Small Town Life Versus the Big City
One of the unique qualities of the United States is the wide diversity between its cities and towns. Southern small towns tend to have more spicy food and beautiful spacious land while bigger cities in the north tend to have more diversity, but are overpopulated. I was raised in a very little town in the Midwest, but the Navy has moved me to many different places throughout my eventful career. Two places I have lived that are very different are Beardstown, Illinois and San Diego, California. Life in the small town of Beardstown greatly contrasts from the huge city of San Diego.
San Diego and Beardstown differ in cultural influences and traditional celebrations. Beardstown has more of an British influence, from it’s founder Thomas Beard. On the other hand, San Diego predominately has a Spanish influence from missionaries because the English conquistadors decided turn away to look for treasures such as gold. These influences carry on in traditional festivals and celebrations. Beardstown’s “Fall Fun Festival” is a free annual event that includes a parade and a popular country band performing in the town square. San Diego’s “Mardi Gras” differs in that it is much bigger with five stages of popular bands, fifteen city blocks of bars and entertainment in the historic gas lamp district, and a twenty dollar entrance fee.
Entertainment and shopping are San Diego’s best qualities, but unfortunately they are lacking in Beardstown. Beardstown doesn’t have any designer stores and its number one shopping center is the city Wal-Mart with two dollar stores. On the other hand San Diego offers more variety with many malls and even outlet malls filled with trendy new fashions and accessories. San Diego also offers more entertainment than Beardstown such as the famous San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and Wild animal park. Beardstown does not have a zoo, the closet is an hour away. No one can ever say there is nothing to do in San Diego because it also has a large assortment of night clubs, bars, and coffee shops. . The entertainment venue of Beardstown has a few bars, but the dance floor to the only club is usually empty and the only thing to do at the bar is play pool. San Diego offers 18 different museums such as The San Diego Museum of Art, The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, and the San Diego Natural History Museum. Beardstown differs in that it only offers one museum, the Lincoln Courthouse Museum. San Diego has some of the most beautiful beaches in California to swim, make sand castles, snorkel, surf, and many other activities. However, Beardstown has a river but it is not recommended for fishing or swimming due to pollution.
Beardstown is different from San Diego in it’s community living. I have noticed that in slow-paced Beardstown if someone is walking down a hallway and meets eyes with another person, someone is likely to say, “Hello.” But in bustling San Diego, people are more likely to just keep walking without a single word exchanged either because they are too busy or there are too many people.. Beardstown also has a stronger community bond than San Diego because most people know of each other’s families. Living in the Beardstown community usually means owning your own large house on a very spacious property. San Diego differs in that community living usually means an expensive, cramped apartment or condominium with no yard. The community of Beardstown is also much more pleasant in the sounds you hear than San Diego. Although sitting outside on a breezy Illinois night consists of many mosquitoes, most people enjoy listening to the ambiance of the crickets and toads in the distance. San Diego differs in that it is bug-free, but no matter where you go in the city you will hear some type of traffic almost all hours.
The weather of Beardstown differs from San Diego in many ways. San Diego is known for having the most moderate temperature all year with an average of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Beardstown climate is quite extreme, in summer temperatures are between 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity and winters are usually damp and cold between 12-29 degrees Fahrenheit. San Diego has a small rainy season between November and February, yet Beardstown is known to have precipitation in the form of snow or rain at any time throughout the year. The residents of Beardstown fear either floods and tornadoes most of the year, and on the contrary to San Diegans tornadoes aren’t a natural occurrence and flooding is only a worry if you live near a river during the rainy season.
Beardstown and San Diego are two very different places to live in regards to entertainment, community life, and cultural influences. The movie Elizabethtown reminds me of the differences between my hometown of Beardstown and San Diego. The movie Elizabethtown was about a man from a big city who sees the differences between a metropolis area and an old fashioned small town when his father passes away. Beardstown is like Elizabethtown in that it’s a quiet city where everyone knows each other’s family., the tragedy of a death, impacts the entire town. In contrast San Diego is too populous to know everyone so it definitely is like a person is a small fish in a big pond. |