Small towns

[doodle]

Contemplating a big life change in the next few years. Thinking about buying a decent sized piece of land (at least a few acres) in a small town somewhere with a population of around 500-10000. Currently live in a metropolitan area of around 2 million people. On the one hand having so much bustle about is exciting; however, I fail to avail myself of most social events and instead prefer quieter pastimes and long for the solace of nature....something I must currently drive a few hours to find...Im thinking the reverse would work out better for me....in other words drive a few hours into city when I crave that atmosphere. Im just curious if anyone here has made a transition from city to smallish town and how that worked out for them. Im wondering if there are any potential upsides and downsides I should really think about. Also, whether anyone has visited a small town somewhere that stood out to them as a great place to live. Im looking for something with 4 seasons but not a brutal winter....more North Carolina / Tennessee type climate although really anywhere in the country is possible as long as its affordable. Access to mountains and water a big plus as well.

[PP67]

My daughter lives in Knoxville. It's a pretty quaint little college town (Univ of TN and ORNL) on a beautiful river with good seasons. Cost of living is very inexpensive and there is no state income tax. Don't know about the rural/acreage situation but I suspect it is very reasonable. You are less than 200 miles from several large cities (Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta). Kind of tough to get direct flights to a lot of places but it has a very mellow airport.

[WiseOne]

Totally get where you're coming from Doodle. You can definitely find quiet places with much less than a few hours' drive between culture heaven and nature.

Portland Oregon, Ashville North Carolina, Phoenix Arizona, Albuquerque New Mexico, Sarasota Florida. I assume deep blue states are out. If you're willing to compromise on the winters, there are even nicer options: Anchorage or Juneau Alaska, anywhere in New Hampshire, Portland Maine. Those are on my personal list, since I like cold & snow and can't stand hot weather.

[bedraggled]

WiseOne,

Don't like heat? From April 15 to October 15, stay out of lower Florida.

In general, we left glorious Manhattan 54 weeks ago and we both miss it. But our expenses have plummeted. We miss not having the subway and busses but the transportation expenses are down, too. The new auto mechanic said I'd need less repair/replacement without the winter road crap destroying the undercarriage. No tolls if we stay close to home.

The food quality is not as good. Weird being in an agricultural state.

Now, it's pretty slow here- good and bad. I believe we may be getting used to retirement living, so the next year may be different.

Rural? I am dabbling in beekeeping to alleviate the boredom. (Might not be the best pick for me). I drive once a week to a rural part of Florida. Learn from a guy who is Florida State certified he is excellent. One of the homeowners wants to involve any and all he can find to enlist in his spat with a distant neighbor. Seems these "neighbors" are a bit eccentric. Among the many qualities among the locals, the neighbor with whom this guy is fussing keeps goats. These goats tore off another neighbor's full porch. The goat guy denies responsibility. The porchless neighbor spends a lot of time at target practice to minimize the wild boar problem. At high water season, my teacher, carries a pistol in case he is approached by an alligator.

Maybe we should have moved to college town.

There is always the chance of moving back to Manhattan in 10 years.

My wording above may be awkward but I'm a bit rushed.

Of course, this is but 1 contribution and I am a New Yorker.

[Kriegsspiel]

I'd be happy to move to a small town. WiseOne and I are alike in being cold-weather aficianados, but I know a few places that aren't tundra-cold and are pretty close to your other parameters (population, proximity to water/mountains/nature, seemed like a nice town, not too expensive). What do you consider affordable?

Thomas/Davis, WV (600 ea)
Milford, PA (1,000).
Lewisburg, WV (3,800)
New Martinsville, WV (5,300).
Pigeon Forge, TN (5,800).
Gettysburg, PA (7,700).
Grove City, PA (8,000).
Warren, PA (9,700).
Marietta, OH. (13,000).
Fort Royal, VA (14,400)
Culpeper, VA (16,000).
Cumberland, MD (20,000).

[Libertarian666]

I live about 10 miles north of Sulphur Springs, Texas, which is a town of about 15k people.

We are about 90 minutes from Dallas, and we go in generally once a week. Sometimes we go only as far as Rockwall, which is where the nearest Costco is, but usually we go all the way to Dallas because of shopping and visiting friends.

We like it here but are still trying to figure out whether we can stay here "forever". There have been two things that made this impractical:

1. No good choices for internet. This one has been fixed by the latest satellite plan upgrade, where we get 150 GB of "priority" data per month for $150/month plus taxes and fees, and no hard cap. The speed is usually quite good, 8 mbps or better, other than during congested times like Saturday evening, but even then it is 2 or 3 mbps, which is still good enough for our purposes.

2. Having to drive everywhere. So far this hasn't been a problem but it could be at some point because neither of us is a spring chicken. However, I'm expecting self-driving cars before too long, and that will solve that problem too.

As for expenses, there are no state income taxes and our real estate taxes, often a problem in Texas, aren't too bad. We pay about $2,000 a year for a property valued at about $150,000.

Yes, it is hot in the summer (although I don't think it ever got to 100 this summer, which is really unusual). The rest of the year is pretty nice, though.

[whatchamacallit]

I recently made a similar move to get cheaper housing and little better weather but also a tad bit less amenities.

Any specific outdoor activities you are looking for?

[Jack Jones]

We're in the process of doing just this. Buying our first home in New Hampshire: ~5 acres, in the woods, across a covered bridge. Moving from Philadelphia area where I've lived most of my life.

Who knows if it's a good idea, but we'll find out. This was something we've talked about for a few years. If this has been a persistent itch of yours, I'd say go for it.

"Got to make it somehow, on the dreams you still believe..."

[Kriegsspiel]

Where the Small Town American Dream Lives On

[MWKXJ]

Contemplating a big life change in the next few years. Thinking about buying a decent sized piece of land (at least a few acres) in a small town somewhere with a population of around 500-10000. Currently live in a metropolitan area of around 2 million people. On the one hand having so much bustle about is exciting; however, I fail to avail myself of most social events and instead prefer quieter pastimes and long for the solace of nature....something I must currently drive a few hours to find...Im thinking the reverse would work out better for me....in other words drive a few hours into city when I crave that atmosphere. Im just curious if anyone here has made a transition from city to smallish town and how that worked out for them. Im wondering if there are any potential upsides and downsides I should really think about. Also, whether anyone has visited a small town somewhere that stood out to them as a great place to live. Im looking for something with 4 seasons but not a brutal winter....more North Carolina / Tennessee type climate although really anywhere in the country is possible as long as its affordable. Access to mountains and water a big plus as well.

Peeples Valley, AZ or Skull Valley, AZ. Close to Prescott ("Press-kit") for shopping. Rural. Agrarian. Slow paced.

Also, many Mormon communities in Utah. St. George, Logan, and the numerous idyllic communities dotting the North-South Highway 89 corridor.

[WiseOne]

MWKXJ, those photos are beautiful. The last one just dropped my blood pressure by 10 points. (or so I imagine) Maybe it can reduce some tension around here!

[Kriegsspiel]

My idea of "affordable" must be way off/really Midwestern. Looks pretty though.

[Mountaineer]

MWKXJ, those photos are beautiful. The last one just dropped my blood pressure by 10 points. (or so I imagine) Maybe it can reduce some tension around here!

WiseOne, I have to ask - who is the woman in your profile pic (Avatar)?

[Mountaineer]

Contemplating a big life change in the next few years. Thinking about buying a decent sized piece of land (at least a few acres) in a small town somewhere with a population of around 500-10000. Currently live in a metropolitan area of around 2 million people. On the one hand having so much bustle about is exciting; however, I fail to avail myself of most social events and instead prefer quieter pastimes and long for the solace of nature....something I must currently drive a few hours to find...Im thinking the reverse would work out better for me....in other words drive a few hours into city when I crave that atmosphere. Im just curious if anyone here has made a transition from city to smallish town and how that worked out for them. Im wondering if there are any potential upsides and downsides I should really think about. Also, whether anyone has visited a small town somewhere that stood out to them as a great place to live. Im looking for something with 4 seasons but not a brutal winter....more North Carolina / Tennessee type climate although really anywhere in the country is possible as long as its affordable. Access to mountains and water a big plus as well.

I grew up in a small town - population 500 or so. Nearest larger towns were 10-20 miles away via 2-lane curvy roads, and larger means in the 10-15,000 range. Much larger cities were about 2+ hours away. Random comments about a small town: Everyone knows everyone. People look out for each other, mostly. There are some feuds that are generational that you will need to be aware of. Everyone will know your business, sometimes before you do. Dining out means going to a friends home. The social environment and life is more "real" than large city life (hard to explain unless you grew up in a small town - in general, people are much less pretentious). Medical facilities can be a challenge, you might want to locate somewhat near a city that has a university with a physician teaching program. Given your criteria, I'll give a shout out to rural West Virginia. Best wishes.

[WiseOne]

MWKXJ, those photos are beautiful. The last one just dropped my blood pressure by 10 points. (or so I imagine) Maybe it can reduce some tension around here!

WiseOne, I have to ask - who is the woman in your profile pic (Avatar)?

Marie Curie.

[Maddy]

Marie Curie.

The story of her life makes a downright mockery of those 21st Century women who can't get ahead in life because they are so oppressed.

Marie Skłodowska Curie . . . was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences, and was part of the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris, and in 1995 became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Panthéon in Paris.

She was born in Warsaw, in what was then the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. She studied at Warsaw's clandestine Flying University and began her practical scientific training in Warsaw. In 1891, aged 24, she followed her older sister Bronisława to study in Paris, where she earned her higher degrees and conducted her subsequent scientific work. She shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and with physicist Henri Becquerel. She won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Her achievements included the development of the theory of radioactivity (a term that she coined[4][5][6]), techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two elements, polonium and radium. Under her direction, the world's first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms, using radioactive isotopes. She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and in Warsaw, which remain major centres of medical research today. During World War I, she developed mobile radiography units to provide X-ray services to field hospitals.
* * *
Maria Skłodowska was born in Warsaw, in the Russian partition of Poland, on 7 November 1867, the fifth and youngest child of well-known teachers Bronisława, née Boguska, and Władysław Skłodowski.[11] . . . On both the paternal and maternal sides, the family had lost their property and fortunes through patriotic involvements in Polish national uprisings aimed at restoring Poland's independence. . . . This condemned the subsequent generation, including Maria, her elder sisters and her brother, to a difficult struggle to get ahead in life.[14]

Maria's paternal grandfather, Józef Skłodowski, had been a respected teacher in Lublin, where he taught the young Bolesław Prus,[15] who would become a leading figure in Polish literature.[16] Her father, Władysław Skłodowski, taught mathematics and physics, subjects that Maria was to pursue, and was also director of two Warsaw gymnasia for boys. After Russian authorities eliminated laboratory instruction from the Polish schools, he brought much of the laboratory equipment home, and instructed his children in its use.[12]

The father was eventually fired by his Russian supervisors for pro-Polish sentiments, and forced to take lower-paying posts; the family also lost money on a bad investment, and eventually chose to supplement their income by lodging boys in the house.[12] Maria's mother Bronisława operated a prestigious Warsaw boarding school for girls; she resigned from the position after Maria was born.[12] She died of tuberculosis in May 1878, when Maria was ten years old.[12] Less than three years earlier, Maria's oldest sibling, Zofia, had died of typhus contracted from a boarder.[12] . . .

When she was ten years old, Maria began attending the boarding school of J. Sikorska; next she attended a gymnasium for girls, from which she graduated on 12 June 1883 with a gold medal.[11] After a collapse, possibly due to depression,[12] she spent the following year in the countryside with relatives of her father, and the next year with her father in Warsaw, where she did some tutoring.[11] Unable to enroll in a regular institution of higher education because she was a woman, she and her sister Bronisława became involved with the clandestine Flying University (sometimes translated as Floating University), a Polish patriotic institution of higher learning that admitted women students.[11][12]

Maria made an agreement with her sister, Bronisława, that she would give her financial assistance during Bronisława's medical studies in Paris, in exchange for similar assistance two years later.[11][19] In connection with this, Maria took a position as governess: first as a home tutor in Warsaw; then for two years as a governess in Szczuki with a landed family. . . .[11][19] While working for the latter family, she fell in love with their son, Kazimierz Żorawski, a future eminent mathematician.[19] His parents rejected the idea of his marrying the penniless relative, and Kazimierz was unable to oppose them.[19] Maria's loss of the relationship with Żorawski was tragic for both. . . .

At the beginning of 1890, Bronisława — who a few months earlier had married Kazimierz Dłuski, a Polish physician and social and political activist — invited Maria to join them in Paris. Maria declined because she could not afford the university tuition; it would take her a year and a half longer to gather the necessary funds.[11] She was helped by her father, who was able to secure a more lucrative position again.[19] All that time she continued to educate herself, reading books, exchanging letters, and being tutored herself.[19] In early 1889 she returned home to her father in Warsaw.[11] She continued working as a governess, and remained there till late 1891.[19] She tutored, studied at the Flying University, and began her practical scientific training (1890–91) in a chemical laboratory at the Museum of Industry and Agriculture at Krakowskie Przedmieście 66, near Warsaw's Old Town.[11][12][19] The laboratory was run by her cousin Józef Boguski, who had been an assistant in Saint Petersburg to the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.[11][19][21]

[Cut short for the sake of brevity]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie

[Mountaineer]

MWKXJ, those photos are beautiful. The last one just dropped my blood pressure by 10 points. (or so I imagine) Maybe it can reduce some tension around here!

WiseOne, I have to ask - who is the woman in your profile pic (Avatar)?

Marie Curie.

Thank you! I knew she looked familar but I could not figure it out ... old age strikes again.

[Kriegsspiel]

Contemplating a big life change in the next few years. Thinking about buying a decent sized piece of land (at least a few acres) in a small town somewhere with a population of around 500-10000. Currently live in a metropolitan area of around 2 million people. On the one hand having so much bustle about is exciting; however, I fail to avail myself of most social events and instead prefer quieter pastimes and long for the solace of nature....something I must currently drive a few hours to find...Im thinking the reverse would work out better for me....in other words drive a few hours into city when I crave that atmosphere. Im just curious if anyone here has made a transition from city to smallish town and how that worked out for them. Im wondering if there are any potential upsides and downsides I should really think about. Also, whether anyone has visited a small town somewhere that stood out to them as a great place to live. Im looking for something with 4 seasons but not a brutal winter....more North Carolina / Tennessee type climate although really anywhere in the country is possible as long as its affordable. Access to mountains and water a big plus as well.

Currently traveling across country (picked an awful time to begin my trip) looking for somewhere to drop out long term. On West coast currently but thinking of looking around back towards Midwest as prices out here have gotten ahead of where I want to be....although there are still pockets of affordability out here for plots of productive land near decent sized city.

I knew you were talking about this earlier. This thread seems so old now

I don't understand why you are searching on the west coast if you wanted somewhere affordable.

[doodle]

Lol. Yeah, finally hit my numbers and made the plunge. Been on the road now for about 5 months living out of van exploring and picking up odd jobs to not put too big a dent in my seed money. This virus has made things a bit more difficult but was able to hunker down in a smallish northern California town and wait it out. The appeal of the West and particularly northern California was that it is some of the most beautiful land I've ever seen. There is no other place that I've been to that compares...coastlines, forests, mountains, deserts, lakes and rivers, great climate....it really is heaven on Earth. I wanted to make sure it really wasn't feasible before I moved on. I'm still figuring out logistics here and have narrowed down a couple affordable areas to explore once things open up again. Eastern Oregon I also enjoyed but found it actually more expensive from a tax perspective. I still have a couple of areas of Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico further down on list but I'm revisiting more central locations in country that could work. Overall though, I'm happy to spend a couple years just exploring around and working here and there until I find a place that clicks. One thing I won't do again though is go through another northern winter in a van .... One of most miserable experiences I've inflicted on myself.

[I Shrugged]

So cool, Doodle.