Comments on: Cityfolk and Provincialism

By: Teri Lussier

Teri Lussier — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:29:27 +0000

>What I couldn’t figure out was whether Hugh was making fun of the small town guy or the big city yuppie fuck.

McLeod lives in Alpine TX. Originally the title of this cartoon was something like “What I love about west TX”.

By: Corinna

Corinna — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:26:29 +0000

Chablis with brie?! shudder! Vouvray perhaps, but I would prefer Champagne.

And that’s from a small town.

By: -Rob

-Rob — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:24:06 +0000

Daniel -

You know what would be interesting….

I wonder if the small town folks who move to Big City, USA end up exhibiting the same behavior, of complaining about stuff that they knew they would see when they moved in the first place.

I see it all as rank provincialism. I agree that you want to live in a place where people are moving in. But is it too much to ask that those moving in do so with their eyes open and not bitch and whine when reality ends up meeting their expectations?

-rsh

By: Daniel, The Real Estate Zebra

Daniel, The Real Estate Zebra — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:37:21 +0000

This one strikes a chord with me. I live in Small Town, USA, and it is growing all the time. It is growing mainly with people who come from Big City, USA, and move here to escape the traffic, hustle, and headaches that they experience there. When they first move here, they love how rural it is, how everything closes early on Sunday, and how we only have one stop light in the whole county. After a few years, the things they once thought to be virtues become something else to complain about. Instead of whining about traffic, they whine about having to drive 10 miles to the grocery store. Instead of whining about the overcrowded streets, they complain about deer on the country roads. Instead of whining about high cost of living, they whine about how they can’t get to Starbucks or a mall in less than 30 minutes. The list goes on. . .

The problem is this: it is all to easy for folks to say, “well fine, if you don’t like it, don’t move here. We don’t want the development that comes with you, anyway.” What people fail to realize is that it is precisely those people moving here that makes Small Town, USA life sustainable for the majority of folks. I have always said that you would much rather live in a place where people are moving in, than a place where people are moving out.

The trick is to find a balance somewhere in there so that we avoid the destruction of the culture we associate with Small Town, USA.