The Varying Definition of Small Town

Often, when attending APA’s National Planning Conference I attend sessions are specifically dealing with issues in “small towns”. It is even part of the title to their session. Yet, once in attendance, the subject matter is in an east coast “small town” of 20,000 persons. Of course this creates smirk on my face and a chuckle in my head.

I’ve even tweeted a message echoing this thought:

To which APA’s STaR Division tweeted the following astute response:

As usual, their factual response makes one wonder. Does the disparity in the definition of “small town” alone create issues for those towns in the Midwest that fall well-below the population standard for small towns as perceived by those on the coasts?

However, there are also those who consider a “small town” to be defined by mindset, not so much by a population number. I work for a suburb of roughly 18,000 residents who regularly respond to surveys about the community with comments about how they “like the small town feel”. Of course I work to hold back my disdain for these comments as I think to myself, “how many small towns have six local arterial roads averaging over 10,000 cars a day?”

But it is that last word of that survey response that is the wildcard of that mindset.

“Feel”

Yes, to many it is not so much the amount of population. It is not so much about the 5-lane roads traversing through the community. Really, it is the feel of the community. It is the personal attention of the town staff, the activities provided by the community, the general sense of safety and comfort in your surroundings.

I guess no matter what population-based definition of “small town” you lean to, it is more about the feel than a numeric cut-off point.