The Ups and Downs of Small Town Living

So I'm finally done with school, and it's basically everything I dreamed it would be: independence, lower stress, less drama, etc. Maybe I'll be singing a different tune later on but for once in my life I feel content in the moment. I ended up moving to a small town because I really liked the office that I interviewed at. From the first interaction with the office manager over the phone, I felt welcome and accommodated--an impression which continued into the interview and still remains true today. Coming from living in the "city" which I prefer to call "suburbs", everyone asks me how I am adjusting to such a huge change. My default instinct is to say it's going well and it's not that big a change. It really hasn't been as much a shock as people expect it to have been, and maybe it's partly because I did one of my undergrad co-ops in an even smaller town with a mere population of 1k. Other things that have made the transition easier are my heavily introverted personality and the addition of my latest family member: Percy. See my baby below. :)

On the personality spectrum of cats, he's on the friendlier, more affectionate, but also more active and passionate side. Every time I come home from work or even an excursion for a couple hours, he waddles up to the door to greet me and expects an imminent cuddle session. Conversely, he is not afraid to express his general grumpiness or displeasure with overpetting by administering a swift bite where "necessary". Anyway, I told myself I wouldn't be one of THOSE parents, yet here I am. Back on topic...

I enjoy the small town life because it's cute to have (almost) everything in a centralized area, be able to walk around and appreciate things more without too much extra noise (and other types of) pollution. The community is pretty tight-knit; everyone grew up together and either knows everyone else or knows someone else who does. Don't have an obvious connection with someone? Just give your last name and your family name will usually speak for you. Despite it being a "small town", there are regular events put on by volunteers. I think having a more intimate community gives everyone more stake in everything and it's probably the closest thing I've experienced to altruism in my waking life. I think that's saying a lot considering my cynical opinions about humanity. 

Side note: maybe to be more humane humans what we need is fewer options and a simpler lifestyle to give us clarity of the important things in life. Something I definitely don't miss about the GTA is the clutter. That's the simplest way to embody my greatest dislike about urban living. 

Don't get me wrong. Small town living has its disadvantages too. As a bit of an outsider to the area, it's been difficult to integrate myself socially. I admit this is partially my fault too because I'm not much of a small talker and the number of patient faces I see every day is a little overwhelming to make lasting connections even if I ran into them in the community. There are the few exceptions where I can imprint the face/name in my long term memory because they either had extensive dental work done or there's some additional association with the individual outside of work (i.e. drop-in sports, exercise classes). I am told it will take time, but with my somewhat closed off INTJ personality, I am a bit skeptical. The last major qualm I have with the small town life is the lack of restaurants. Perhaps it's the "city girl" in me, but I love my high quality, ethnically diverse foods. I don't think I'm pretentious enough to label myself a foodie, but eating delicious food is truly one of my greatest life pleasures. On the upside, it's given me no choice but to work on my cooking level. This I do begrudgingly--even in runescape, this skill wasn't one I enjoyed working on. 

Other smaller praises/complaints: 
PROS: 
-cheaper housing due to lower demand 
-pedestrian traffic buttons are extremely responsive--I'm talking like within 10 seconds the orange hand starts flashing (I really appreciate this as a "city girl")
-great support for community recreational programs--currently loving the free drop-in badminton and soccer 
-people are generally friendlier (appreciate this as a fellow citizen)
-and lower maintenance/more reasonable (appreciate this as a dentist)
-cottage country and the beaches are shockingly close (just need travel companions)

CONS: 
-expensive country internet and utilities 
-hot water is slower to take 
-harsher winters and power goes out more often than in the city
-inadequate health care (nearly impossible to find a family doctor)