What is it like living in a small community?

For my whole life, I’ve lived around the Washington, DC area. If you include the surrounding counties, the whole area has “five or six million people.

There’s a lot to do here, with great restaurants, nightlife, and culture. But my favorite things these days are more like going for a hike in nature, reading a good book, or having dinner with friends at home. The pace of life is so hectic, with demanding work schedules and some of the nation’s worst traffic. Also, the cost of living here is through the roof.

A few years ago, living somewhere without a million things to do would probably have driven me up the wall. But now… I don’t even need that stuff anyway. When I think about the times that I’ve been happiest lately, they’ve all been quiet moments in or around nature.

It’s time for a change. So I’m saving some money and contemplating a move somewhere a little smaller and more easygoing. (The places I’m most interested aren’t that small. Savannah, GA, and Charleston, SC are on the short list, and they have a little over 100k people each. But I’m also interested in genuine small-town living.)

If you’ve lived in a smaller city, how did you like it there? Was it hard to find a job? What are the main differences I should know about?