How small are we talking? I moved from a large city (Ft. Lauderdale, FL 185k people) to an insanley large city (Brooklyn, NY 2.6 million) then as a sort of whip lash decided I wanted rural living so I took my RV to an area I was thinking of buying a few acres in (Mossyrock, WA ~1000 people) and plopped for a few months. It was not for me. Real “one coffee shop, one restaraunt, one bar” type place and while I loved it initially, the pain-in-the ass of day to day living was too much. Think 20 min drives to the closest gas station, 45 min drives to the nearest large grocer.

After moving around the area quite a bit, I landed on a place with ~35k people and to me, after two years, I am still loving it. Feels like small town rural living but downtown is a 10 min drive away with a bunch of eateries, bars, nightlife, etc.

Pros of ‘smaller’ town living (after trying a few areas that passed the vibe check):

• Community. With everything going on in the world right now it feels like you are powerless. Shrinking the scope of your action to your neighbors and your immediate area empowers you to make change in a way you’ve never felt before. You can participate and have direct impact in all sorts of ways, from city council meetings, to improvement projects, to just participating in a local farmers market.
• Safety. Some people may see this as a negative, and I guess it could be depending on how invasive your direct neighbors are lol, but for me on 5 acres it’s been incredible. Everyone knows if something is amiss and are not afraid to ‘ring the alarm’ as it were. When I first bought the property I was parking along the road as it was very overgrown, countless people stopped and asked if I needed help with the car (assuming I had broken down) then proceeded to introduce themselves and have met a ton of people in this way.
• Affordability. Land and housing is cheaper, groceries stay the same (assuming you are near a main interstate). You can buy a house for the price of an apartment in a large city.
• Quiet. Being in a large city is being in the belly of the beast. The gears are turning all night long. With smaller city living, it’s the opposite, peace and quiet, take a deep breath and relax. Night life and night owls still exist, but you have to go hunt them down.
• Less Police Presence. Crime rates drop inordinately as the population decreases, and with that, you see a lot less “boys in blue” - furthermore, because it’s usually just a few people, you get to know them and have less anxiety with interactions.
• Gardens and Greenery. Speaks for itself, less population density == less concrete paradise == more biodiversity.

Cons:

• Commute. If you don’t have a WFH gig, most smaller cities will not have an abundance of the type of work you do. You’ll most likely have a commute so somewhere with light rail might be awesome for you if that’s the case.
• Gentrification. Depending on where you come from and where you are moving to, you might be seen as a sort of ‘colonizer.’ I don’t get that sneer but I did get several people making sure I was not coming from California LOL.
• Slower Pace. In FL it’s known colloquially as “Cuban Time” basically meaning that time estimates should be taken with a grain of salt. The pace of the life is slower in a small town and you might find services taking forever to be completed. If you can relax and go with the flow though, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Ok this turned into an essay, this new coffee bean smacks. Best of luck!