I live in a college town. The truth is I utilize little of things people in this town like. The big evening farmers market in the summer (went twice and really didn't like it. prefer the smaller quieter markets) Restaurants, entertainment. Stores I'm finding anything like this has less appeal to me. I don't shop much. Malls are of no interest. If I need a store I go straight there and out. No browsing like we did in the 80's. There are some things that make it more convenient like the pet store. Smaller towns may only have Walmart. But I'm beginning to wonder if I need a town with more of the amenities since I don't use them. Or would they be missed if they weren't around. Any thoughts or experiences by people who moved away from amenities and entertainment? I do utilize the health food stores but also regular groceries are selling more and more of the things they carry also.
Fresno has everything but I use very little of it. Basically just go to Walgreens and Safeway and Trader Joe's. I haven't even been at the mall in years or any of the cute plazas Fresno has. I live right on the border of Clovis and Fresno so I have about 6 Targets within a 6 mile radius...the same for all the other franchises....overkill!
Basically all I need is a Walmart, a Chili's, a Papa John's, a gas station and convenience store combo wherever my home would be. A Subway sandwich shop and a Piccadilly Cafeteria would be nice but not absolutely necessary.
We moved from a 'watch the paint dry' small town to the city and still enjoy getting out and about. Next month (June) will be big here with CMA Music Festival Fan Fare and our first ever Stanley Cup Playoffs! We'll head downtown and mingle with the out of towners and try a new restaurant or watering hole. We, like others, shop alot on-line and we're using Grubhub and UberEats a lot more. Nice to order, have it delivered, and eat out on the deck.
If you don't enjoy shopping then you can pretty much live with just a large supermarket where you can buy hardware and some clothing as well as food, and a petrol station, a doctor surgery, a bank , an opticians and pharmacy close by ..everything other than that you can buy online.. maybe a restaurant or 2 would be handy if for any reason you have no access to the internet, then with the above list you've pretty much got all the basics covered I live on the edge of a small market town.. 10 minutes or less drive it has a couple of high end supermarkets and a mid price supermarket , a weekly outdoor market which sells fresh fish, organic bread and cheeses, fruit & veg...and lots of old fashioned cheap looking clothing , several various other small stores selling expensive jewellery, greetings cards, newsagents, antiques, lots of real estate stores, Post Office, small Library several banks, at least a dozen various restaurants and bars ..and just one clothing store.. 30 minutes drive will take me into London....where I can buy just about anything my heart would ever desire.. ...I rarely ever go... I can't stand the zillions of people shopping like their life depended on it...and with much higher prices than out here in the rural shires
Thanks for your replies everyone. Tim, I think it's interesting you did the opposite of what some people may have did but enjoy it. It seems like the saying, no matter where you go there you are. But there are some things people will need. While internet shopping has been detrimental to many stores, it's been helpful, I'm sure to many living in more rural areas.
I live in a town with only two grocery stores, which is one more than I need. We have a hardware store that sells housewares upstairs, but we usually forget that. We have a Tractor Supply Store, a Dollar Tree and a Family Dollar, which are in a little mini mall. There are a couple of convenience stores, but it's been years since I've been in one of them. A few restaurants, a couple of bars, and that's about it. The nearest place with more amenities is about 65 miles away, in Bangor. I like it. Most things I can get online and we make a trip to Bangor once every week or two.
I have lived in the country a lot when I was younger and you need a car or some form of transport to shop or do anything, I live on the edge of a small town in the UK where there are supermarkets within walking distance, but you need to go into town for anything else. Here in Russia there is everything from grocery shops, banks metro and train stations, theatres and over 20 restaurants all within walking distance which I like. I find I adjust to either, but now I am older being close to everything appeals more ............I do use the internet a lot for most things, apart from food and clothes
Although I live in the rural shires, and love it...and have lived here for more than 40 years.. I was born and raised in the city, and as I get older, I would love to move back just for the ease of the amenities, hospitals, doctors, shopping, public transport..all on the doorstep... what's stopping me?...The crime....which is completely incomparable to when I was born and raised in the city... so no thank you, I'll stay where I am. !!
I live in a small country town of 4000 people ,it has most shops you need to survive.its a very busy tourist area in the warmer months as we are less than two hours from the city . We travel to the city for doctors appointments ,shopping as I like fresher vegetables thsn they have on offer down there . We useally go to the city fortnightly ,but would I live there in Adelaide again ..no way ..
@Kitty Carmel "Any thoughts or experiences by people who moved away from amenities and entertainment?" Not quite sure what you meant by amenities, 'course entertainment I understand. My wife and I DID move away from such, rather totally, in 1999, to a 90-acre very rural place in Missouri, having no cell service. We did have 'phone, electric, but little else. No cell service. We did OK, as did the generations of Ozark hillbillies before us did. We lived in the middle of the 7 million acre Mark Twain National Forest, 23 miles to town, very very rural, nearest neighbor 1/2 mile down the road. Our old farmhouse: Amenities and entertainment? Well, we had running water, supplied ice cold by a good well, land line phone service far more reliable than the electric service, which went out regularly perhaps twice a month, that of course "turning off our water". T-V service was by satellite. Internet was not available at all, until about 3 years after we moved there, via "dial-up" phone hook-up (you don't even want to know!). During our last years there, (1999-2012), HughesNet began providing satellite internet, cost way beyond pour means. That farmhouse was heated solely by wood; 2 wood-burning stoves which in coldest weather gobbled up firewood faster than we could feed it. Main reason we returned, after 13 years there, to Arizona. There were of course "amenities" not attributable to other places, such as the crystal-clear year-round flowing creek which traversed our property: After a reasonably heavy rainfall, 1/2" or more, that little docile creek became a raging torrent for as long as a day or two, stranding any on the other side having no other access except creek crossing, as had our neighbor. I found pieces of debris hanging from branches once confirming water depth of 8 feet! Living rurally like that, we learned that certain requirements were tantamount to existing there: you HAD to have adequate firewood, it HAD to be dry enough to burn reliably, you HAD to be prepared for power outages, a variety of biting flies in summer (some of which sucked blood through a shirt or blouse), ticks which carried the possibility of Lyme Disease, hornets which struck without warning. OTOH, it was a wonderful place if one accepted the negative aspects; I built this while we lived there:
@Frank Sanoica Oh wow Frank, I don't know how I missed your post before. Thank you for all the details. That was very rural and would be too much for me being single. Advantages and disadvantages to all I guess. I'd love to have some more nature around me. Did you bring the train with you? I love the desert but I also love rain if that makes any sense.
I get all my groceries including fresh groceries, clothing, sundries, prescriptions,books, EVERY THING delivered to my front door after ordering 0n line via Amazon etc. I haven't found anything that I want or need that can't be ordered on line, therefore no need to go out into hot or cold weather, join the traffic, fight the crowds, park the car, burn gas.
I thought I would enjoy a small town kitty, but what we do have here is a Walmart, Safeway, Grocery Outlet, and a health-food store with some nice, bulk items I like. Thank goodness for what we do have here, as the nearest Mall, and night-time, goings-on is 2 hours away. I mean there is a festival or two here, but that's it. So I am missing some of the things you mention that a bigger city has to offer. I'll let you know what I find in my search for Shangra La though