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Why would anyone choose to live in a small town? Certainly not for many museums within a short drive, dealers in rare books and Sixties memorabilia around the corner, and traffic jams twice daily. When my family and I moved here in 1986, I wasn't sure how well I'd adjust to living outside a metropolitan area. My name is Brian. This is what I've learned about living here: I've learned how good it is to live where I can walk to work, breathe clean air, own a comfortable house and raise children in a family-friendly place. This Web site began in 1997, when I decided to discuss a real small town on the Web. Up to 1986, I had spent most of my life in urban areas. Even the place I grew up in, Fargo-Moorhead, had a population of around 100,000 by the time I graduated from high school. Since my youth, I have been aware of a widely-held opinion that people in small towns were idiotic hicks. I also knew people in small towns, and realized that there was a dichotomy between the common "small town hick" stereotype and the people who actually lived in places that corresponded to Green Acres. This I-live-in-a-city-and-so-am-superior attitude hasn't died out. I read a column by the renowned humorist Dave Barry recently. He was responding to mail he had received after running a column about North Dakota. He wrote "I got mail from every resident of North Dakota (a total of almost 150 letters)." He observed that North Dakota is "like Paris, Disney World and Las Vegas all rolled into one, minus the hotels, restaurants, attractions, Louvre museum, roads, etc." From this sample, and others, I assume that witty, sophisticated, urbane humor hasn't changed very much in the last thirty years. I'll admit that central Minnesota isn't exactly the center of the world in terms of culture. I doubt, for example, that Britney Spears will ever do a concert here. Not that we have to look very far afield for musical entertainment: Sauk Centre has the Nite Owls! So, that's why I created this Web site: to show the positive side of small town America, at least the part I live in. Brian ("Born to Grill") |
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Text in the I Love It Here! section is copyright © Brian H. Gill 1997-2003 |
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This page last updated: December 19, 2010