

NYC I prefer


----------



## Toppington (Oct 26, 2011)

Small city. I don't _really_ live in Renton. I live in the highlands of it, up on a massive hill. I would like to live in a big city when I'm on my own at some point though. Seattle if I never leave Washington. If only for how the city looks at night. I love it.


----------



## jsgt (Jun 26, 2011)

In the past 1 1/2 years, I went from living outside the city limits of a city of 1,000 to living pretty much in the middle of a city with about 55,000. It's nice to not have to drive 15 minutes to get to civilization, but that's the only positive. Traffic isn't too bad and the people are alright, but it was still a big change from living in the country for the last 10 years. Police sirens and gunshots(yeah, no BS...I heard what sounded like rapid fire a couple weeks ago) are something I'll never get use to. I miss the country, but it made more sense to move here to be closer to my job. Someday, I'll go back to the sticks...


----------



## applesauce5482 (Apr 26, 2012)

I live in a small town of like 3-4k people. I like it better than cities.

I wouldn't want to live in like Seattle or anything.


----------



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

jsgt said:


> In the past 1 1/2 years, I went from living outside the city limits of a city of 1,000 to living pretty much in the middle of a city with about 55,000. It's nice to not have to drive 15 minutes to get to civilization, but that's the only positive. Traffic isn't too bad and the people are alright, but it was still a big change from living in the country for the last 10 years. Police sirens and gunshots(yeah, no BS...I heard what sounded like rapid fire a couple weeks ago) are something I'll never get use to. I miss the country, but it made more sense to move here to be closer to my job. Someday, I'll go back to the sticks...


55,000 is a city? Sounds more like a town to me. I lived in a town with 220,000 and I thought it was quite small.


----------



## canada9042 (Dec 31, 2011)

I live in a city of 1 million people, though the city has grown a lot in the last couple decades. I would never want to live in a huge city of like New York or Los Angeles, too congested and way too many people. 

I'd prefer to live in a small town, maybe a town of 500-1000 people.


----------



## Linlinh (Sep 6, 2011)

I've lived in a big city all my life with about 730,000 people. Do I like it here... Hmm, I can't really describe since I hardly ever get out... :hide


----------



## jsgt (Jun 26, 2011)

komorikun said:


> 55,000 is a city? Sounds more like a town to me. I lived in a town with 220,000 and I thought it was quite small.


Yep, they call it a city...but the metropolitan area has about 139,600. I'm not sure how much that covers though. 220K people...I couldn't deal with that. :no


----------



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

jsgt said:


> Yep, they call it a city...but the metropolitan area has about 139,600. I'm not sure how much that covers though. 220K people...I couldn't deal with that. :no


Don't you run into people you know all the time? Isn't shopping inconvenient?


----------



## Blix (May 9, 2012)

I grew up in a small town then moved to the city when I was around 14. I definitely like the city better. It moves so much faster and there's much more to do. I like how you don't recognize people everywhere you go too haha.


----------



## Blix (May 9, 2012)

MobiusX said:


> NYC I prefer


I've always wanted to go there! Love how everything sounds so lively.


----------



## jsgt (Jun 26, 2011)

komorikun said:


> Don't you run into people you know all the time? Isn't shopping inconvenient?


Once in a blue moon, but I keep to myself so I don't know many people. Nah, shopping is actually pretty nice. Theres a supermarket, dollar store, and an auto parts store all within walking distance(if I needed to walk), so that's all I really need. Coming from big cities, I can see how you'd think a city of 55K would be small...but it's really not...especially compared to the land of bumpy dirt roads I lived in for 10 years.


----------



## AlanJs (Dec 8, 2010)

In a modern village with countryside and a very famous forest around. I liked the city life years ago but i found them to be crowded and noisy, still nice to visit though, just not live.


----------



## MidnightBlu (Jun 11, 2006)

I live in a small city that's part of LA county. It's not big, but I don't live in a town.


----------



## buddie456 (May 8, 2013)

*maybe not for you*



Ape in space said:


> I live in a big city. I lived in a small town for a few years (about 30,000) and I hated it. There were a few nice people there, but overall it felt very insular and they weren't really welcoming of different types. I like big cities much more, and even though it feels rather impersonal, at least people don't hate me. And it provides a lot of opportunity for socializing, even if I can't yet take advantage of that.


maybe it wasn't for you


----------



## Brad (Dec 27, 2011)

Decent sized city. I don't know what big is considered as though.


----------



## Kiba (Apr 26, 2013)

I've always lived in the suburbs and i think i'd much rather live in a large city.


----------



## DarrellLicht (Mar 9, 2013)

6k people is not very many.. You can pretty much call that a village.

I live in a landlocked community with 30k people give or take. Numbers vary between the seasons. 

I would prefer to live outside of a small community or at least a less suburban area. And have access to city comforts when I need it. so, that makes it pretty much anywhere in the lower 48.. I would prefer anywhere above the equator.


----------



## cybernaut (Jul 30, 2010)

I was born in a big city (Tampa). Then, I spent most of my adolescence in a small town in Southern Louisiana. I hate it because it lacks diversity and everyone knows everyone here. You have people whose grandmas went to the same high school that their grand-kids have gone too (not trying to knock them down). After undergrad, I plan to move to a bigger city or abroad perhaps.


----------



## Daniel C (Apr 17, 2012)

I prefer the anonimity of large cities, the thought of everyone knowing everyone else would feel very oppresive I think. :? Not that my current city is very large, it's about 200,000 inhabitants, but it's acceptable...


----------



## jennyrsand (Mar 3, 2013)

I live in one of the biggest citys in Norway. There are 180 000 people living in this city. I've never lived anywhere else. Where I live is pretty nice. And it's just 20-30 minute walk to the centrum. I like that everything is so close, but I wouldn't mind living in a smaller city.


----------



## CoolRanch (Mar 24, 2013)

I live in a small town. I like the smallness of it. I hate the fact that there are literally no job opportunities here. You could have 10 phds. and end up working at mcdonalds because there's literally no companies here to work for.


----------



## Tothegrave (May 9, 2013)

I like both, for different reasons. Big cities make you feel like part of something bigger than yourself. But they're a ***** to drive in. Small towns are better for that reason.


----------



## prisonofmind (Apr 12, 2013)

Small town just outside of semi-big city.


----------



## Claudio J (May 5, 2013)

50piecesteve said:


> i live in the 4th largest city in the u.s of a, houstooooooooooooone, texas
> 
> i would prefer to live in the country with a shopping mall across the street and only i could shop there xd


~ lol!!! :d


----------



## Claudio J (May 5, 2013)

Libertysfate said:


> Can't remember if I've ever posted in this forum, but hi everyone.
> 
> Anyway, I grew up in a small coastal town but relatively close to a city, but I've spent most of my late teens and 20s in a big city (2.5 million), and now I live in rural Oklahoma. Yeah... I thought having social anxiety and being introverted this would be a good place for me. Turns out I was very wrong.
> I've been out here three years and my anxiety has gotten worse (where it use to be pretty minor to moderate), I've slowly withdrawn, I'm depress and I pretty much just want to crawl out of my skin. Oh, and now I'm being medicated.
> ...


~ Hey there...You know you have raised a very good point for me. I was raised in NYC from age 4. And 1 of the first impressions I had of this place, even at the tender age of 4 was, OMG...Sooooo many people!

I suppose that one of the reasons why I am able to function with SAD in a city like this one is because I am forced, daily, to constantly interact. If I had a quarter for every time I have been tapped on the shoulder, made to take out my i-pod ear phones and answer somebody's question (Where is this address? How do I get to so & so? What's the next train stop? Where are you from? What time do you have? Where did you get that? etc, etc, etc) I would have a pretty decent amount.

It's always been my dream to move the hell on up out of here. I wont go into why? Because we don't have a novel. But it's a major concern for me that I have been rotten spoiled by the perks of New York City. I've become accustomed to not thinking twice about going out for vanilla soy milk, in the middle of a snow blizzard, at 3am, on a Tuesday night, and finding 3 or 4 places open within walking distance of my apartment. They call this place the city that never sleeps for a reason. And I can't phantom living somewhere where the stores close at 8pm, and I would have to get in a car and drive 2.5 miles down the road to get a freaking bag of oreos. :no


----------



## lonelysonic (Mar 6, 2013)

I grew up in bradenton, fl n hated it way too many people . Family moved to live oak, fl which is a small town n I couldn't see myself going back to a bigger city.


----------



## TheDiviner (Mar 29, 2013)

Grew up in suburbia, lived for years in the big city and just recently moved to a very small town, a good hour commute to work. Have to say it was the right move for me, working in the big city and living in a quiet town. I‘ve achieved a perfect balance.


----------



## Thedude1990 (Apr 25, 2013)

I live in a on outskirts of Los Angeles with population of 85,943. I wish i lived in a small town where i could sit on the porch without seeing anybody walk by, sounds nice.


----------

