The appeal of rural communities.
I spent a large part of my “growing up years” in a small rural village outside of a small town in Nova Scotia. We had limited resources, but unlimited connection.
We had to travel 3.5 hours by car to get to the nearest (and only) city of our province. The passenger train service was cut when I was about 12 years old. The airport cut-back flights again and again. The bus schedule was reduced to a skeleton of its former self. There was one largish department store and small mall, one large grocery store (and several small), and the “twin cinemas”. The smaller independents began to struggle as the franchises expanded further into small towns. We knew nearly everyone we saw walking down the street.
The circles of community service organizations certainly were connected and couldn’t work in silos if they tried. We simply shared too many resources, service providers and clients.
About five years ago I chose to live in a small urban centre (well technically, I live in the suburbs of it), where we have all the resources we could ever want at our fingertips. But there feels like a real disconnect in the community in comparison. There is something to be said for not having to travel any distance to get to any of the resources we need or desire. I feel better about the carbon footprint we are leaving behind, but I just miss that small town living!
Whenever I spend time in a small town I feel a draw “back-home”. I believe we could reduce our footprint in other ways if I chose to move back to such a place. But what about the limited resources? What about the limited work opportunities? What about the need to travel to the city for unforeseen needs to be met for our children?
On the other hand. What about being in the heart of the communities supporting the local movement i.e. fishing and farming)? What if we could safely let our children walk to school alone? What if we knew our children’s teachers, our doctor, our grocer and pharmacist, within the community?
I feel so torn, but this week I am feeling very much inclined to move back out to the country, after two very short visits to two beautiful rural towns.
