I moved to a small town in the Mississippi Delta for a transitional promotion 25 years ago this week. Lived in a town of 25,000 (which is HUGE by Delta standards) until shortly after my divorce in 1997.
A few observations/recollections:
Mississippi itself is often referred to by locals as the largest small town in the U.S. Statewide, everbody knows everybody and has some connection somewhere along the way.
Three days after I moved to the Delta I went to a grocery store. I didn't have enough cash on me and had just opened a local checking account. This was BDC...Before Debit Cards. All I had were blank counter checks and an out of state DL. Clerk looked at me and said "Oh I know who you are...you replaced so-n-so who retired last month. You moved here from Lexington, KY. You rented an apartment from Lydia. Your check is fine."
I metand statrted dating a local Ole Miss debutante queen. Doors were opened immediately for me. I was selected to head up the arts foundation, participated in community theatre, put on community advisory boards, chamber of commerce, etc. Invited to the best parties, the nicest deer camps, country clubs, duck hunting retreats. We married three years later. Doors were really opened then. Quit my secure GS-13/14 gubmint job and went to law school. Had two of the oldest and most prestigious law firms fighting to hire me before I even graduated/passed the bar.
We divorced 9 years later. I became a personna non gratis.
That's when I left the Delta and moved to the Jackson area.
I now live in another small suburb. No crime to speak of...other than some of my clients in the neighboring towns. No traffic jams. My office is 3 miles from my front door. Funny things happen tho...I went in to renew my license plate and the clerk noticed it was a 911. She said "Wait a minute...I've got something you might like." Went to the back and dug thru the sequentially numbered plates and dug out "MAD 911" to issue to me.
It has its pros and cons...