Different Towns

Today daughter Lee and I drove to (fictional) Centerville to visit other daughter Eve.  The three of us talked somewhat about the differences between the towns in which we live, or have lived.

Lee lives in  (fictional) Maintown, a city which has two different colleges, and all the accompanying students and faculty and support staff.  The academic environment  produces a collection of over-achievers,  highly professional and intellectual people.  It is also trendy, environmentally conscious with a very low rate of unemployment.

Centerville, on the other hand, is in a different county, and the town itself is quite isolated---and hour at least from anywhere else.   There is a higher rate of unemployment, or underemployment, with very few opportunities.  There is a big problem with heroin and meth. (though that is true of everywhere these days).   The educational level is much lower than in Maintown.   Maintown is all about excellence and achievement.  Centerville is more about making do and getting by.  One tends to be primarily Republican, the other primarily Democrat.

I have lived and/or worked in Centerville in the past.   Before retiring and moving to  Cortland, where we now live,  I  lived in a community which was very similar to Centerville, a small isolated town.

I consider the culture of my current city somewhere in between the over-achievers and the making- doers.  The atmosphere is more laid back than Maintown and less cutthroat competitive.

It is fascinating to me how different the personality, culture, opportunities, and character of a town or city can be.

When I think about these things, I realize that I have lived in and/or served churches in the whole range of different kinds of communities.  The area in which I grew up, and the first church I served, were very rural.   I have lived in several small towns, each of which has its own unique characteristics.  I lived in a suburban area, outside of a sizable city.  (It occurs to me that I have never lived out in the country, away from any town).

Cortland is a small city.  It offers many cultural opportunities.  It is a college town, and has lots of faculty and students and sports and a performing arts center.   It is not economically depressed.   It has lots of tennis courts and is close to the ski slopes.

We did not really know anything about its culture until we had lived here a while.  It is clearly just right for us.   We chose it for its convenience and an assortment of other reasons.  We were not at all familiar with its culture or character.

Now that we have lived here a while,  we are very glad that we made this particular choice!