Is this neighborhood In a small town or city? Can you even tell?
There are clues. If you can’t figure it out, I will reveal in a bit.
I have lived in towns with populations of 30,000, 15,000, 10,000, and currently a town of about 11,000. So I have no experience with “city life” other than when visiting my son and his family in Memphis. By the way, that town of 30,000 in 1970 is now over 100,000. That town of 15,000 in 1960 is now 53,000. My town of 11,l000 in 1980? 8,900. I guess you could say we haven’t had much growth.
Where am I going with this? I guess I’m reflecting on what makes people choose to live the places they live. Why do so many stay in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles? Why do so many stay in very small towns with limited opportunities and economic hardships? What motivates someone to live where they live?
I think the answer is obvious, at least for most. Family and friends, and maybe not in that order. Behind that comes temperament (those who fear change), abilities or education (can’t get a job anywhere else or think they can’t), and those who love the opportunities that place has to offer. Someone who loves to hunt and fish wants to be in a rural setting, while the ones who love professional or collegiate (big university) sports and entertainment like theater and musical events will prefer the city.
Once again, all of this is obvious. I’m just stating what you already know.
It’s pretty cut and dried for many. For people like me, though, it’s not so simple. The town I live in is wonderful. It has a university (where I attended and loved it so much I stayed), and it has more to offer than many small towns. It’s safe. It’s clean. Caring, interesting, and community-minded people live here. It really is a great place to live.
But we’re an hour away from great in-person shopping. We’re at least an hour away from medical care for the more serious issues. We’re two or more hours away from big-name sports events. We’re over five hours from the #1 locale in our sports world, Knoxville (Go, Vols!). We have limited job opportunities for college graduates, which explains why so many of our children move away once they receive their degrees. Even manufacturing jobs, once the mainstay of America, are limited.
But is a city any better? Higher crime rates, traffic, anonymity (which can be a plus or a negative), and a higher cost of living may offset the benefits of entertainment and medical care. The jobs found may still require a long commute instead of a five-minute one in a small town. The in-person shopping may be too much of a hassle on busy days off, leading to online shopping, especially by the 50 and under crowd.
What’s the answer then? For me, something in between. Paducah, Kentucky, is an hour from us. It has an excellent TV station, shopping, medical care, entertainment options, and educational opportunities. It is intersected by a major interstate. The population? Only 27,000. If I could take my friends and my church family with me, I’d be tempted to move there. Well, maybe not. Kentucky has a state income tax and a personal property tax. We don’t.
I’m a dreamer. I’m restless. I thrive on change. So sometimes my mind goes down these rabbit trails, thinking about how it would be to live somewhere else while knowing all along I wouldn’t really do it. And while traveling those trails, I wonder if I’m the only one who thinks like that or if there are others like me, people who have read too many books and dreamed of traveling to or living in amazing places. People who wish they could make some big changes in their community. People who dream and envision possibilities.
Have you figured out the location of the houses in the photo? Look closely. There’s a telltale sign it’s not a small town like mine.
It has sidewalks. How I’d love for us to have sidewalks so I could walk to town and feel totally safe from the cars flying toward me. How great it would be to have sidewalks to push my granddaughters in their riding toys in our neighborhood. I dream of sidewalks.
Back to the photo. This is a neighborhood in a town of just over 50,000. It has sidewalks everywhere and is a five-minute drive from a top-notch school, from restaurants, grocery stores, and places like Target and Home Depot. It’s in a suburb of a city, so it has the benefits of city life without the negatives except for traffic when going into the city, which any of us would have anywayI.
You can guess what gets my vote (if not for my friends). Something in between. And, of course, something in Tennessee.
What about you? What gets your vote (and take family and friends out of the equation)? And if you love where you live, what, if anything, would you change?
Life As I know it 