I had a conversation with a friend a while back regarding the space we choose to live in. As most of you know I live in the mountains in the small community of Lake Tahoe which boasts an abundance of wildlife and natural beauty, while my friend lives in a large city where the arts and cultural choices exist in abundance.
Our chat evolved into a debate as to which is a better way of life. Of course I argued for the quiet and isolation of living in a space, shared with wildlife, and accentuated by picturesque moments.
My friend countered that small town life was boring and predictable, while a fast paced life including: an abundance of theater, shopping, and cultural events, was really the thing dreams were made of.
To be entered to win a $15 Amazon gift card comment below and let me know if your heart longs for the quiet and tranquility of small town life or the diversity and fast pace of the big city.
Random Thoughts and Meaningless Musings 
I prefer my smaller town, very peaceful. It neighbors a somewhat larger town that has everything if I need it. However, I don’t like the hustle and bustle of a big city. That’s too much for me.
I, also, prefer a small town ( although tour’s is very population dense). We AswcHicago 35 miles away and hate going into the city. No direct routes means 1-2 hours to go 35 miles, parking costs more than my. Husband earns in a day. We do head downtown for some medical care (stay at a hotel to avoid 3-5 days of traffic), special occasions and to enjoy a number of wonderful museums on “free day”. I grew up in Chicago long before it became the concrete jungle and loved living there the. No relative to safety, we truly only go downtown when necessary. And, yes, I know what it means to get caught in gang cross fire. The news media has been somewhat honest on that problem.
I am wanting to leave the city I live in now. It used to be a smaller place but now it’s way to big. I prefer a very small town.
I am one of the few real “Texan’s”. I was born, raised, and lived in Houston most of my life. Not real proud of the good old boys (actions their mommas would have busted their butts over) deeds. I have lived on both coasts also for a brief period of time. When I was younger living in a big city was nothing like it is now. In Texas everything is spread out. Especially in the south we are flat. What is in a city limit (area) is also out in the small town ringing the edge. I live in Cypress, 35 miles out from downtown Houston. We still have farmland available, but it is being eaten up by developers and big business. My oldest and I keep looking further out away from the growing city for the peace and quiet of the rural or small town living. I say small town, but leave those big city ways behind.
I love living in a small town. It has a great atmosphere. Live is simple and not rushed.
I have lived in both, I would definitely take the quiet small town!
When I am in Europe, I live in a busy capital city. When I am in the US, I live in a small rural area. Both are home to me, so I feel blessed with the diversity.
No hustle and bustle of the big city for me. I love our little town where you know and trust your neighbors, and just going shopping doesn’t require packing survival supplies, lol.
I would love to have a small cabin in the quiet of the woods. If I had wifi to write and communicate with my kids and friends, and to be able to write I would be in heaven. As I have gotten older I realize I don’t need a busy social life. I am content with my kids, my dog, and my computer.
I have lived in both and I agree with you … peace and tranquility! You can always weekend away in the big city and do the theaters, restaurants and general rush and bustle. It’s then nice to retire back to peace, quiet and nature!!
How about both! I don’t really have a place I call home anymore. Currently I spend time in the Small town of Watertown, NY and San Antonio, TX. My happiness is wherever my grandchildren are!
I’d have to vote for both also! I moved to the suburbs from San Francisco. At times I miss the fun of living in the city, the amazing restaurants close by, and all the activities. But, living there with my 4 kids does not sound fun! I also sometimes wish to live far away from people, in a natural space with lots of trees or an ocean view. How about a condo in a big city, and a remote retreat?
I have lived in small towns in Northern CA my whole life. The big city means traffic congestion, too many people, and too many freeways!!!
Although I now live in a suburb of Phoenix, I am blessed that it has a small town “feel” to it. However, after these last few months, I would definitely appreciate a small town with fewer neighbors but a few amenities to come home to.
I would like to live in a small town with a big city within an hour driving distance. I live in a large city with lots of things to do offered but I don’t do them often enough so it’s kind of wasted on me. I stay home mostly. All I need are books, internet, and one or two activites I may want to do- Bingo or Trivia nights.
I live in a small town by a lake & I love the big city life. After losing my husband 6 weeks ago from Cancer, I plant to pit our house up for sale & move back to my hometown of Chicago to be close to my Son & his family & big city life. Thanks for this generous giveaway.
I’m a suburbs girl: Country, some wild life, but proximity to a large city for good restaurants and events.
I grew up on a farm near a small town of 600. Love small town!
I love the peace and quiet. I do like going to the city for cultural events but give me the quiet and the peaceful!
I love the tranquility of a small town, although ours gets crazy during ski season and in the summer. Off season is lovely ~
I like the peace and quiet and plenty of space for my dogs to run and bark to their heart’s content, but living in a small town can be rather lonesome for a city girl that misses all the activities available in a city.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
When I first moved to my city, it was small. Over the years, it has grown to close to 400,000 people and is part of the even bigger Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Although I like the advantages of living in city, I think living in a smaller town with a slower pace of life would be great.
I’m not a city person.
I grew up in a small town and wouldn’t know any difference. After getting married my husband and I moved to another small town and our children have grown up here. I like the predictability of a small town and the slow pace. When I do need to go to Cleveland or a bigger city, it takes a lot of patience to cope with the pace and also rudeness of some people I encounter.
I love the quiet and tranquility of a small town life!
I want to live in the country and visit the city. I grew up in the country and moved to Chicago at age twelve. I’m now in Jackson Mississippi and I long to move back to the country with Apple trees and four changing seasons.
I have always lived near but not in a city. So many times, I have had this battle in my head. I think I would love living out farther with nature, but then I think–“what if something happened and help is so far away?” I definitely would choose nature over living in a big city!
I live in a big city , but longing for a small town life
Love to live in a small town or just out in the country. I am not fond of being around a lot of people. Crowds get me a little frantic.
Love “small town” living, the slower pace living, knowing your neighbor, doing business in the local shops! You can always take a night or weekend visit to the “big city” if you get bored, or just want to be part of the hustle and bustle, and noise, and smells, and traffic. Nope give me a small town….anytime!
I love living in a small town where everybody knows you, most of the time. I live in the country and enjoy the nearby woodlands of our farmlands and of course the beautiful wildlife.We ride four-wheelers on our secret paths, walk the fields searching for the treasures of long ago Indian arrowheads, take photos of all that we are blessed by nature to see and take our fur babies right along with us. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a visit to the bigger cities for shopping and eating out or special events, but at heart, I’ll take the slower paced country life over the city life. Enough goes on in my small town for me!
I’ve never really lived in a big town but always fairly close to a big town where visiting was special but glad to come home.Now days my small town has grown from 1800 to 18000 plus but still very small townish. . Davis is near by with lots of authors,Sacramento close too and then my favorite city San Francisco is less than an hour away. Maybe I have the best of two worlds.
I’ve lived in the country, in small towns, big cities, near the beach, and now live in a retirement community (age 55+) with around 2200 homes. My favorite now is a small town, but when I was younger, I loved the big city life. Anything but country. Isolation scares me a bit.
My neighborhood here in Sacramento feels like a small town and I am grateful and comfortable here. I can seek out culture when I want. Met friends in Old Sacramento at the California Railroad Museum yesterday to ride on the Polar Express. It was just 45 minutes from my front door. Best of both worlds.
Last year, we moved from a very small town to a medium sized city. We love it. We have so many things to do compared to before. We used to have to drive an hour or so to do the kinds of things we do now. Shows, downtown festivals, restaurants, good schools….you name it. Our city is in the mountains, and that is nice. We can escape it in just minutes. We live in the suburbs right now so our sons can attend the schools we chose, but when they graduate, we will probably move a little further out into the more rural area so we can enjoy the peaceful mountain living. We will be able to have the best of both! I would love to live at the beach if I had the choice, but I don’t think I could afford the homeowner’s insurance and hurricane season would be the worse.
I live in a small town in southern Illinois. It’s so quiet! We love it. We have some larger cities close by, but they’re not nearly as large as the closest really big city, St. Louis, Mo. Every time I go there, I can’t wait to go home. The traffic is unbelievable.
Small town close to a larger one , best of both worlds . I loved Lake Tahoe and would love to visit the area again ❤️
I love quiet the majority of the time, and we take day trips to Chicago with the kids and grandkids several times a year which is a crazy busy town ! The best of both worlds I think 😊 kathambre@yahoo.com
small town…..quaint and quiet and comfy surroundings…
I prefer small town rural living. Neighbors always helping each other when needed. We live in the woods and love the wildlife walking around and the peace and quiet of country living. Enjoy sitting on the deck while drinking my coffee and reading while the deer walks around the yard and woods. So peaceful and beautiful.
I grew up in a small community of Half Moon Bay then bought a house in San Mateo so I had both then moved to Dubuque to a rural area. My fav is the rural area where there are wildlife and so much privacy plus the view is amazing and so are the birds if I want concerts etc we drive 1/2 hr to go there and do that. We limit our trips to town so when we get a list of things we need that is when hubby goes to town . I do miss the coast and the ocean where I grew up but the prices are just to much so that wouldn’t work for us neither was the job market for an underground pipeliner and me being in a scooter.
I have lived in the big cities. I have lived in the quiet and peace of the country side. The pattern has been city, country, city, city, country. People who live in cities are far more stressed and inured to the distress of other life forms (even the ones into charitable endeavors). In part, because they hear the sirens of emergency everyday and night. The night sirens are noted subliminally after you have been there awhile, and ignored during the day. Most do not recognize the signs of stress. In interviews with a few who have migrated from city to country life they have noted an improvement in their health in almost every case. Even those who claimed they could not take country life because it was too quiet, slow and boring. But were stuck with being there, had, after a few months, found their ‘relaxing time’ was far more relaxing and lasting, than when in the city and were able to leave the radio, TV, etc off more often. Their health in almost every case improved. One gal who had suffered severe injury while in the city developed sleep apnea because of the skull fracture. The apnea kept progressing and the sleep specialist told her that at the rate the apnea was progressing she would most likely die within the next 6 years. So she sold what she had, including cashing out on the insurance settlement from the accident and bought her daughter a house near her aunt and set things up so the girl would be taken care of (13 at the time). Two years after getting settled in the new house which was in the daughter’s name so there would be no inheritance taxes, etc. She was again scheduled for a night in the sleep lab to see how the apnea was doing. There was a slight improvement which they felt didn’t really mean anything other than it could be an actual 8 years for her. Remodeling was done to make sure the house was up to code and all would be set for a few years while the girl finished school and did whatever to start earning an income. All she would need to pay for was basic necessities plus house insurance and taxes. Again at the 2 yr mark a night in the sleep lab. This time. The apnea was almost normal. The only thing they could figure after some debate, was that stress was what had kept the apnea up after healing from the accident. She was one who could not stand the quiet. At first. After a couple of years she has begun to prefer the quiet. She has been a good neighbor and we often sit and watch the squirrels and the birds tease the cats to distraction. Admits she had never given consideration to the light pollution in the city. She will sit outside for hours and just watch the night sky. I lent her my book so she can learn the constellations. Which she had rarely seen in the city, but now sees every night. Sometimes we will walk together and enjoy looking at the vegetation and fields. And she said she appreciates being away from the city because the air pollution was so bad on occasion they had to keep the windows closed. She loves the fresh air and the smell of the flowers floating in on the breeze. The house is roomier than the house they had in the city. and there is space between the houses here. She has come to appreciate the friendliness of the neighbors. And the elbow room. In most cities they are afraid to get to know anyone. Rarely looking anyone in the eye for fear of being assaulted.
I love the peace and quiet of a smaller town, right now we live close to a city and although it is nice to be near, restaurants, shopping and such, I still prefer the small town. We lived in a couple different ones and I hated leaving, some day we will move to a less hectic place.
I love peace and tranquility . I have lived in big cities and small towns and prefer small towns. P.s. I have visited tahoe and id love to live there
I have the best of both. Living in Anchorage, Alaska, on the “hillside” read foothills, I’m a scant seven miles from sophisticated entertainment, shopping etc., but surrounded by trees, wild life at home.
Absolutely small town. I work in the city and can’t wait to leave. I’m only a train ride away from Philly, or NYC if I really want to face crowds.
I’ve always loved the peace of a small town.
I lived in Chicago. Now I live in Juneau. I miss the shopping choices and the zoo. My town has a live theater, three movie theaters, ( including an old time one), yoga place, a spa place, coffee shops, bookstores, a few restaurants, a place to dance, a few live sporting events like mixed martial arts and boxing, a brewery, a hospital, churches, museums, even a couple of malls, (admittedly they are small ones). We also have awesome hiking trails, hunting, fishing, amazing wildlife, zip lines, a tram, skiing, beaches, helicopter rides and a glacier. For me, nothing is better than sitting cuddled up with my dog by the fire, sipping cocoa, reading a book while snow falls on the mountains outside my window. People know and care for their neighbors. They are always ready to help someone when needed. As for excitement, have you ever been in a store or hospital and have a bear wander in? We also have a day cruise for whale watching with authors that happens every year. How’s that for entertainment? Yeah. Exactly. I love my town. Wouldn’t trade it for a big city.
Small town. I like a slower life style. Growing up here since 1954 when my parents moved here. Both are buried here. Love being able to see the stars at night. You can’t do that in a bihg city for all the lights.
My heart longs for the quiet and tranquility of small town life