Small town America - Phoenix, Arizona and Los Angeles, California


I like living in a small town. I can breathe in a small town. And although my career has necessitated living in places with large populations, such as Los Angeles, or Phoenix, I still insist on living in a small town.

My grandmother spent over fifty years of her life living in the small town of Bovey, Minnesota, population about 500. It may be more, or less, nowadays, but small enough that you feel that you have to add to the population sign when you enter, and cross it out by one when you leave. And that's the whole point of being in a small town. Everyone matters.

Something strange seems to happen with a large population. People feel that they need to keep their eyes front, never say hello to anyone. And I gotta tell you, it's creepy. And it can make people cold and insensitive, as if no one matters, because there will be millions more people going by in the next minute.

People in small towns wave to each other. They greet each other by name. They know that the person who works at the grocery store is a neighbor, maybe someone they will see at church. People in small towns don't flip each other off on the freeway. And since it's a mindset, I decided to always live in a small town.

I like living in a small town. I settled on Phoenix, Arizona, but Los Angeles is nice, too.
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  1. With HoldJune 16, 2015 at 3:47 AM

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