Could you cope with living in a small town

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My town, Stevenage is average size i geuss, around 80,000. It sounds big, but when i think about it especially compared to other towns its not very big at all.
Sometimes i see people i know constantly, but yeah it would be horrible in a geuinly small town.
My parents are both originally from countryside villages and hate it, they find it to busy and horrible. I geuss Stevenage isn't the nicest town but i actually quite like it.

Reply 61

JayDay92

I grew up in London. I get claustrophobic visiting people in Manchester.

Reply 62

nymphadora

I'm a small town girl (well village actually)

It's nice in some ways, that if you run out of milk or something, you can just pop over the road to get some and I like the sense of community.

But sometimes it drives me mad. We have a corner shop, a newsagents, and pharmacy. There is a bus out every hour, which stops at 15:00, so it can be like being in prison at times. I'm lucky that one of my friends has a car and passed his test early, and doesn't mind giving lifts. And everyone knows your business, seriously, I think Heat magazine should go round small towns and villages and pick up some hints.

Reply 63

abc101

I live in a mid-sized town - but considering the town centre, it's small. I never bump into anyone I know anywhere, I don't find it too small :smile:

Reply 64

Stettin

I could never live in a small town. I grew up in London. My borough has more people living in it then the vast majority of cities and towns in the UK. Cities like Bristol look small in my eyes.

I love the fact that there are 8 million in the city. I can go any where and there will be different people. I can go to Edmonton and meet Turkish people. Then 3 minutes later I can go to Tottenham and meet Ghanaians. Then go to Stamford Hill and end up in the biggest Hasidic Jewish enclave in Europe.

Reply 65

crazylemon

Well I have lived in Cornwall for all my life except this year. I loved it to bits. Never went clubbing but it never really appealed to me. The scenery was beautiful. Yes it was a trekk to get everywhere (It took 30mins to school by car) but then I had my driving licence so distance was not a problem. I loved the scenery and the fact as soon as I got out the door I was in woodland. Beautiful.
When I first came to London I missed it immensely, I hated the anonymity, the lack of green spaces (even though I live next to hyde park sorry it does not compare to open fields and coastline).
It has grown on me, the fact there is simply so much more to do, I could go to a different musical/play/whatever every-night and still have stuff to do. I have also enjoyed clubbing here, though bizarrely dislike meeting people I know there when I didn't go with them (partly because I have distinct friend groups). The anonymity bothers me less though I do find it so cold personality-wise; back home I used to have chit chat with either people I knew or randoms the whole time I was out, so much more friendly than London in that respect.

Going back to Cornwall I am concerned I might get bored over the summer, but I have a boat and hopefully beautiful weather to entertain me. Though I want to live in a rural area long term.

Other than London though I don't think I could see the point in a city, I can get everything I want in Cornwall tbh if I try hard enough.

Reply 66

Young Spade

Yea I lived in a small town of about 30K; albeit it's very, very small. There are no restaurants or movies or anything :/ Good thing though is that I moved out to go to college and that the town is surrounded by bigger cities with stuff in them.

Reply 67

Princesslittlehead

jblackmoustache

Most nothern towns aren't like that though. Most of the time they're grotty places with grotty council housing, poor travel, kids drinking cider outside Bargain Booze and Londis, low job opportunities and no culture besides 'guin aat raan taan'. Middlesbrough, Barnsley, Rotherham, Bolton, Doncaster and Goole being my examples.

I could say only middle class and richer families can afford to live in places like you mentioned.

Absolutely shocking you are

Reply 68

Azog 150

I lived from the ages of 4 till 13 in the small West Country town of Stroud with a population of 30,000 (47,000 including surrounding areas)

I have very very fond memories of my time there and was gutted when I moved to Liverpool. However, i have grown to like city life and am not sure if I could have handled my teenage years there. Not much to do, and my town had a pretty big drugs problem. I like being somewhere where you can be completely anonymous.

Reply 69

WharfedaleTiger

I live in that sort of place-small village of around 300 people. i love it-seriously, I'd live here full time if I could. I like being in a community and being able to say hello to everyone I meet without them thinking I'm weird/nuts. If I want a night out I'm not that far away from Leeds so I can...

Reply 70

WharfedaleTiger

CookieDoughLove

I'd hate it. Would be so boring. I live in Newcastle atm. I went to visit one of my friends who lived in a little town down south called Lambourn, I don't know if you guys have heard of it. It's like Emmerdale, everyone seems to know everyone. It's crazy. And their highstreet has like 4 shops or something :eek:

I live in the village which became Emmerdale. Its awsome. Seriously-no crime, plenty of good close mates (all my own age), the countryside everywhere, river days, all day parties, actually having people look out for you when you pissed, being able to just disappear for a day and people not worrying, little pressure...

Yes its isolated but you can get around that if you drive or plan your day. The ups are far greater than the downs. I love my uni city as well but being back here is just awsome.

Reply 71

Laura823

I've lived in Southampton all my life and can't wait to get out and go to uni. I don't know if that's more to do with just being bored of living in the same city all my life than city life itself though. I just want variety really, the idea of living in a small town or village with nice scenery and friendly people definitely appeals to me at the moment but I'm sure I would get sick of that too.

Reply 72

Young Spade

Laura823

Exa tly how my life was lol... I'm going to a uni now though so its not that bad. Made some friends and its pretty fun...

Reply 73

bloomblaze

Original post by silverbolt

i did live in a small town moved from the west of ireland when i was twenty

now im 28 and id go back in a heart beat - the big city just isnt what its cracked up to be and to be honest the quality of life in Ireland dicks all over the one on england,

Why is the quality of life in Ireland better than England??

Reply 74

Chillaxer

Original post by jblackmoustache

One thing that really bothers me is that everyone knows everyone. My night out round my home town made me realise this even more and it's pretty depressing.

Every person you meet is connected in a way to someone you already know and they're stuck in a close circle that can't be penetrated (the small town mentality).

Even the nightclubs are full of people I know from school, people from work, people I've already seen on the street, people who know people I used to work with, family, etc. Even the girls you want to approach probably know your ex or one of your friends in some way. They recognise me from my old crap job (needed the dosh while I was on my year placement) that I quit and now i'm 'that guy from Primark'. I just can't stand living in a small town. Am I alone on this?

I'm not even talking about a small rural village either. Imagine a medium ex mining town in Yorkshire.

Why don't you move to Sheffield or Leeds?

Reply 75

Chillaxer

Original post by Azog 150

I can't imagine growing up in the likes of Liverpool or Manchester, I grew up in a 100,000 size city. Must be fun, I'd love to live full time in a large city. More anonymity and possibilities.

Reply 76

Chillaxer

Original post by bloomblaze

Why is the quality of life in Ireland better than England??

I am guessing, but it looks good to me. Firstly, they have better pubs, with good atmospheres in them, they are more open and like a good time more and we are reserved, more political freedoms, much more space and beautiful country. (Which to be fair the north has top some degree)

Reply 77

Tefhel

I live in a village but it's in Surrey, so no one knows anyone. I don't even know my neighbours names, let alone every else in the village's names. I can cope easily I like that it is nice and peaceful and that there is countryside around you but decent shops are only 15 mins away and London 30mins by train.

Reply 78

aliphatic

I live in a town where everyone knows each other and that's alright, but whenever I go visit my boyfriend and we walk through his village - EVERYONE says hello to each other! It's insane. Mostly old people, though.