{"id":339,"date":"2014-11-21T20:17:09","date_gmt":"2014-11-21T20:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=339"},"modified":"2014-11-21T20:17:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-21T20:17:59","slug":"living-in-a-small-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/living-in-a-small-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Living in a small town:"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jennifer Halley – Campus Life Editor<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whether you live in Monmouth, Corvallis, or Dallas, you know what it\u2019s like to live in a small town \u2013 a place that is just a blip on the map. <\/p>\n

But small town living, despite its slow pace and lack of variety, can be a rewarding place to be a part of: less noise, everything is nearby \u2013 you don\u2019t have to drive everywhere \u2013 and small, local businesses offer originality.<\/p>\n

This does not mean that small towns aren\u2019t associated with the tell-tale signs it is, indeed, a small town. But that\u2019s what it makes it fun, right? <\/p>\n

Here are 6 signs you live in a small town:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\tYou have to drive 20 minutes just to go to the mall, and the nearest Taco Bell is 15 minutes away.<\/em><\/p>\n

Generally speaking, small towns are secluded from everything else. And surrounded by rural land, it is a drive just to get to the next town or city. While shopping at Bi-Mart can be a convenient, one-stop trip \u2013 and you can buy everything from light bulbs to nail polish \u2013 it just isn\u2019t the Salem Center Mall. <\/p>\n

2.\tAlmost everything closes after 9 p.m., and the midnight munchies are put on hold.<\/em><\/p>\n

With small towns come early closing hours, the exception being one or two restaurants, and the corner quick stop. And from 9-midnight, those places are packed with the late-night owls, the student trying to pull an all-nighter, or the people trying to find something stimulating to do. But other than those few open-till-midnight-or-later places, your choices are limited.
\nAshleigh Hawkins, a senior at Western Oregon, grew up in Medford, Ore, a city that is considerably larger than Monmouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt home I am used to Fred Meyer being open until 11 p.m. and having a 24 hour Winco about five minutes from my house,\u201d Hawkins said. <\/p>\n

3.\tEveryone knows everyone.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no such thing as anonymity,\u201d Mary Eiswerth, a woman who has lived in Monmouth for 15 years, said.
\nEisworth has it right. And depending on how you look at it, that can be a blessing or a curse. Everyone knowing everyone can give one a sense of community, and for Alyssa Loza, who used to live in Corvallis and now lives in Monmouth, that was what she liked about a smaller town. <\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I enjoy living in a small town. I like the environment and living here to go to college helps me stay focused on school.\u201d
\nThat is not the case for everyone, though. Andrea Byars, a former student at Western, said that small towns are crowded and that it is \u201ceither a blessing or a curse, depending upon you, your lifestyle and where you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

4.\tYou will get stuck driving behind a tractor. Multiple times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes. You\u2019ve all been there \u2013 just driving along, music blasting through the speakers and all of a sudden, traffic is backed up due to a tractor. Although by this point, it\u2019s a common thing and you\u2019re used to it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to live in a small town,\u201d Byars said, \u201cI hope you\u2019re prepared to stare blankly at the back of a tractor for 15 slow miles.\u201d Small towns are known for their slower ways of life; tractor traffic is just an aspect of that. <\/p>\n

5.\t\u201cWhere\u2019s that at?\u201d is a common question when you explain where you live.<\/em><\/p>\n

Being a small town means that not everyone knows where you are located. Confused looks, raised eyebrows and \u201chuh?\u201d follow the \u201cwhere do you live?\u201d and it\u2019s a feat to try and get them to understand where your little town exists. <\/p>\n

Stefanie Mathers has lived in Lebanon, Oregon for the past 20 years and said she gets confused looks from people when they ask where she lives.
\n\u201cI have to explain that it\u2019s by Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis,\u201d Mathers said. <\/p>\n

6.\tYou are a part of the community. <\/em><\/p>\n

College towns such as Monmouth and Corvallis host community festivals for the 4th of July, according to Westerndays.net and downtowncorvallis.org. Monmouth has had an annual tree lighting celebration every December since 1967, the archives at Western said. You really get to know people and for Randy Caamel \u2013 a Monmouth resident \u2013 he actually knows who his neighbors are, something not seen in bigger cities. <\/p>\n

Ashley Sigl, who lives in Amity, similarly said, \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like growing up with a huge family. Some members are quite distant and estranged, whereas others are at your house every weekend for a beer and a campfire. But regardless of how close you are, when you need them, they\u2019re there.\u201d <\/p>\n

Living in a small town can be a different experience for everyone.
\n \u201cBig cities stimulate [and] small towns nurture,\u201d Eiswerth said.
\n It just depends on the experience you want to have. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

7 signs you do, most certainly, live miles outside of the nearest city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}