John: I think I might know where you live. :-D Northwestern Montana?

Turns out John moved from there 6 months ago. Couldn't take it anymore! :)

I'm sure there are towns that come close to your description nearly anywhere in the US. This is hard for some big city dwellers to believe, but there are still lots of friendly, clean, relatively low crime rate towns out there where church suppers and parades are the big events. Of course no place is perfect, and you'll find problems anywhere if you look hard enough. Why don't you decide what state or region you are interested in first.

Nope, I think John lives in my town in Oregon:D

Yes, there are many towns that still exist that are like this. Our town is routinely called Pleasantville or Mayberry. For the good AND bad. Yes, everyone knows everyones business. The good thing is, you can choose to ignore that.

mms, it's very refreshing to hear people like you and the others on here speak so highly of the communities in which they live. What a great country we live in! :)

mms, there are towns that exist in every state like yours. I know several in MI and in IL that have great access to cultural events, airports, are inclusive to newcomers with increased educational and job opportunities, and are especially family friendly. By family friendly, I mean tons of activities for town related activities. And that are quite unStepfordlike as well.

Many of these have close proximity to State or private college campuses. And MANY are populated by recent immigrants and ex-big city dwellers in quantity. I'm lucky enough to have presence in towns within 2 states that do not fit most of these small or mid town criticisms.

Close knit does not mean you always agree, by the way, but does mean that you often get immense input. That has happened just recently over incoming public sewers and sewerage plant building in MI. There are people speaking 3 languages fluently, totally rural for 4 generations folk and all different religion/age factors in the sewerage project meetings.

When I'm not there the neighbors cut grass and rake the block all together with a cook out. If I'm not they still do mine. We are also almost across the board economically.

jkdemeyere, if you can find employment or if employment is not an issue, you might want to consider Kalamazoo MI on one of the surrounding lakes within that school district. They have something called Kalamazoo Promise and they will totally fund your childrens' college education at any MI State UNIV. including the one in Ann Arbor.

I'm also looking for that "perfect town". Can someone please let me know when you find it?

I think I found mine, but mine might be different than yours.

Try www.findyourspot.com

And answer truthfully.

It always puts me in Charleston, SC & although I love the city, the cost & humidity would prevent me from becoming a full time resident. #2 is Jax, I could see living on Amelia Island...maybe there IS something to it...if you answer honestly.

Since this is the only post by the original poster, perhaps she ended up in Trollsville, a small town without computers or electricity, located way out in the boonies.

Regardless, this question has been asked in different aspects about 5 times in the last 2 weeks here and someone always tops old ones on this subject or includes phrases like Stepford Wives in the questions. It may be an attempt to troll or to vent.

Nevertheless, and the meth thing is certainly true in MI, IN, IL close to me, most of the other Stepford Wives type perceptions just aren't true anymore, if they ever were. In my part of the USA, anyway. For one thing, there are so many immigrants and people who have been displaced from cities, well- it's not a closed circle.

Thanks, obxgirl! I usually try to notice the dates. But I missed this one!

Interesting that the poster who dug up this old thread is the same one who got so nasty on a thread about weekend trips from Chicago.

Folks were I work are leaving Los Angeles and moving to Charlotte, NC and Franklin, TN.

Even though this is an old thread, and probably even a troll, I'm bored here at work and would like to discuss the "perfect town."

When I was between 9 and 13 years old, we lived in what I thought was the perfect town. About 10,000 people in SE Illinois. There was a little downtown with a "dime store", some clothing stores, a gift shop. It was built on a perfect grid system. There were concerts in the band shell on summer nights. Great high school marching band. What I loved is that I was able to get anywhere I wanted on my bike - shopping, library, swimming pool, etc. In my memory, for me it was the "perfect town."

However, the other reality was that it was very clannish - unless you had one of about four last names, you had no social standing, were not included in things. My sister got into drugs and other bad stuff and it really straightened her out when we moved.

So, my "perfect town" was pretty much a nightmare for the rest of my family.