I love living in a small community

[Boz330]

I needed to take care of some stuff at the local county government today so I took the day off. Started at 9:00 at the Circuit Clerks office for a new drivers license. Went from there to property valuation administrators office to try and get my property tax lowered since I had torn down an old house and barn back in December. They have to go inspect it but that was pretty easy. Next stop was voter registration to change my party affiliation. Turned out that I got it all done by 9:27. Still had time to come into work.:shock: 27 minutes and that was traveling to 3 different locations.

Bob

[mpmarty]

I know exactly what you mean. But I live half a tank of gas from any of those offices. I don't go there.

[jcwit]

I understand completly, its good to be able to take care of business with those who live with the same condidions as you do, makes life so much simpler and easier to get along.

Town I live in consists of approx 3,000 and I personnally know more than 50% of the folks. County seat is about 10 miles away and I know many in the local government and other positions. Life is good.

[runfiverun]

it is nice to go out and pay the cable bill, stop at the post office, the auto parts store, go to the bank, fill up with gas, register the boat and 4 wheeler, then stop and get a carton of smokes at the grocery store and be home in about an hour.
maybe 2 if you stop and b/s at the gun shop.

[popper]

You all are missing the fun of the big city life. Wait a couple hours at the DMV, 10 min in line for gas, 1/2 hr to work, 20 min in the grocery store checkout line. At least a 1/2 hr wait for Friday nite dinner (but no line at the bar). Just think of all the people you meet and chit-chat with while in line.

[dk17hmr]

Throws off my whole day if I have to stop at the light on the way to work in the morning.

[472x1B/A]

popper has got it down pat there folks. But then, this is ILLinois. It's just like that here where I live popper, I feel for ya.

[popper]

I'm retired now so I stay home most of the time. Really would like to move to Brenham or rural east Texas, just to be able to get outside in the country before my days end.

[wills]

I'm retired now so I stay home most of the time. Really would like to move to Brenham or rural east Texas, just to be able to get outside in the country before my days end.

Brenham is expensive, and you don't want to live in deep East Texas.

[nvbirdman]

I moved from one of the largest cities in the country to a town of about 20k.
I've been here thirty years and if you wanted to get me back to the city you'd have to drag me back dead.

[Bullshop]

Sorry guys but I have to laugh. A small town of 20K to me is an oximoron. If I drive near a place like that I begin to have anxiety attacks.
We felt like we were making quite a compromise when we moved to Saco a town of 250 people.
I have spent my adult life in remote areas and just cant realy even imagin what life is like in what you would call a real city. Even Saco has become too big for us to tolerate. We are moving to a place out of town between Dell and Lima Montana.
I read the news ( no tv or radio) about all the things happening in cities and it just seems surreal to me. Like watching a movie or something seeing it but know its not real. Before I got married at age 35 I just lived in the woods where ever I worked or if available a man camp run buy the logging company. I dont feel as though I have missed anything worth while quite the contrary.

[Phoenix]

I am with ya bullshop. Altho I am already 1.5 hours from a post office (small one, town of 688) 2 hours from a BIG town (maybe 58k) My wife hates going to town. Here neighbors are miles away (yes the closest one is over a mile) I couldnt live in any town. I have always lived outside town, but I see myself moving further out each time. I am about as far out as it gets now. Alaska is the only place that would be further out, even though there you can be FAR out without being that far. Cities just end and wilderness begins. (well that depends, Sprawl has hit many AK cities). The sad thing is even here this far out, behind gates and Fences I get wound up quite a bit in the summer time. People think that any dirt road is their private recreation area. They ignore gates, fences, and signs. I dont think they understand what 'private' road means. Winter is my favorite time because I see none of that.

[Epd230]

The last time I renewed my DL, i drove 45 minutes past the closest DMV to the one in the neighboring town. I was able to conduct my business with friendly staff and return home and still make it home before I would have if I had gone to the local branch.

As far as changing the political party on my voter registration, there is not enough time left in the world for that to happen!

[dakotashooter2]

I know exactly what you mean. But I live half a tank of gas from any of those offices. I don't go there.

A 1/2 tank of gas is 150 miles and as many minutes in the country 20 miles and 4 hrs in the big city. LOL

[Ed Barrett]

I live 7 miles from the nearest town (population 50) And that's just about close enough. Don't need to go to town much except to do the drivers license thing about every 4 years at the county seat (20 miles each way) takes about 5 minutes most of that is the picture and waiting for the computer to print out the new license. But I do have the bad habit of going to gun shows and auctions and LGS's.

[Ron]

Boz, Can you explain to me why the US government needs to know what political party you are affiliated with? Here in Australia, as long as we are registered on the local, State and Federal voting rolls that is sufficient. What party I vote for is no ones business except mine.

[41 mag fan]

5 min from a town of 9k. 25 miles from a town of 150k.
Luckily where we live the crime rate is so low it's negligible. About the biggest crime around here is break ins occasionally.
I couldn't live in a town anymore, no matter what size. Country life is all I want. If we could move further out into the country around here, I'd already have my bags packed.

[alamogunr]

Boz, Can you explain to me why the US government needs to know what political party you are affiliated with? Here in Australia, as long as we are registered on the local, State and Federal voting rolls that is sufficient. What party I vote for is no ones business except mine.

Not sure I understand that either. Here in Tennessee, we declare which ballot we want in primary elections. Depending on whether I want a particular candidate to win or, if it is a foregone conclusion, want another party's candidate to lose, I may ask for either a Republican or Democratic ballot. This seldom happens, but it is possible.

[Jim]

The 2010 census report for Floyd shows a population of just under 500 within the town limits and about 15K for the whole county. We live about 5 miles from the edge of town, but the concentration of housing stops abruptly, so where we live, we might as well be 50 miles away.

Our nearest neighbor is several hundred yards away, but you'd never know it unless you left our place. We're at the end of a stoned access road 3/10ths of a mile off the black top and surrounded by trees.

Thank you, Lord, for our quiet, secluded place in the country!

[TXGunNut]

Boz, Can you explain to me why the US government needs to know what political party you are affiliated with? Here in Australia, as long as we are registered on the local, State and Federal voting rolls that is sufficient. What party I vote for is no ones business except mine.

Same way here in Texas but our open primaries have disadvantages as well. The Libs can vote for Lib-leaning candidates in the Republican primary. As I understand it in states where they have closed primaries you must declare a party affiliation to vote in the primaries. Primaries are where the GOP blew it last election cycle in many states, will be very important in the next cycle.

[TXGunNut]

Thank you, Lord, for our quiet, secluded place in the country! -Jim

Amen! My current place is not nearly as secluded as yours and I live in a more populated county but I grew up in a city of 50K (now well approaching 100K) on the edge of the D/FW metromess. When friends from the big city come to visit they marvel at the stars and often notice the clean air. Doing business at my county seat is totally diiferent than the county I grew up in as well. Much friendlier folks, they even covered up the 30.06 signs at the courthouse with a nice big bench! County to the South I have to go thru a metal detector and deal with cranky security folks and often snippy employees.

[wills]

Boz, Can you explain to me why the US government needs to know what political party you are affiliated with? Here in Australia, as long as we are registered on the local, State and Federal voting rolls that is sufficient. What party I vote for is no ones business except mine.

The US government does not. Some states do. Probably to discourage crossover voting.

[waksupi]

Small towns can be a hot bed of crime. Here are some reports from the local police blotter;

2:47 p.m. An Evergreen woman wanted advice on how to help a wounded squirrel.

4:23 p.m. An employee at a Coram store reported that a squat little woman came in and stole wine.

2:18 p.m. An intoxicated man on Highway 35 in Kalispell called 911 to see if his fiancé, who had an appointment at the courthouse that day, was on her way home yet. He was reminded that this situation would not be considered an emergency.

3:20 p.m. A woman on Farm to Market Road wants to shoot down the gophers that live under her yard. She wanted to make sure it was legal.

10:06 a.m. Five cows were reportedly at large and creating a road hazard on Highway 206 near Columbia Falls. They were corralled and taken home.

7:27 a.m. Someone called 911 to report that an injured duck was wandering around an intersection on Highway 2 East.

8:26 p.m. A landlord on Wildcat Road reported that things were “about to get western” as he attempted to illegally evict three tenants.

8:17 a.m. A drunken employee reportedly took off in a giant vacuum truck and was last seen traveling down Helena Flats Road.

8:40 a.m. A resident on Flathead Drive reported that the neighbors have been harassing him with their pit bull. He is worried that if he angers them, they will retaliate by letting the dog eat his chickens.

1:57 p.m. Reportedly, llamas were running amok and harassing the farm animals on Rice Lane near Whitefish.

5:27 p.m. A woman on Rice Lane reported that a llama was standing in her yard.

8:42 p.m. An Olney woman reported that what she at first thought were gunshots may have actually been her Easter eggs exploding inside of her house.

4:48 a.m. Reportedly, an intoxicated man wearing a red and white striped shirt and over-sized, droopy blue pants was seen running through Somers. (Where's Waldo?)

8:15 a.m. A Coram resident reported that the neighbors were hiding a dog from him and he believes that the dog in question is probably his. The dog was not his.

3:09 a.m. A man on Blasdale Lane reported that his neighbor was shooting tannerite, creating large explosions. He was concerned about the noise and the welfare of the local pheasants.

8:46 a.m. A Columbia Falls man reported that a beaver-type animal fell into his window well and was unable to get out.

11:12 p.m. A woman on Dover Drive called in to report that her cat was afraid of something and she would like a deputy to check things out. A deputy discovered a strong odor of skunk and surmised that the cat had been sprayed.

3:52 p.m. Someone called in asking what to do for a “beat up chicken” they found at the dump. Apparently, it looked as though the chicken “had been through a lot.”

10:03 p.m. A dog that was best described as looking like Santa's Little Helper from The Simpsons was spotted running down Highway 2 West.

12:18 a.m. Two intoxicated pedestrians were advised to stay on the sidewalks. The deputy expressed doubt as to whether that would occur.

11:49 a.m. Someone called in to talk about an “awful” looking dog wearing a pink collar.

8:10 p.m. Someone called in claiming that he put $20 into a machine at a casino and didn’t win. He went on to say that he ended up putting in a total of $160 into this machine and still didn’t win. He wanted to report that he thought the machine was “fixed.”

10:59 a.m. Reportedly, a man on Highway 35 in Kalispell yelled at his vehicle and punched it a few times before getting in it and taking off.

1:59 p.m. A Polebridge man reported that the thief who stole his gold dust returned it. Although the dust was returned weeks ago, the man wanted to make it known that he is unhappy that someone was in his house.

2:48 p.m. Someone in Marion called in to talk about cats.

8:51 a.m. A woman who was taking care of someone’s pomeranian for the weekend reported that the dog’s hair was matted, the nails were long, and it was underweight. She reported that she had the dog groomed, clipped its nails and improved the weight situation.

[Blacksmith]

You know that if you collected those police blotter entries and included a brief follow up explanation on a few of the more interesting ones you could publish a best seller.

[quilbilly]

Boz, Can you explain to me why the US government needs to know what political party you are affiliated with? Here in Australia, as long as we are registered on the local, State and Federal voting rolls that is sufficient. What party I vote for is no ones business except mine.
sorry for the off topic -
It is all about primaries in states with what are called closed primaries where Democrats choose their own candidates and Republicans choose theirs. Unfortunately in states with open primaries where anyone can vote for anyone, if a party is disciplined enough, it can choose the oppositions candidate. In my state, the only party more disciplined than the Democrat Party was the Communist Party under Stalin who used firing squids and gulags to maintain discipline. The Dems routinely assign trojan horse candidates to run as Republicans to split the Republican vote.

[Wal']

@ quillbilly

again, sorry for the off topic,

Just when I think I have you election processes understood you go & throw that description in on your primaries.

Please no offence intended ...........but!!!!!!!

[Driver man]

I must admit to being pretty confused also. Here in New Zealand as long as you are registered to vote then its no business of anyone untill you vote.

[Love Life]

I live in Wellington, NV. Google that one.

I am dreading the move closer to Carson City...

[Kull]

Throws off my whole day if I have to stop at the light on the way to work in the morning.

Stop lights? What the heck are those? We don't have any of those in my county.

[Shepherd2]

"a small town of 20K"! We don't have that many people in the whole county. Our county seat has a population of 2K and 2 traffic lights. That's all the traffic lights in the county BTW. I moved from the big city 30 years ago to a small community and then to this smaller one 15 years ago. There's no going back for me.

[Harter66]

I live in a county w/ a cenus reported population density of 1.63. Mineral county is roughly the size of Maryland. The 5 towns in the county contain 90% of the population,there are 3 post offices , 1 DMV ,1 SO , 13 deputies, 5 HPs(sometimes 10 for events) , 6 fire depatments,150 miles of paved hiway,300 miles of unpaved hiway. Its 75 miles 1 way to the nearest Wal mart and 117 the other way to the nearest Kmart. I used to ride 12 miles to work on a dirt bike ,they changed where we park now its 16 miles to work and I'd have to cut town. It is kinda cool when some one askes how to get to Reno or Vegas and you say " go on to the stop light turn left , turn left at the flashing stop light, then straight on in to Vegas"..... knowing that the lights are 107 miles apart and its another 190 miles from the second light......

[jcwit]

1 DMV ,1 SO , 13 deputies, 5 HPs(sometimes 10 for events)

I'm pretty sure what a DMV is, but what the heck is a SO and a HP? Not sure if we have them or not. We do have a BT tho.

[oneokie]

Sheriff's Office
Highway Patrol

[jcwit]

Thanks oneoki.

Here in the Midwest Highway Patrol officers are referred to as State Police.
Sheriff Officers are either County or City Police.

Just a different way to referring to the same thing, coke, soda, pop, or a faucet, spigot, etc., etc.

Thanks.

[Jim]

Last night, Janet and I were watching 'Duck Dynasty'. Phil, the patriarch, was comparing life in the city to life in the country.

"In the city, if you have a problem, you call 911. Out here where we live, I AM 911!"

Janet pointed at me and busted out laughin'. I told her "That's exactly right!" :redneck:

[armedmoose]

Moved last summer to rural Iowa, so my 3 girls can grow up in a place I wanted to raise kids. So we packed our stuff and got out of Sacramento, CA.

We visited the wife's grandmother in the "big city" of Des Moines over the weekend, 2 hours away, I also got to shoot in my 1st NRA Rifle Match. The dog and I are happy to be back home, apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks on what "home" can be.

Born and raised on the beaches of Southern California, two things I miss from my youth, beaches and not having to pay attention to the weather caster.

[Boz330]

Ron,
It differs somewhat in each state. In KY you can be an independent but then you have no say in who is put up for election for any particular party. We have primary elections to determine who will run for each party in the major election. When I moved to KY the county that I live in was almost 100% Democrat. Had I registered as a Republican I would not had a say in the local politics which affect me the most because who ever won the Democratic Primary was the only person on the ballot for the major election. Because you are registered for one party or the other doesn't mean that you HAVE to vote for that party, it is still a free choice. You just have the right to pick the best candidate you think represents you for that party. Back then the Democrat party wasn't socialist like it is now. The southern Democrat was more closely aligned with the Republican viewpoint now.
As the county grew over the last 40 years the natural conservatism of country folks and new comers has caused a shift to the Republican Party by many of the locals. While the county still remains predominantly Democrat and many of the local officials are Democrats, our state representative and senator is a Republican. Our US congressman and senators are both Republican. In fact there is only 1 Democratic congressman from the entire state of KY and he is from Louisville the largest city in the state. Louisville also has the largest population of leeches on the dole from the federal government. As other folks have pointed out the different states have rules that suite them best. There are downfalls to every situation. I hope this explains it a little better.
KY is primarily a rural state with only 4.25 million folks. The county I live in had the best school system in the state at one time. I believe that it is still number 2 or 3. When school busing began in Louisville in the mid 70s there was an exodus to the surrounding counties to get away from it. While my county is somewhat far out the travel time isn't bad because there is an expressway close by so people can still commute to the city in reasonable time.
The county where my business is has 2 - traffic lights and they are in the only city in the county. The county that I deer hunt in has no traffic lights but does have a flashing caution light. While I wouldn't mind living in a more rural area I'm a little old to be moving now, and I can find a lot of rural in KY. MT and AK have way more winter than I care for. I liked NM when I was guiding hunters out there. I had considered buying some property out there but my income and source only allows so much flexibility. At 60 starting a new occupation would have been daunting at best. KY still has everthing and more that I originally moved here for.

Bob

[Guesser]

I live in the county seat, fewer than 2000. I can walk from one end of town to the other in 30 minutes. I walk everywhere I go in town. I have two vehicles that sometimes will go two weeks without being started. I walk by the high school parking lot and there are long guns in the racks of the p/u trucks. I walked by the elementary school last spring and watched two HS girls park their jeep and go inside; when I walked by the jeep I saw two 22 rifles on the back seat, gopher season, you know. Yeah, I like small towns. Everything I need is here, lumber, car dealers, plumber, machine shop, bars, churches, doctor, hospital, eye doctor, dentist, bakery, fishing, hunting, grocery store, plant nursery, flour mill, and more. YUP!!!!!!

[popper]

Small towns can be a hot bed of crime Yup. Suburb of ~17K, 22 LEO, 21 FD, 2nd safest DFW burb according to FBI. Only 119 serious crimes last year. Other than traffic, usually assault, sex crimes against kids, drugs, identity theft. Then there is the vandalism, suicides, run-away kids, etc. $36M budget, added tasers with attached video camera ($1200 ea) this year. In the '50s I grew up in a similar burb in another state. I think 3-4 LEO, volunteer FD, don't even remember any serious crime. Only involvement I had was when the old borrowed packard wouldn't start, rolled it into someone's drive and they called the LEO. All 3 squads showed up. Don't think I's seen the lights on before. And I've seen the grass grow.
Wills, what is wrong with deep east Texas? I assume you mean next to Louisiana.