country bumpkins vs. city slickers

[NNNNOOOOONAN]

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NNNNOOOOONAN,

Pls to be telling us about Black History Month in your town.

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what are a black history month?

jk.

seriously though, we really only had like 3 black families. one of them was a white family with 3 adopted black kids. one was a mom, dad and 4 kids from chicago, and one was a mom, dad and 3 kids from somewhere in california.

and to be completely honest i don't think anyone ever did anything to make them feel out of place or not welcome at all, and if they did, i sure as hell didn't know it, and they sure as hell didn't show that they didn't feel right at home.

there weren't lynchings or beatings, or graffiti or anything like that, and the black families were no different than anyone else. they were honor roll kids, athletes, musicians, blah blah blah just like the white kids.

it's sad that for some reason towns under 5k people automatically are assumed to be a bunch of religious freaks that hate coloreds. our town was really not like that at all.

and in response to that post about not belonging to the church making your life harder, that's true but only to an extent. they were never ridiculed or put down or ignored because they didn't go to church. if they needed help with stuff, there were still going to be 25+ people at their doorstep too because even if they didn't go to church with you, you still knew them and liked them from some other facet of society.

i think the only thing that may have made their life more difficult, but only in the absolute smallest sense possible, was the times that they were asked when they were going to join the church, or something to that effect. but it wasn't ever like there were 10 people dressed up like Jesus throwing bibles at their door. it was just nonchalant conversation and was often done in a humorous manner.

[hanimal]

I come from a suburb about 40 minutes outside of Boston.
One of the most boring places on earth.

I'm studying in Paris right now and absolutely love it.
Can't imagine what it's going to be like when I go back.

I'm definitely going to move to a big city after school, I've converted.

edit: my hometown not boston, boston rules

[ChipWrecked]

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Cardo, Are you leveling?

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Um, no. Irish Pat Cleburne, Pete Longstreet, George Thomas, etc. etc. etc.

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Cardo: my great great uncle took a bullet at Chickamauga. First Wisconsin Infantry ftw!


I've lived in Atlanta proper, various burbs, and grew up 'way back in the Ozark Mountains. For my money NNNNOOOOONAN nailed this thread.

[kidcolin]

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xorbie, true. i wouldn't want to live there now, but i think its pretty good if you have kids.

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if you're really frickin' rich. Same with Brookline. Outside of that, I think you're a lot better off going an hour outside the city. I'd much rather live in Merrimack, NH, than say, Medford.

[kidcolin]

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new york is one of the more segregated cities in the US, in fact.

tbe racism in the north is alive and well. difference is, up here people hide it better.

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True. There are plenty of racists in the NE in the major cities. It's not necessarily hidden better by the racists, it's just the cities are so physically segregated. It's easy for some progressive-minded student in Boston/Cambridge to talk about how ahead of the times they are (or their city is), but it's easy to say that when you can go your whole life without ever walking through Roxbury or Dorchester.

(maybe Boston isn't the best example given its reputation, but the same can be said for a lot of cities).

[Mr.WeakTight]

what I liked about living in a town ~2,000:

+uber cheap semi-private 9 hole golf course and driving range. all the golf you can play / balls on the range for about $500 a year.

+walk to work or anywhere else in town

+cheap rent/houses

+everyone knows everyone and most everyone's business too

what I didn't like:

+everyone knows everyone and most everyone's business too
+limited restaurants (DQ, pizza ranch, diner x2, truck stop x1)
+limited dating pool (young women gen. didn't want to stick around there)
+had to drive at least 30 min to get to any thing beyond small town basics such as movie theatre, casino, other restaurants, mall, etc.

[Hey_Porter]

I grew up in a town of about 40,000, and it was jusssttttt right.
Pros:
- You know a LOT of people, but not the whole town, and if you screw up (DUI, fail drug test, whatever) it's possible to keep it contained. But you're still randomly bumping into people (guess that can be a con as well).
- At this size, pretty much have everything you'd need consistently right there. Mall with a nordstrom's, macy's, etc. Best Buy. Costco. Three movie theaters, including a 15-screen. All major fast food restaurants. At least four high-end restaurants. Quite a few nice little mom and pop diners. Oh, and I can't forget the LAUNDROMAT.
- Golf. Last time I was home I saw the country club that I grew up on advertising a $500 initiation fee and $100 a month dues, $30 of that being a forced food purchase. This is a great course, full facilities. That's a steal.
- Airport with several flights out each day to Seattle or Portland.
- Cheap. Everything.
- Full scale hospital.
Cons:
- Even with the airport, harder to travel somewhere because you almost always have to connect 2 or 3 times.
- Not many specialty stores.
- No indie or smaller films make it through.
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I'm sure there's more, just not off the top of my head.