If you ask me, small towns are the new frontier. Now that more people are working remotely, they don’t feel tied to the fast-paced, rat-race vibe of giant cities, and tons of them are relocating to little villages and towns. This includes families, professionals of all ages, and people spanning multiple generations. Small towns are where it’s at!
But plenty of these folks worry about losing out on social life, culture, and connection once they leave urban life behind. They’re thrilled about lower taxes, affordable housing, and a slower pace of life, but concerned that they’ll feel isolated and bored in their new digs.
My own work revolves around turning small towns into bustling, family-friendly communities, so I’ve got plenty of insights to share! I even mentor savvy women to completely transform houses through creative flipping and embrace the importance of building strong ties with local residents. Small towns are my favorite places, and I’m here to tell you how to relocate to one without sacrificing what you love best about your big city lifestyle.
Do your research
This may sound like a no-brainer, but I’m mentioning it just in case: scope out your small town before you commit, and make sure it’s got a handful of cultural attractions. If you’re a film buff and move to a town that’s 150 miles from the nearest movie theater, you’ll just make yourself miserable. If you’re an avid foodie and pick a village that only has two restaurants and they’re both mom-and-pop diners, you’re signing up for a life of misery! Set yourself up for success by picking a town that has what you love about your big city, but on a smaller scale. Plenty of little towns are packed with galleries, bars, boutiques, museums, and music venues. Just because you want to relocate to a quieter area doesn’t mean you have to carve out a life for yourself in the middle of nowhere.
Bring your friends with you
This may sound like something that only young, unmarried people can manage, but I assure you it’s not! Sure, it’s a cinch for a group of twentysomethings to leave the mean streets of Chicago where they’ve been living in an overpriced apartment, and rent a huge house in Racine, Wisconsin instead. But families and retirees can make this happen, too. If you can convince just one member of your current friend group to make the move along with you, more will follow. I’ve seen it happen again and again. Social circles leave the city together, and colonize a gorgeous small town. It makes the transition much easier!
Join local groups right away
Whenever you move to a new area, it’s tempting to give yourself a few months to “settle in” and “get your bearings.” My advice? Don’t! Inertia will get the best of you, and you’ll end up feeling lonely and lost. Before you’ve got your boxes unpacked, start investigating groups in your new hometown that share your interests. If you’re a knitter, look for yarn shops and knitting groups. If you play a sport, track down leagues and teams that are taking new players. Audition for choirs, sign up for classes, get out into the community and connect with people who love the same things that you do.
Don’t go too far afield
There’s nothing wrong with finding a small town or village that’s within driving distance of your current home! You might crave life in a place with a slower pace, but you can definitely visit your big city friends, family, and favorite places whenever you want. My advice would be to look farther out than outer-ring suburbs, but no more than 90 minutes drive if you want easy access to your city of choice. This gives you just enough distance to feel like you’re in a different part of the world, but not so much that you can’t pop into town for a concert or a shopping trip.
Identify your suppliers
It’s totally unreasonable to expect your small town to have all the places, resources, and attractions you’re used to in your current city. So find out how you can bring some of those faves along with you. If you adore the coffee at the corner roastery, find out if they ship their beans. If you are an avid shopper in neighborhood boutiques, jot down the brands they carry and see what can be bought online. If you know you’ll miss something about the city, get creative about incorporating it into your small town life.
Your real goal, here, is recreating your lifestyle in a new place, which is more about changing than losing. When you retire you are likely to experience a HUGE loss of lifestyle as your business, community, meaningful work, daily rituals, and routines all change or disappear. But you can exercise control over how that change takes shape. The reason I came out of retirement was to recreate what I had lost, but at a very different pace. I didn’t want the grind or hustle-bustle of a full-time business, but I did want the rewarding work of real estate investment, renovating houses, and saving tiny, unloved towns from economic oblivion. So I designed a life for myself that had all the elements I loved best in a new setting.
And you can do the same! As long as you select your small town carefully and vet it to make sure it has a few key features of your big city life, you can rebuild your lifestyle piece by piece.