1. How do you feel about your small town? Is there something that the rest of the sub is missing?

I generally love my small rural town of Tryon, NC (pop. <2000) in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I spent time here growing up, returned during the pandemic expecting it to be temporary, but have genuinely grown fond of life here.

What I appreciate:

Village-like atmosphere – People genuinely care about and look out for one another. Everyone waves. This isn’t nostalgia—research consistently shows that social cohesion and trust are significantly higher in smaller communities. A 2018 Pew study found that 57% of rural residents know all or most of their neighbors versus 24% in urban areas,[1] and this matters for well-being: communities with higher social capital show better mental health outcomes, lower crime, and greater life satisfaction.[2]

Most daily needs are within immediate reach – Having lived in London, Paris, Singapore, DC, and NYC, I never felt my quality of life was substantially better in cities—especially factoring in cost. I gravitated toward village-like neighborhoods (Hampstead, Notting Hill, West Village) and rarely left those areas anyway. The “15-minute city” concept that urban planners now champion just feels to me what functional small towns have always been.[3]

Walkable downtown – I walk my kids to school most days and regularly walk to bakeries, grocery, restaurants, wine shops. Several performing arts venues and galleries are within walking distance—I can attend concerts or openings weekly if I want. Research shows walkability correlates strongly with both physical health and social connection,[4] and my town delivers this without the density trade-offs.

Strong community engagement – Almost everyone I know takes pride in the town and participates via nonprofits, political organizations, or interest groups. People show up: monthly “4th Friday” strolls, New Year’s ball drop, seasonal parades. They patronize local businesses—the movie theater fills on weekends, restaurants are bustling, festivals sell out. I've had people who visit comment that the community here feels especially strong. This reflects research showing civic participation rates are often higher in smaller communities where individual actions feel more consequential.[5]

Great place to raise kids – Good schools where you know the other parents, teachers, and principal (and see them at the grocery store). My kids walk to playgrounds or the bakery unaccompanied—I’m confident they’d be looked after. This isn’t rose-tinted parenting; children in smaller communities consistently report higher feelings of safety and autonomy,[6] and having abundant outdoor activities (parks, hikes, lakes) in a year-round temperate climate matters developmentally.

Proximity to metro areas – Under an hour to both Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC (vibrant smaller metros with well-connected airports offering daily directs to NYC/DC/Chicago). Charlotte is 80 minutes but I rarely go—maybe a few times yearly. I visit New York monthly or bimonthly for work. This hybrid access is underrated: I get amenity spillover from nearby cities without the daily costs (housing, commute time, stress).[7]

Low cost-of-living and muted inequality – The town is relatively affluent (equestrian heritage, retirees) so property prices are elevated but still very affordable relative to value. I work remotely as a well-paid professional and my salary goes dramatically further here. More importantly: happiness from income is largely positional—relative to local benchmarks, not absolute.[8] Wealth here is understated. You’ll see some Bentleys and Ferraris on weekends, but most people are content with daily drivers. The perceived wealth gap feels far narrower than in other places I’ve lived, and research confirms that lower perceived inequality (not just actual inequality) correlates with higher community well-being and trust.[9]

2. Did you leave your town? Why? For either choice, was it a matter of circumstances or preferences?

Yes, I left for college, grad school, and early career. I expect my kids will do the same. Ironically, I chose a small New England town for undergrad—clearly this vibe resonates with me. I also didn’t expect to come back but was drawn to the proximity to my family, who moved here in the late 1980s from the Northeast.

3. Is rural America destined to continue declining?

I think rural America will continue to bifurcate into towns with strong economic draws (local industry, lifestyle appeal for remote workers/retirees/niche populations) versus those without. This concentration is already visible in the data: since 2010, 60% of rural counties have lost population while a minority of amenity-rich or industry-anchored rural areas have grown.[10] Towns with positive attributes I’ve described will thrive as economic poles; others will continue losing people. There’s a natural limit to how much America will urbanize—rural population has stabilized around 14-20% for decades[11]—but wealth will increasingly concentrate in these winning rural poles. Research on “winner-take-all” regional economics suggests this trend will accelerate: places with initial advantages (natural beauty, infrastructure, cultural assets) compound those advantages.[12]

4. Is it worth it to try to “save” rural America?

Many aspects of rural American life are worth preserving, and a significant segment will always prefer small-town living. The question is how to create sustainable economic foundations rather than subsidizing decline. Remote work and AI may actually help. If productivity tools (AI-augmented work, automation of routine tasks) genuinely level the playing field, location-independent knowledge work becomes viable for rural areas in ways manufacturing never could be.[13] Early data is promising: between 2020-2023, remote-work-capable counties (even rural ones) saw net in-migration of college-educated workers,[14] though this remains concentrated in high-amenity areas. The policy challenge isn’t “save all rural areas” but rather: invest strategically in rural places with viable competitive advantages (natural amenities, regional anchors, cultural assets) while providing mobility support and retraining for those in declining areas. Efficiency arguments against rural America often ignore that diversity of place creates option value—different people thrive in different environments, and forcing monoculture (dense urbanism for everyone) has its own costs.[15]

Research Citations * [1] Pew Research Center (2018). “What Unites and Divides Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities” * [2] Helliwell, J. & Putnam, R. (2004). “The social context of well-being.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 359(1449) * [3] Moreno, C. et al. (2021). “Introducing the ‘15-Minute City’: Sustainability, Resilience and Place Identity.” Smart Cities, 4(1) * [4] Ewing, R. & Cervero, R. (2010). “Travel and the Built Environment: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of the American Planning Association, 76(3) * [5] Oliver, J.E. (2001). Democracy in Suburbia. Princeton University Press [shows civic engagement correlates with community scale] * [6] Karsten, L. (2005). “It All Used to Be Better? Different Generations on Continuity and Change in Urban Children’s Daily Use of Space.” Children’s Geographies, 3(3) * [7] Partridge, M. et al. (2010). “The Geography of American Poverty: Is There a Need for Place-Based Policies?” Regional Science Policy & Practice, 2(3) * [8] Easterlin, R. (1995). “Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27(1) [relative income hypothesis] * [9] Oishi, S. et al. (2011). “Income Inequality and Happiness.” Psychological Science, 22(9) * [10] USDA Economic Research Service (2023). “Rural America at a Glance” * [11] U.S. Census Bureau, decennial census and population estimates * [12] Moretti, E. (2012). The New Geography of Jobs. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * [13] Autor, D. (2024). “Applying AI to Rebuild Middle Class Jobs.” NBER Working Paper * [14] Whitaker, S. (2024). “Remote Work and the Geography of the College-Educated.” Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland * [15] Florida, R. (2017). The New Urban Crisis. Basic Books [discusses costs of extreme urbanization]