Has anyone here lived in small town ?

I find cost of city life too expensive and it is too crowded. I saw many attractive homes in small town near Toronto,Canada but I am concerned about commuting cost.

How do you guys manage to live in small town?

One of the trade-offs in Toronto is the potential commute. Depending on your job, you might need a travel to get to work. That can be a killer the closer you get to the city, at least in the GTA. A good chunk of Toronto's (a.k.a. the 416/416ers) traffic is comprised of people travelling from the burbs (a.k.a the 905/905ers).

I once lived and had a job in Toronto, but at opposite ends of the city. I could spend 2 hours commuting one way when I relied on public transit and didn't save much time by driving.

I'm happy to have a much shorter, almost rural commute since we changed jobs and moved out of the big city.

I grew up in a small, small town on Long Island, New York. Dad drove to work 1+ hour a day each way. It was nice growing up, very much in the country, but later when I became an adult, and ended up doing a commute of about the same length, I realized that, IMO, the cost is too high. Life is too short to spend 3 hours a day going to and from work. Time with the family is more valuable.

Better to live near where you work. I realize this is not always, or even frequently possible.

Besides work and commuting issues, there are also important social differences. Cities tend to be more anonymous and tolerant. If you're used to that, small town life can seem like living in a fish bowl with everyone knowing everyone's business. And many times, attitudes are a lot more narrow and rigid. Fine, if you happen to share the same values, but can be miserable if you're on the outside.

I grew up in a town of 800, including pets. I loathed it! But I guess I grew up into a reasonably well adjusted adult, so whatever.

It sounds like Picard is proposing to live in a small town near the big city where he will work. If that's the case, I suspect he will be commuting a lot, and he will only have the partial small town experience. He can get much of the benefit of the big city -- shopping, the arts, medical care, etc. -- if he just stays a bit after work or rearranges his work schedule, if that's possible.

I don't know about you, but after working hard the whole week, I tend to want to take the weekend easy. So a small town would do.

For me, personally, I am not a fan of small town life. I'd like to move back to a big city.

Izzy... if you tell them they will come...don't tell them about the beaches, fishing, boating, warm weather...they will clog our highways, and bring money to take advantage of us slow witted Southerners... wait a minute, I'm a state retiree... come on down you all...

Not that my town is that small (21,000, and actually they just voted to make it a city) but as far as how I manage, my job happens to be in this town so my commute is a 10-minute walk! Living in a smaller town and commuting to the city would be harder; I'm with those who say life is too short to waste two or three hours a day driving to and from work. On the other hand, city life certainly has its issues and isn't for everyone (including me). If you can live in a smaller town and work there too, that's probably ideal. Or if you have to work in the city, living just far enough outside to be less crowded etc. but still not more than a half hour commute.

I wouldn't mind living in the small villages outside of the main city of Dundee such as Glamis in Angus, which is about a 25 minute drive.

The Megacity is my vision of hell on earth.

nearest town of any kind, with 200 people, is an hour's drive away.

nearest "city" of 2000 folks is 2 hours away in summer, but much longer in winter.

even nearest neighbor is a few miles away.

wanting incomes meant reinventing ourselves, finding new professions we could do in the wilderness.

having grown up in manhattan, after 25+ years up here in the woods, i can't ever imagine going back...