The Advantages of Living in a Small Town
We’ve lived in our town for almost 6 years and I have loved living here. From past blog posts, you know that we are within 15-20 minutes of different places where we can hike, there are some historical places to visit and there are pretty spots for blog pictures. The park, the Indian mounds, a couple ponds are some of the spots I like to take pictures when I do not want to use my house and backyard as a backdrop. I’ve taken pictures a few times downtown but now as often as I should (it is only a 10 minute drive). So earlier this week, I took about 2o minutes to walk a couple block radius and take some pictures of the pretty spots I always want to take a picture of.
One of the advantages of living in a town with history is some of the older and more impressive architecture. Before living here, we lived in Woodstock, GA and while it had the same number of inhabitants, there seems to be less historical buildings even though it was established in the late 1890s.
Our downtown area boasts shops, two live theaters and restaurants. A few restaurants are go-to for us for date night. We could drive to Marietta or Atlanta for some really neat spots but nothing beats a local restaurant on a week night. Living here, I have made connections that have enriched my life. My main group of course is my running group, but it is also nice to make connections with other parents through the kids’ school associated extra curricular activities.
It is fun to be running an errand or going for a walk at the park and running into acquaintances. I love our 4th of July and Christmas parades and now being able to walk one of the kids to school. The pretty views on the way to town/grocery shopping and the other schools are very picturesque with cotton fields. Of course, all is not roses with a couple of industrial areas. But there is quite a lot of enjoy!
I am always surprised at how many churches there are in that 2 block radius downtown. The buildings are very pretty and diverse. I think this is the one place where I have lived where I have felt the most sense of community. I was never involved in much before and I am not sure if it was because my children were smaller or because I was part of a community of runners and parents.
It was a beautiful day for a walk albeit a little warm still. It was nice not to feel hurried and stop by buildings I have wanted to photograph. Once you pass the core downtown area, there are a couple of neighborhoods with historical and older homes. Some are very well taken care of while others are showing their age. It must be difficult to upkeep the properties.
The last advantage of living in a smaller town is that everything is within about a 15 minute radius. Of course, we do not have all of the shops (no Old Navy in town), but we still have a variety of grocery stores as well as several department stores. It is not often that I drive the 30 minute drive to check out DSW or Old Navy and the last time I did, I came home empty handed. We even have a nice selection of thrift stores.
How big is your town? Does it feel like a suburb, a small town or do you live in a large city. Walking around that morning, I actually missed walking in European cities. There were a couple spots that reminded me of France and I do miss living there even though I moved away about 30 years ago.
A bientôt!
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18 Comments
Joanne
I think area wise our town is actually quite large but everything is quite spread out; I could easily walk 15 minutes and not even hit anything other than a several houses. We don’t have any department stores or grocery stores or but all are within a 30 minute drive. We do have one area that has several large and much older homes and an inn that dates back to 1814 where famous people like George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette stayed.
mimifce
Wow, it is so interesting to see how we all live in different types of areas.
jodie
I loved seeing all of the great architecture of your area. We used to have our knitting retreat in a small mountain town in Colorado, and we talked about moving to such a place. It would be fine if the city is close enough like half an hour. Which is what it’s like in our retirement community in a way.
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
mimifce
It really is pretty!
Marsha Banks
You live in a lovely little town, Mireille. I love that you can walk to restaurants and theaters. My town is an ugly suburb of Indianapolis. It is basically a bedroom community. We have a throughway being built that will link the airport to a major interstate. And, our town council has approved the building of many, many, many warehouses to line that throughway. There are a couple of towns close that are a little like yours but don’t have near the charm. Then, there is Zionsville which is considered a village…which means it’s full of pricey boutiques and fancy restaurants. I would love to live in a town like yours. You are very fortunate. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
mimifce
We have not regretted moving here. It definitely has more charm that the last place we live and is much more picturesque.
Penny
That’s fascinating Mireille as I love seeing how people really live. We get such a distorted view of other countries through the media. But hearing how you live and indeed your commenters is so interesting.
I think one huge difference between our respective coutries is the size of your country and how to you distances that we think would be quite far, are near to you. Where I live, which is the very pretty and historic town of Lewes, everybody could walk to everything. There is in fact no need to have a car if all you wanted to do is stay within the conifines of the town which has a little theatre, an independent cinema, plenty of little boutiques, cafes and resturants, oh and lots of churches. And then if you wanted to go further there are many wonderful buses that come every 10 minutes to take you to Brighton, Eastbourne and the surrounding smaller villages and smaller towns. Then there is the railway system that can take you anywhere which we use to get to our capital city London.
Sadly, though, and this must sound strange to Americans, there are far too many cars going through our town – and despite being a very ‘green’ town, with everyone aware of climate change most people have a car. Over the years that will of course, have to change. I think with foresight and leadership (which we don’t have with this current government) public transport could fulfill all our needs to get somewhere.
Very interesting post – I’ll have to do something similar at some point!
mimifce
Me too! I love hearing about where others live. Anna was telling me about living in Sidney in her response and it is so interesting to see how different or similar places are across the US and the world.
Jennifer Pickering
What a cute little town. My one friend and I love driving to little towns to check out, get coffee, walk around, etc.
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
mimifce
Yes! Not all small towns are quaint but there are a few around here that are really nice.
Anna
Your little town looks lovely, full of history and beautiful architecture. We live in Sydney’s East (Australia), it’s fairly large city, over 5 million people. This part of Sydney is very pretty, beautiful sandy beaches, world famous Bondi Beach is 20 minutes walk from our apartment. We live in 27 story building, our suburb is dencely populated but I love. I have never lived in small towns, I love the buz and hubb of big cities and when it gets too much of noise, people, traffic etc, we get in a car and take a drive to a small charming town for a nice walk, coffe and good lunch.
mimifce
I loved reading about where you live: I get glimpses of it in your blog but I didn’t realize how large Sidney was and how close to the beach you were. And that is a tall apartment building!
Andrea Nine
What a lovely town with great architecture.
mimifce
It really is pretty.
Ashh
Your town looks beautiful. We also live in a small town and it’s been 8 years. We absolutely ebjoy slow living!
Ashh | That September Muse
mimifce
Yes! It was funny because I ran into someone I knew at the grocery store and we talked for a while, love it!
Leslie Susan Clingan
What a sweet little town. I enjoyed the tour and your lovely photos. If I took a walk a few blocks in different directions from my house, I would come across more houses in most directions, with a few chain stores like Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Dollar General mixed in. And if I walked a little further, I would be in the desert or at the foot of the mountains. I would love to be able to walk to historic old buildings and lovely old homes.
mimifce
I do have to try 10 minutes to downtown but it’s a short drive!