I used to live in a city but didnt really talk to anyone else. Everyone kept themself to themselves.
We moved to a mid sized town where everyone knew everyone else. It was very friendly with neighbours having drinks and parties round each others houses and looking out for each other. It was really lovely. Loads of social events in the community too. I remember joining in with the town parades, remembrance parades, special events, street parties and loads of other things. I really miss the friendliness of that community.
I now live in a small semi rural market town. The locals are rude and dont like outsiders. I haven't spoken to a neighbour in my street probably getting on for 15 or 20 years. Im not local so I'm not included in anything in the community. If I attend council meetings etc I'm told my opinion doesn't count as only locals experience x y or z problems. Ive been here almost 25 years!
Several of my children were born here but at the primary school they still got the old 'yes, but youre not from here' type comment when they wanted to volunteer for the towns king or queen of the carnival.
Whats really crap is the 'locals' constantly harping on about what a lovely town this is and what a fantastic community there is. They post all over Facebook about how lucky everyone is to live in such a wonderful place. I despair at their ignorance to how rude and unwelcoming they really are.
The funny thing is that my dh family were major contributors to the town throughout the 1800s. Had they not made significant donations to various causes then the church wouldnt be standing, the free school would never have been built to provide a free education to the poor of the parish and the town hall wouldnt have its clock. Theres a plaque with dh great grandfathers name thanking him for his huge amount of work for the towns people. Yet we are not accepted as part of this community. We have even invited neighbours round for a bbq and they just dont show up with no explanation.
Give me a mid sized town any day. This small rural town life is dreadful.