Why Growing Up In Small Town West Virginia Was Awesome

Life in small towns sometimes gets a bad rap. Some people would rather be in places where more exciting things are going on. But life in small West Virginia towns actually has plenty of positives. Here are a few of them:

Summer evenings meant playing tag or hide-and-seek with the neighborhood kids.

Jon Bratseth/Flickr

Snow days meant sledding on those West Virginia hills.

Chris Parfitt/Flickr

You can actually see the stars out there.

NASA HQ Photo/Flickr

This is what recreation looked liked (but hopefully with better a catch).

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Flickr

You got to know your neighbors at church picnics and neighborhood cookouts. You knew the value of a close-knit community.

Steven Sheets/Flickr

You could ride your bike down the street without fear.

Jen Wright/Flickr

There were local grocery stores, not Walmarts.

Michelle Matheny/Flickr

You learned the importance of family.

Emergency Brake/Flickr

You didn’t worry about stoplights – many places didn’t have any.

Mike/Flickr

Rush hour looked like this. There was never any traffic to worry about.

Ken Lund/Flickr

These are just a few of the best things about life growing up in small town West Virginia. What was your favorite thing about it?