What was your first city-small town life experience?

[Stryker]

Very simple thread, tell me of your first exposure to big city life, or small town life vice versa.

This doesn't mean driving through some place as a 12 year old in 1980.

I mean the first time you really experienced adult living at a scale completely different from what you were use to.

If you grew up in a major city, explain speak of the first time you had to live in a isolated small town, if you grew up in a small town tell of your first time adapting to a bigger scale.

[logan5]

I've visited various small towns for a few days here and there, but my only real prolonged experience in a small town was a 6 month stretch in Regina. I suppose there are advantages to small town life, but I found it difficult to appreciate Regina like I know others do. Maybe it was my approach, but the small town friendliness just wasn't there for me. Not that people were unfriendly, but people seemed guarded when some kind of social interaction was initiated. Even in bars. Long story short, small town life is not for me.

[Innsertnamehere]

regina is a small town? HA.

When I think small town I think a population between 5,000 and 20,000, not 300,000.

I grew up in a town of roughly 10,000 (closer to 15,000 today). Commuted to school downtown for the first year of school (don't get me started on that commute from hell), and moved downtown last year. Loving it far more so far. For one thing there is more than 4 bars... (one of which is Boston Pizza and doesn't really count)

The town I grew up in had a small movie theatre (2 theatres), the typical suburban retail strip on the edge of town with a Wal-Mart, Mcdonalds, Loblaws, etc., and a small downtown core that is populated by low income apartments. The high school was a 10 minute walk from downtown, which meant lunch trips to downtown for pizza, subs, chinese, or shawarma. It luckily had a GO bus connection to the city for the odd time teenage me and my friends decided to head downtown for whatever reason.. High school parties were a mix of suburban house parties in the newer subdivisions around town and parties on farms. Unfortunate amounts of drunk driving often followed those farm parties.

I got a job downtown right out of high school for the summer, and commuted for the first year of school, so I was sort of slowly let into the "city" life if you will.. By the time I actually moved downtown I was well used to the surroundings, just my lifestyle changed with the elimination of the large commute and the access to downtown amenities outside of commuting hours.

[MonctonRad]

Agree. None of Canada's 30 odd CMAs should be considered a "small" town.

[niwell]

Grew up in Calgary and lived in Ottawa before moving to Toronto. So while a step up, it wasn't exactly like moving to the "big city" from nothing. More like what I appreciated about both places but multiplied by factor of 10 (or more). It helped that I have spent at least a few weeks in Toronto my entire life because of family here.

I did however live in Iqaluit for 2 four month stints with my ex-girlfriend. THAT was a culture shock. I worked a few jobs but my second time there I was a receptionist for a dental clinic and got to meet far too much of the town. It really weirded me out seeing the same people all of the time and having a very small selection of places to go. I actually had a few anxiety attacks, but that had more to do with the isolation than the size. It was an equal culture shock to go back to Ottawa at the time which felt very freeing. The Arctic was not for me.

[giallo]

I grew up in Kelowna which back then was a very small city. I'd go to Victoria about four times a year and Vancouver twice, so it's kind of hard for me to pinpoint my first time experiences with these cities. They've always been a big part of my life growing up.

For a new big city, it was San Francisco that was the first to leave an impression on me. I loved every minute we spent there.

As for small towns, the Okanagan Valley is full of them, and I always couldn't wait to leave. I'm just not a small town guy, I guess.

[bikegypsy]

I ditched everything in 2003 to live in a small mountain town in South Korea. Best 2 years of my life. I went from the anonymity and the holier than thou attitude of Montreal to being highly respected and appreciated by a small community. What an awakening... the food, the women, the people in general... There were things which I did miss; mostly the nightlife and the cultural offerings of a larger city. But I did live about 1.5 hours away from a city of 3 million as well as 20 minutes from the largest ski resort in the country, which more than made up for it.

Before this, I had gone from Ottawa to Montreal, which was interesting although not really great in terms of difference. I did spend one month in Paris in my 20s and that was a real shocker... I never imagined a city could be so big and so hectic.

More recently, I took a one year break which I spent in a tiny village in California. I had a house in the woods and would bike 2 miles into town to get food. Just great.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by bikegypsy

I ditched everything in 2003 to live in a small mountain town in South Korea. Best 2 years of my life. I went from the anonymity and the holier than thou attitude of Montreal to being highly respected and appreciated by a small community. What an awakening... the food, the women, the people in general... There were things which I did miss; mostly the nightlife and the cultural offerings of a larger city. But I did live about 1.5 hours away from city of a 3 million as well as 20 minutes from the largest ski resort in the country, which more than made up for it.

Before this, I had gone from Ottawa to Montreal, which was interesting although not really great in terms of difference. I did spend one month in Paris in my 20s and that was a real shocker... I never imagined a city could be so big and so hectic.

More recently, I took a one year break which I spent in a tiny village in California. I had a house in the woods and would bike 2 miles into town get food. Just great.

I've always lived in mid-size and larger cities - anywhere from 120,000 to 8 million - so I've never had the experience of living in a small town (though I have worked in small towns in a sales role).

At least in Canada, I've always shied away from smaller communities as it seems as though the smaller the community, the higher the median age, and the fewer the people (as a percentage of the population) close to my age.

Once I'm married, I'd have no objection to living in a smaller community as I prefer the hospitality and compactness of smaller communities. But I feel as though I won't meet anyone who isn't already married if I lived in a city any smaller than 50,000, so I don't want to live in one now. It seems as though those communities have a lack of a young single population.

[floobie]

I was born and live in Calgary, but lived in Grande Cache, Alberta for a few months for work.

It was definitely very different. The natural setting was beautiful. Being surrounded by mountains in every direction was amazing.

At the same time, coming from a place where I can generally find something to do... it was weird. I'd exhausted the 4 or 5 restaurants in the town within a week. Some were pretty good, but, I'm definitely used to much greater variety. Also, general access to services felt limited. There was one gas station. There was one grocery store that closed quite early, resulting in me frequently being unable to buy something I needed. No movie theatre or anything of the sort. Oddly enough, despite it being quite possible to circumnavigate the entire town on foot in half an hour, everyone drove everywhere.

The people... honestly, I didn't really get to know any of them very well. They seemed nice enough, but, well, I think people's hobbies and priorities are a often bit different... or perhaps less varied in smaller towns. I'm not into hockey or sports in general. I'm not religious. I don't really drink much, and when I do I definitely avoid getting drunk. I'll almost always take a cafe over a pub. Even in the city, my preferences can alienate me a bit. In Grande Cache, it felt like it was ten-fold.

I've visited larger cities as well. The experience definitely wasn't jarring. It basically took what I like about Calgary and amplified it.

[rousseau]

Sixteen, clumsy and shy
I went to London and I
I booked myself in at the Y...WCA

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[1ajs]

origonaly from lynn lake manitoba the town that moved.

moved to a farm when i was 3-4 then to wpg the year i turned 5.
then flew by my self to calgary on canada 3000

i had been to van when i was a todler 1-2 yrs old but i dont remember any of that and to victoria

[Pinion]

Not in Canada but staying in the Tri-Cities (Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, pop. 200k) in south-central Washington was an eye opener. Nothing but strip malls and drive thrus, no pedestrians, no sidewalks, no downtown area, totally car dependent. At that time in the mid 90s, everything was brand new. I'd hate to see it now.

Really gave me a good impression of the "real America" that many live in. It's soul sucking.

[The Chemist]

I lived in Medicine Hat for 8 months back in 2000. It was an interesting town overall, with some nice areas, but I'd definitely not want to live in such a small place again. Just not enough to do.

[kool maudit]

small towns are very dependent on their natural and social environments. because they do not offer a multiplicity of experiences, you need to choose your focus.

i would happily spend a year in nelson, british columbia; kotor, montenegro; or annecy, france. i would do outdoorsy things and enjoy the beauty.

were i to spend a year in, say, new glasgow, i would become depressed and feel that my life had turned out badly.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Recently spent three months in a village adjacent to Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam - more gibbons than people. Beat the hell outta any big city I've ever lived in...

[harls]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

regina is a small town? HA.

When I think small town I think a population between 5,000 and 20,000, not 300,000.

I grew up in a town of 2,500. 10,000 was a city to me.

If you have a McDonald's, and traffic lights.. that's big city.

I got my driver's license in a town with one four-way stop. My first big city experience was driving to Toronto.

[Innsertnamehere]

thats no town, thats a village. I had a couple of friends in High School that lived in a town like that, Had a gas station, convenience store, barber, and real estate office. flashing red light (the kind that hangs over the middle of the intersection) acted as the "centre" of town. There was a stoplight on the major road that passed near the town though, does that count?


Of course for me doing drivers ed was a bit of an issue as there were no 4 lane roads to practice merging on... ended up having to spend half the lesson to drive 15 minutes out of town to find the first available merge lane, which even then was just a right hand turn ramp at a major intersection.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

thats no town, thats a village. I had a couple of friends in High School that lived in a town like that, Had a gas station, convenience store, barber, and real estate office. flashing red light (the kind that hangs over the middle of the intersection) acted as the "centre" of town. There was a stoplight on the major road that passed near the town though, does that count?

You had an actual flashing light?

[Boris2k7]

Grew up in Edmonton and Calgary, lived in Lawrencetown, NS for a year. Going from a city that was over a million strong to a small village of only a couple hundred, I was prepared for the lack of... stuff... but not the sense of isolation. Honestly, really mirrors floobie's experiences living in Grande Cache, but with the addition of a 3 hour time difference between where I was and home (and some goddamned expensive air travel).

[LFRENCH]

grew up in a smaller city( Victoria) then moved to a town of 643 people called Pescadero California. I then moved to Edmonton and Calgary, after living in the Alberta two, I appreciate the idea of moving back to a smaller center.