There was this one mom and pop burger joint that had the simplest, most basic, super greasiest burgers but to this day they were the best burgers I’ve ever tasted. The place was tucked away in an alley and it was one of those “you have to be a local to even know this exists” places.
Also, having moved from a smaller town to a bigger city, I miss how close everything and everyone was. You wanted to go see someone, or go do something, it was always just a walk away instead of having to deal with all the hullabaloo of traffic and bus lines and yada yada.
I grew up in a small town in rural Scotland and now live in a city in England. So I miss the fields, the sea, the hills, the forests, the food, the people, the closeness, the pace of life, the community.
The ocean, the mountain looking over the ocean, the friendly and warm people, the legality of weed, my climbing friends, my other friends, my mom, the freedom that comes with owning a car and having a valid driver’s license, the free availability of building materials for whatever hobby you may have, a medical system where you get to make decisions about your own health care and find doctors who actually give a fuck, the outdoor lifestyle, the non extortionate pricing of things.
Im sure I can find quite a lot more if I have it some thought.
Given that weed is legal there, were there a lot of people who grew their own weed or actually not that much? Or is that something people would just keep to themselves anyway?
I didn’t know many that grew it before being legalised, and the same for after. I know one of my old friends dad had a huge plantation and would just pay off the cops.
I was friends with a dealer so I rarely ever bought it myself before. Then they legalised it, you could have it, smoke it, transport it, but just not buy it. The loophole there is being part of a cannabis club. I left before they really became a thing though.
Sometimes…. Everything.
Not a single thing. Small town America sucks.
I struggle to find anything. Maybe affordable housing, but that’s a thing of the past. It changed a lot in 20 years and everything that I may have been missing at some point is long gone.
The people there proud themselves in being a rural region with a small town surrounded by close villages, but everyone knows everyone and if you don’t fit socially with the others, mainly conservative, they will all bitch and talk about you in your back. Also, they take their cars to go literally anywhere. The next town is 7 km away, there’s a dedicated bike path, and they whine that “everything is so far away in the countryside that you absolutely need a car”. Yet, I moved in a metropolis where my work is 9 km away through dense urban landscape, and I can cycle there just fine.
I’m glad I left and I don’t really miss any of it. I don’t even like going back there. In fact, I prefer the services, and geographical features, of my new home.
The last time I went back to visit my parents, I just sat in the living room and listened to the quiet. They’re on the outskirts of a small town, and there is zero traffic. The house stays at the right temperature with no fans or other mechanical help. The nearest neighbor is much further away than at my suburban house.
Do you get to see a lot more stars out at night there?
Oo, that’s a good one, yeah I didn’t even think of that but it’s just so much louder out here always. Brighter, too. I miss seeing the stars without all of the light pollution. If you’ve never laid down in an empty field away from city or town lights to see the stars in the absolute dark, it’s amazing.
I’m from NYC. I miss good public transportation, museums, and nightlife.
Same. Add family in too, I miss em.
I miss the night sky. Chicago has too much light pollution to see the stars.
I miss eating frybread.
I miss the arid climate, the open sky, and even the wild weather of South Dakota.
And I miss the tight-knit concert scene of Sioux Falls, where a core group of people went to every. single. show. no matter the genre or location or age because it was all we had. Years later touring bands who came up Chicago would still recognize me as “that headbanging guy” even after I cut my hair.
Language. The dialect from home.
Nothing. Small town country Australia wasn’t a great place to grow up, and it’s not a great place to go back to…
What about those drop bears though? Aggressive cuddles
Apparently they’ve discovered drop crocodiles now.
They died out. Killed off by the kangaroos
Small town in the Netherlands: same.
The Ocean
Walks along the sand and the sea front sidewalks were beautiful. I have so many pictures from that time and I look at them fondly, also because the dog we had passed away since then and he’s in a lot of the photos.
At the moment, I can’t even think of anything I miss that would still be there in my home town. The place has changed so much that the only thing it shares with the town I grew up in is its name. So, in a contemporary sense, I’d have to say I don’t miss much anymore.
If I could go back in time, I’d love to take another walk through the woods I used to play in when I was a kid. They’re gone now, cut down for a factory that’s no longer in business.
Also, I think it would be neat to go do my grocery shopping and run into my aunt and cousins or an old friend I haven’t seen in awhile. It was a small town, so it was almost guaranteed if you were shopping in town, you’d run into people you know and like.
I miss the layout of my neighbourhood from when I was 5-10 years old.
I lived in one of the middle units of a 10 unit townhouse. Each had a ~30’x30’ fenced in backyard that opened up to a large field and playground. The u-shaped roads that flanked this field and the houses along them left a large cross shaped grassy alley on either side of the field.
I’m not sure that description does it justice, but this setup created a huge amount of grassy space for the surrounding neighbourhood kids to run around in, while keeping them somewhat contained. There were only 3 entrances/exits to this neighbourhood that were pretty well supervised by parents, so the kids were able to roam a pretty big area without anyone having to worry. Something I’ve come to appreciate more with age.
It also meant a TON of snow to build and play with in the winter, without playing in the road :D 🇨🇦
The quiet.
Went from living in a small rural town to an actual city. It’s always loud af no matter what time of day or night.
I felt that when I moved to NJ. It was 07306 above a prime fire route. The first week I was there I actually heard gunfire. It makes, as a quote goes, a distinctive sound.
But it was constantly noisy: not as in loud crashes and drama, but the background noise of so many sounds blended together to make a constant noise baseline that no one talks about. I didn’t hear it in Morristown but I heard it in JC, and it took a while to get used to.
i live in a major city and it’s quiet af every night.
you just need to live in a area w/o poor people. rich people like it quiet.
you just need to live in a area w/o poor people
Except the biggest noisemakers are the rich fucks in the gated community across the street and their constant parties going until 4am on a weekday.
The familiarity. I knew where everything was. Businesses, places to go for leisure, outdoor activities, beach, skiing, whatever. I knew streets, neighborhoods, demographics, etc. Friends, the people I grew up with, where people lived… The very essence of what “roots” are.
I’ve moved so many times that I still don’t know 95% of the street names where I’ve lived for the last 5 years. I have to look online for businesses to see what is available and take a guess which one might work. Eating out someplace new is a risk, who knows if it’s any good.
That all said, leaving has presented far, far more opportunity and done better for me than staying in my hometown ever would have.
But I’m tired of moving. I need roots again. I miss that.
i’ve lived in the same place for 10 years and don’t really have ‘roots’ here.
i think that’s more if you live with/nearby family. a lot of people won’t move because of family, even if they hate where they live.
