I love living in a small town!
Now, let me admit, my “small town” isn’t super small. I know several CBA pals who live in REALLY small towns. My town, Martinez, has about 48,000 people in it, so my “real” small town friends may scoff at me.
My wife and I love the “town” feel of Martinez and while the town is certainly big enough that many residents (maybe most, I don’t know) may not share the small town vibe. But we live right downtown, and are very involved in the town’s activities – the politics, the arts and music and the people. On top of that, my wife has taught at the local pre-school for over 30 years.
So, nearly every little shop or business in Martinez has people who either came through my wife’s school, or whose kids did. Couple that with my involvement in the local music scene, and we are deeply entrenched here.
This visibility can cut both ways. Anyone in trouble in Martinez is very likely to get an outpouring of help and concern from their neighbors. Conversely, it’s not a good town to have any secrets, because they won’t stay secrets. If you’re lucky, they might just reach “rumor” status, but they won’t stay secret for long.
Yes, the small town goldfish bowl may reveal more that we might wish, but the trade-off is to be part of a sense of community that is downright Capra-esque. And being part of that community makes me feel like a better, more involved human being. It gives life more meaning to pitch in and give time, effort and money.
Of course, a cynic would say my “small town” is really just my neighborhood in a larger town, and maybe that’s true. But I have lived in neighborhoods that didn’t have the same sense of community, even after some considerable effort to create it. Maybe it’s just easier to rally around the notion of a home town than a home turf…
Like most small towns, we sweat the details – how to attract businesses, how to make our town a “destination.” Lately, we have had some very interesting developments – two new breweries opened up and a third is planned – this would make 4 in walking distance of each other, and walking distance from the Amtrak station.
In addition we’ve had some very nice restaurants open up, and this, coupled with the breweries seems to bode well for folks visiting on evenings and weekends.
And, for the coup de grace, we have a pro baseball team! The Martinez Clippers’ first game in their new ballpark will be on May 31st. I can’t wait. I bet if Bill Monroe was still around, he and his Bluegrass Boys would challenge the Clippers to a game – and I’d be conflicted as who to root for!
