Any PSer grew up in a small town USA?

[Dancing Fire]

what town? you knew every one in town? was it fun living in a small town?

 

[Mayk]

I did.. Very small one stop light. they built McDonalds the year I graduated farm High School. I think we had about 70 students in my graduating class.

 

[amc80]

I did! We had no stoplights until after I left for college. When I was in high school we got fast food. Now they even have a Starbuck's...crazy!

The town is Escalon, CA. Very well known for our sports, particularly the state champion football team. It's also on the main road to Yosemite, which is how most people know it. When I grew up it was around 4,500 people....but is now over 7k.

ETA- It was very fun growing up there. There is/was such a strong sense of community. I moved away for college and haven't lived there since, but a lot of people people from high school still live there. It's really interesting reading the paper (online) and recognizing the last names of the kids. "Hey, that's so-and-so's kid!" Lots of fun.

ETAx2- I just read an engagement announcement from the paper and it's the boy my BFF used to babysit. Small town.

 

[justginger]

I grew up in a town of about 10k in the Midwest. I never thought anything of it at the time - I knew no other version of life. It was only when I moved away to a city of 2 million that I realised what a fortunate childhood I had.

If you wanna talk small town - my parents both grew up in Iowa, Dad in a town of 2500, Mom in a town of 600. There were NO secrets there, lol.

 

[Dancing Fire]

I did! We had no stoplights until after I left for college. When I was in high school we got fast food. Now they even have a Starbuck's...crazy!

The town is Escalon, CA. Very well known for our sports, particularly the state champion football team. It's also on the main road to Yosemite, which is how most people know it. When I grew up it was around 4,500 people....but is now over 7k.

ETA- It was very fun growing up there. There is/was such a strong sense of community. I moved away for college and haven't lived there since, but a lot of people people from high school still live there. It's really interesting reading the paper (online) and recognizing the last names of the kids. "Hey, that's so-and-so's kid!" Lots of fun.

So the diver with the bigger car always have the right of way?...

 

[sonnyjane]

I did.. Very small one stop light. they built McDonalds the year I graduated farm High School. I think we had about 70 students in my graduating class.

I spent 10 years in a VERY small town in rural PA. Population is 873. No stoplights and the closest McDonald's was about 25 minutes away and my graduating class had 42 students I believe. You definitely knew everyone, but I wouldn't say it was fun! Absolutely anything was 30 minutes to an hour away, and it was a very low-income town. Average household income is just more than half of what I make alone! Nobody ever "moves" there. You live there because your parents were born there, and their parents were born there, and their parents.... We moved there because my mom got divorced from my dad and it's where my grandparents lived so that was her fallback. I'm very glad I don't live there anymore. Grandparents are still there though.

 

[JewelFreak]

I grew up on a small town in northern-ish New York State. Wonderful childhood place. We lived in a 150-yr-old house. Grocery store owned by the same family for 3 generations, "department store" (actually a kind of general store) with wood floors that creaked, pharmacy the same & a wooden screen door that shut with a SLAP. Hamburger joint had a zillion flavors of ice cream made in back by the owners.

Teachers from kindergarten through high school knew me & siblings; we knew most of their kids too. When you walked up the street or into a store, grown-ups always stopped you: "How's your grandmother?" "Is your dad feeling better?" "I saw your dog chasing squirrels yesterday." You could not get away with anything!

Many of my friends are still there, raising their kids as they were raised. I always wanted to head for the Big City Lights, but realize now how lucky I was to know the warmth & deep roots of the town.

--- Laurie

 

[Dancing Fire]

I grew up on a small town in northern-ish New York State. Wonderful childhood place. We lived in a 150-yr-old house. Grocery store owned by the same family for 3 generations, "department store" (actually a kind of general store) with wood floors that creaked, pharmacy the same & a wooden screen door that shut with a SLAP. Hamburger joint had a zillion flavors of ice cream made in back by the owners.

Teachers from kindergarten through high school knew me & siblings; we knew most of their kids too. When you walked up the street or into a store, grown-ups always stopped you: "How's your grandmother?" "Is your dad feeling better?" "I saw your dog chasing squirrels yesterday." You could not get away with anything!

Many of my friends are still there, raising their kids as they were raised. I always wanted to head for the Big City Lights, but realize now how lucky I was to know the warmth & deep roots of the town.

--- Laurie

sounds good to me!..

 

[texaskj]

If you wanna talk small town - my parents both grew up in Iowa, Dad in a town of 2500, Mom in a town of 600. There were NO secrets there, lol.

justginger, both of my parents grew up in the same small town (2000) in Iowa. They've always said it was a good place to be from, with emphasis on from. I'm a very private person and it drives me nuts to have everyone knowing my business. My mom grew up always hearing "What will the neighbors say/think?"
I hate small towns. No thanks.

 

[sonnyjane]

If you wanna talk small town - my parents both grew up in Iowa, Dad in a town of 2500, Mom in a town of 600. There were NO secrets there, lol.

justginger, both of my parents grew up in the same small town (2000) in Iowa. They've always said it was a good place to be from, with emphasis on from. I'm a very private person and it drives me nuts to have everyone knowing my business. My mom grew up always hearing "What will the neighbors say/think?"
I hate small towns. No thanks.

Yes, when I moved away to college in Miami, it was liberating to have anonymity.

 

[Dancing Fire]

I did.. Very small one stop light. they built McDonalds the year I graduated farm High School. I think we had about 70 students in my graduating class.

Was there a movie theater in town?

 

[SB621]

I went from living in a one of the most well known international cities and hoping between New England as a child to 10 years of living in small town Lousianna (The Duck Dynastsy guys weren't far away ). It wasn't completly rural as we did have stoplights etc but it was a very small town for me- the pop was around 12-14k I believe. Their wasn't much around and we typically had to drive about 40 minutes to the next largest town over. When I was in 5th grade we finally got a Ryans Steakhouse and a Wal Mart. I remember how much I really hated living there. The Jewish population was my family and kids used to always pull my hair asking to see my horns. I tired out for cheerleading one year and that was a huge bust. We had to be there for my parents jobs, but as soon as school was out my mom packed us up and we wouldn't come back till the day school started. After amost 10 years by mom threw the gauntlet and told my dad we were out of there. Within 2 weeks we have moved back to the East Coast to be closer to family.

 

[packrat]

I grew up in a town of about 10k in the Midwest. I never thought anything of it at the time - I knew no other version of life. It was only when I moved away to a city of 2 million that I realised what a fortunate childhood I had.

If you wanna talk small town - my parents both grew up in Iowa, Dad in a town of 2500, Mom in a town of 600. There were NO secrets there, lol.

What part of Iowa? I'm in NW IA.

We're pretty small town. Where I went to school is about 800 people, where I live is about 5000. My graduating class had 30. We had one school for K-12, about 300 kids altogether. It sucks sometimes, things aren't readily available to do or have..but I guess if we drive for an hour to go to a movie, that's not much different than sitting in traffic etc, to go to a movie if you already live in a big city.

Not a lot to chose from to eat out..which I guess makes it that much more exciting when we're able to go someplace different. My Kindergarten teacher, who I hadn't seen in years, knew me and my brother immediately at a function, and we sat with her and the former elementary principal/junior high teacher/mayor (small town folk are multitaskers) and talked for a couple hours.

We just got back from spending a couple days in Omaha, Nebraska. It's about 2.5 hours away and to our minds it's like a whole 'nother world. When we see Onowa on the way home is when we start to feel like ahhhh....no crazy traffic, no tripping over people every where you go. To go from our 5,000 people town, to 1 million in Omaha...holy buckets did we enjoy getting back home and sitting in the yard to relax.

 

[texaskj]

If you wanna talk small town - my parents both grew up in Iowa, Dad in a town of 2500, Mom in a town of 600. There were NO secrets there, lol.

justginger, both of my parents grew up in the same small town (2000) in Iowa. They've always said it was a good place to be from, with emphasis on from. I'm a very private person and it drives me nuts to have everyone knowing my business. My mom grew up always hearing "What will the neighbors say/think?"
I hate small towns. No thanks.

Yes, when I moved away to college in Miami, it was liberating to have anonymity.

sonnyjane, I remember that well. The feeling was great; 30,000 people to go to school with? Nirvana! I carpooled one time with someone who was going to a small, private college. There were only 1,500 students and she said it was like high school all over again. She only stayed one year.

 

[iheartscience]

Yup, from rural VA and it suuuucked. Was central to my dad's territory which was how we ended up there. I went to college in the city and never looked back. I'll never live in a rural area again. I do prefer rural to suburban, though...if you don't live in the city at least you have land. The suburbs has always seemed like the worst of both worlds to me!

 

[justginger]

I grew up in a town of about 10k in the Midwest. I never thought anything of it at the time - I knew no other version of life. It was only when I moved away to a city of 2 million that I realised what a fortunate childhood I had.

If you wanna talk small town - my parents both grew up in Iowa, Dad in a town of 2500, Mom in a town of 600. There were NO secrets there, lol.

What part of Iowa? I'm in NW IA.

We're pretty small town. Where I went to school is about 800 people, where I live is about 5000. My graduating class had 30. We had one school for K-12, about 300 kids altogether. It sucks sometimes, things aren't readily available to do or have..but I guess if we drive for an hour to go to a movie, that's not much different than sitting in traffic etc, to go to a movie if you already live in a big city.

Not a lot to chose from to eat out..which I guess makes it that much more exciting when we're able to go someplace different. My Kindergarten teacher, who I hadn't seen in years, knew me and my brother immediately at a function, and we sat with her and the former elementary principal/junior high teacher/mayor (small town folk are multitaskers) and talked for a couple hours.

We just got back from spending a couple days in Omaha, Nebraska. It's about 2.5 hours away and to our minds it's like a whole 'nother world. When we see Onowa on the way home is when we start to feel like ahhhh....no crazy traffic, no tripping over people every where you go. To go from our 5,000 people town, to 1 million in Omaha...holy buckets did we enjoy getting back home and sitting in the yard to relax.

They're north central - about a 35 minute drive to Ft. Dodge. They've retired to my Dad's hometown to be with all of their family and friends who never left the area. They're so insanely happy there, but it makes visiting 'home' tough for me because that area wasn't ever my home. It means a 6.5 hour drive each way to get back to visit MY home when I fly back to the States. Made even more fun this time, when we visit in the winter.

 

[packrat]

I grew up in a town of about 10k in the Midwest. I never thought anything of it at the time - I knew no other version of life. It was only when I moved away to a city of 2 million that I realised what a fortunate childhood I had.

If you wanna talk small town - my parents both grew up in Iowa, Dad in a town of 2500, Mom in a town of 600. There were NO secrets there, lol.

What part of Iowa? I'm in NW IA.

We're pretty small town. Where I went to school is about 800 people, where I live is about 5000. My graduating class had 30. We had one school for K-12, about 300 kids altogether. It sucks sometimes, things aren't readily available to do or have..but I guess if we drive for an hour to go to a movie, that's not much different than sitting in traffic etc, to go to a movie if you already live in a big city.

Not a lot to chose from to eat out..which I guess makes it that much more exciting when we're able to go someplace different. My Kindergarten teacher, who I hadn't seen in years, knew me and my brother immediately at a function, and we sat with her and the former elementary principal/junior high teacher/mayor (small town folk are multitaskers) and talked for a couple hours.

We just got back from spending a couple days in Omaha, Nebraska. It's about 2.5 hours away and to our minds it's like a whole 'nother world. When we see Onowa on the way home is when we start to feel like ahhhh....no crazy traffic, no tripping over people every where you go. To go from our 5,000 people town, to 1 million in Omaha...holy buckets did we enjoy getting back home and sitting in the yard to relax.

They're north central - about a 35 minute drive to Ft. Dodge. They've retired to my Dad's hometown to be with all of their family and friends who never left the area. They're so insanely happy there, but it makes visiting 'home' tough for me because that area wasn't ever my home. It means a 6.5 hour drive each way to get back to visit MY home when I fly back to the States. Made even more fun this time, when we visit in the winter.

Too funny-we're not the far away from Ft. Dodge. My aunt lived there when we were little and when she'd come to visit, my brother and I took turns stowing away in the station wagon..back in the olden days the station wagons had a small compartment between the back seat and the way back. We'd hide in there...and then boy oh boy would we get in trouble when we'd get all the way to her house and surprise! Four cousins never would say a word all the way.

Oooo winter visit would suck. Unless this year is like last year..we barely got any snow at all..until April and May, then we got hit a couple times.

 

[JewelFreak]

I guess if we drive for an hour to go to a movie, that's not much different than sitting in traffic etc, to go to a movie if you already live in a big city.

Good point.

We just got back from spending a couple days in Omaha, Nebraska. It's about 2.5 hours away and to our minds it's like a whole 'nother world. When we see Onowa on the way home is when we start to feel like ahhhh....no crazy traffic, no tripping over people every where you go.

Packrat, I know what you mean. Despite the lack of city amenities, I feel like I can breathe when I get to fields, woods, space. Speaking of Nebraska, my mother grew up in Beatrice, which was teeny then, but even teenier were Barneston & Wymore, where she spent most winters & much of summers with her aunts & uncles. (Depression times; her mother could not afford to heat their house all winter, so decamped to her sisters' houses for a 'vacation.')

--- Laurie

 

[packrat]

I guess if we drive for an hour to go to a movie, that's not much different than sitting in traffic etc, to go to a movie if you already live in a big city.

Good point.

We just got back from spending a couple days in Omaha, Nebraska. It's about 2.5 hours away and to our minds it's like a whole 'nother world. When we see Onowa on the way home is when we start to feel like ahhhh....no crazy traffic, no tripping over people every where you go.

Packrat, I know what you mean. Despite the lack of city amenities, I feel like I can breathe when I get to fields, woods, space. Speaking of Nebraska, my mother grew up in Beatrice, which was teeny then, but even teenier were Barneston & Wymore, where she spent most winters & much of summers with her aunts & uncles. (Depression times; her mother could not afford to heat their house all winter, so decamped to her sisters' houses for a 'vacation.')

--- Laurie

Yep, we're like that too..it's like claustrophobia or something, until we can get home. When we were in Vegas, it wasn't so bad, even tho there were tons of people-maybe b/c we didn't have kids w/us and we were walking the whole time.

 

[packrat]

I guess if we drive for an hour to go to a movie, that's not much different than sitting in traffic etc, to go to a movie if you already live in a big city.

Good point.

We just got back from spending a couple days in Omaha, Nebraska. It's about 2.5 hours away and to our minds it's like a whole 'nother world. When we see Onowa on the way home is when we start to feel like ahhhh....no crazy traffic, no tripping over people every where you go.

Packrat, I know what you mean. Despite the lack of city amenities, I feel like I can breathe when I get to fields, woods, space. Speaking of Nebraska, my mother grew up in Beatrice, which was teeny then, but even teenier were Barneston & Wymore, where she spent most winters & much of summers with her aunts & uncles. (Depression times; her mother could not afford to heat their house all winter, so decamped to her sisters' houses for a 'vacation.')

--- Laurie

Yep, we're like that too..it's like claustrophobia or something, until we can get home. When we were in Vegas, it wasn't so bad, even tho there were tons of people-maybe b/c we didn't have kids w/us and we were walking the whole time.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I grew up in a town of 200 in Missouri. On a farm. Up at 4am milking cows, driving the grain truck at harvest time when I was 8, no neighbors for miles. Very rural. It's hard--we had to cut all of our own wood to heat our house. We hauled our own water. When we lost power, it was out for weeks. There is nothing easy about rural living.

I left for college at 18 and have been on the east coast ever since. Though I lived in the city for years, I never loved it. When we bought our house, we ended up buying in a town where the houses sit on 1 - 5 acre lots because having grown up on hundreds of acres, I just needed a tiny bit of space.

I sometimes think I would have been happy owning a ranch. It's so much work...more work than most can imagine, but I think it would be so much more rewarding than working at an ad agency (where I am now) and slogging into the city every day.

ETA: And yes, everybody knew each other. We had a little newspaper, even. Everybody was referred to by their first names, haha.