I live in a large city and am living in a much smaller city in the US for two months. It’s the size of some suburbs of my city, but it’s a city in itself. The nearest larger city is close to an hour’s drive away.
The differences
People are friendlier here. People in my city are typically friendly in their jobs or if you stop and ask for directions. But if you pass someone in your neighbourhood when you’re walking, you don’t usually say anything unless you know each other. If I greet them, people usually respond, but they’re almost never the first ones to offer a greeting. Here, on the other hand, greetings between strangers are normal. And it’s more common to get to know your neighbours through small talk, which makes it easier to wave at them if you see them.
Kids play more. In my city, I live in a residential neighbourhood, but I only occasionally see kids playing. In this city, I see kids playing in the yard or riding their bikes every time I go out when the weather is good. They walk places in the neighbourhood more too. In larger cities, parents get their kids involved in a lot of structured activities and drive them everywhere. Fear of child predators lurks in big-city minds, and most parents would rather keep their kids in sight of a responsible adult than allow them the freedom and risks we enjoyed as kids.
Fewer adults get around by bicycle. I mostly see kids on bikes and a few adults going short distances on heavy old bikes. Although the city has some marked bike routes, I’ve seen only one other cyclist like the type I’m used to seeing in my city — knows how to ride in traffic, is fit, has a lightweight bike, is wearing cycling clothing. When I ride to the grocery store here wearing my bike shorts, I’m the only person in the store dressed for cycling. Bicycling for transportation and pleasure is much more a lifestyle in my city.
I haven’t seen many bike racks here either. Of the three stores and the bank I’ve cycled to so far, two had the old type of bike rack (the kind that you can lock only the front wheel to unless you lock your bike at the end of the rack), and two had no bike racks of any type. Then again, the climate is different here. Winters start earlier, are colder, and have snow more often. Bicycling isn’t as easy to do year-round.
The population density in this city is much lower than in my city. Most housing here is houses. I’ve seen only a few apartments here, no townhouses, and no high-rises. Downtown is smaller; it feels much less busy. And on the topic of houses, you can buy a three-bedroom house here for less than the price of a one-bedroom condo where I’m from.
The population here is less diverse, at least from what I’ve seen so far. My city has people with a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles along with events to celebrate each one. But more diversity is to be expected in a city with 10 times the population of a smaller city.
Food choices are less diverse too. I’m still looking for a grocery store with a wide range of produce, preferably organic, that isn’t cut up and packaged in plastic. Even the health food stores here have what to me are small produce sections. On the other hand, the increased packaging goes with the greater convenience offered here. Drive-through banks and drive-through drugstores save you from parking and walking into the bank or drugstore. Cauliflower that’s aready cut up and wrapped saves you from having to cut it up for dinner.
The stores here are less crowded. At home, I try to avoid going to a grocery store after about 4 PM, especially on weekends, because a lot of people pick up groceries on the way home from work. In this city, grocery stores aren’t crowded even then.
Both cities have rush hour, but traffic flows better in this city. The traffic problems in my city became worse about 10 to 15 years ago, when the population began increasing fast. Here, the traffic can keep moving more easily in rush hour.
Perhaps because of the lower population density, things to go to are often further apart than they are in my city. In my city, a health-food store is a five-minute walk away, and two other large grocery stores are less than 10 minutes away by bike. I can walk or ride to a lot of stores, services, and events within 20 minutes. Here, one grocery store is a just a few blocks away, but the health food stores are 25 to 30 minutes away by bike. Some other things I’ve gone to or would like to go to are also quite far away.
The similarities
They’re both cities. They have arterial streets and side streets, the usual services, and people who interact in the same ways. The accents are a bit different, but the language is the same. As someone who works from home, my daily routine is similar here — I cook and eat, work at my computer, go shopping and do other errands on my bike, watch some TV, and fill my days with the same types of interactions and activities as in my city.
The comparison
Both cities offer fewer choices than the other in some areas and more in other areas. What I like best about living in this smaller city is the friendliness of the people and the more relaxed pace. I didn’t expect to feel a difference in pace when I don’t have to commute to work. But the reduced amount of traffic, the absence of skyscrapers, and the less busy stores give the city a different ambience than my city has. And I like it. 