Tone Quest
Tele-Holic
Living in a tourist city makes it easy to be one, sometimes. 
Are You A Tourist In Your Own Town?
- Thread starter getbent
- Start date
I live in a small town of just under 5,000 people. Been here a bit over 14 years. Between my wife, my daughter and myself, we know pretty much everybody and everybody knows us. My wife works at the local pre-school so all the little kids know her and many of the parents and grandparents. My daughter is in middle school and is a bit of a rock-star in the school. She is very outgoing and is “special” in the mainstream an just is a magnet to most people around her. I run the only liquor store in town so I know most everyone else.
drumtime
Tele-Afflicted
I've lived here for 40-odd years, and been far more involved in the community in the past than now. It's a beautiful area where people come to hike, kayak, etc., and us locals do that stuff too. I have a strong dislike for being a tourist, even if I am technically one when visiting somewhere else.
The big town ? It’s 138 sq miles.
You can fit Manhattan, San Francisco, and Boston inside of it.
Always someplace to explore there/it’s constantly changing. You could move around anonymously 365 days a year very easily.
My immediate town/area ?
Less than 4 sq miles .
I can’t go ANYWHERE without seeing/talking to 3 or 4 people I know.
You can fit Manhattan, San Francisco, and Boston inside of it.
Always someplace to explore there/it’s constantly changing. You could move around anonymously 365 days a year very easily.
My immediate town/area ?
Less than 4 sq miles .
I can’t go ANYWHERE without seeing/talking to 3 or 4 people I know.
fjblair
Tele-Afflicted
Very connected to the community, but we live in a tourist area and never do the tourist stuff.
bluesfordan
Friend of Leo's
Funny OP should ask that. Yesterday i was out and about for the first time in forever. I think I saw another NH license plate, the rest were MA. I remarked on a forum that I felt like a stranger in my own land.
We always patronized the businesses in this little nearby mountain town, during off season. When the Moneybags from North Side of Atlanta were nowhere to be found. We kept the cash flowing, when it was needed most.
But lately, we're just doing mostly essential contact.
But lately, we're just doing mostly essential contact.
My Dad worked in the construction of that Telescope you guys have, to the west and south of town, in the mid 1960s. First we lived in NH and explored MA and then we switched over and did the opposite. When I could ride from Chelmsford to NH on my bike, I'm not sure how you could tell what guy was what.
A strange twist of fate has put a very working class/hands-on guy in a very wealthy area.
I feel more like a servant than a tourist.
The folks here are nice, but it's Audis, Porsches and Teslas parked next to my Yaris with primer on the rust repairs.
I feel more like a servant than a tourist.
The folks here are nice, but it's Audis, Porsches and Teslas parked next to my Yaris with primer on the rust repairs.
bluesfordan
Friend of Leo's
Yesyoudidyouare
Tele-Meister
Tell us more
"Whole sections of town I don't know" is closest for me. But in a town of half a mill, it's kinda hard to know everyone. I stick to the west side where I live, and downtown, and I run into a fair number or people I know on a pretty regular basis. I know some of my neighbors okay, we're friendly... but we don't hang out, eat together, anything like that.
Well, I live in a tourist town. I know my immediate neighbors. I’m getting to know more and more since I started walking my dog a few times a day.
I’m not involved in civic events although I’ve met the mayor many times. I have a close friend that works for the city and get the inside scoop from him though.
I really miss my mornings at a coffee shop down the street where a random group of mostly men met every morning. We had a great time. Solving the world’s problems and talking to the other customers.
It closed when the owner passed away right about the time the plague started.
I’m not involved in civic events although I’ve met the mayor many times. I have a close friend that works for the city and get the inside scoop from him though.
I really miss my mornings at a coffee shop down the street where a random group of mostly men met every morning. We had a great time. Solving the world’s problems and talking to the other customers.
It closed when the owner passed away right about the time the plague started.
It's not that complicated.
This is a very toney area.
The majority of the residents are weekenders from NY Metro. The pandemic-related flight from cities has ramped that up considerably.
They're not terribly unlike me...white, over-educated, liberal, interested in the arts...Tanglewood, Jacob's Pillow, Kripalu, Simon's Rock College are all near by.
We are at least 45 minutes from a Lowe's, Home Depot, Target or Walmart...which DEFINITELY has its up side! The little town nearest here just kicked Subway out because they didn't fit with the "feeling" (or something) of the town.
Don't get me wrong...I have a lot of bad stuff to say about Walmart and Subway, but their absence indicates, to me, not only a dearth of what I would consider to be Regular Folk, but an antipathy towards them (us).
There is VERY little racial diversity here.
I spent the past five years living on a 400 acre communal dairy and vegetable farm, caring for folks with disabilities and being the farm mechanic.
The folks around here are nice, but there is a palpable feeling that I would be more likely to work for them than to hang out with them.
We were pretty snubbed when we tried to introduce ourselves to our neighbors, mostly in an effort to find some kids for our 9-year-old to befriend.
Folks like this will love me when their car or lawn tractor won't start, but not so much when I suggest our kids play together.
I'm the King of Kensington!
schoolie
Tele-Holic
I moved to Portland, OR 6 years ago (sorry another Californian invades). I still work for the same company in California, remotely. Pretty much spend my life tethered to a computer in the basement. I think I would still get lost on the roads without Maps. No friends here, but my wife has adapted well and has managed to develop a nice network of friends and colleagues. I really do feel like a tourist.
I think a lot of young and not so young people, need an I-Phone to navigate their home towns. Can't remember where the post office is, or where the bakeries are.
Next, they'll be using the camera in their phone to shoot a quick image, and the phone will tell them which of their "friends" they have randomly run into in the street. And if their image is not in the database (sorry, Aunt Grace!) then that person doesn't exist.
Next, they'll be using the camera in their phone to shoot a quick image, and the phone will tell them which of their "friends" they have randomly run into in the street. And if their image is not in the database (sorry, Aunt Grace!) then that person doesn't exist.
loopfinding
Friend of Leo's
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do you know what they call the book about how to apply primer?You have primer?!? Luxury !!
that's right the Primer Primer!
I'll be here all week, don't forget to tip your waitress, the pepper steak is amazing!
it works better than that... an app is on your phone without the pic and it alerts you if you want....
One thing I do in the city now (SF) is I DO use an app because I know how I'd go, but I'm curious about other ways of trying it and inadvertently we have found a SLEW of cool places! tech FTW!
