Random Topic Tuesdays

 Todays topic is: why you love your hometown.

Where you grow up is going to shape the person you become. I was born in Colorado and lived there in a very small town for a short period of my childhood before my family headed out east to Virginia. Since Colorado was all I knew, naturally I was reluctant to leave it behind. Boy, am I glad we did. The small town I was living in would have inevitability shaped me into a different person then I am today. I’m not trash talking anyone from a small town but judging from the friends/family that remained there the quality of life just wouldn’t be so great. There isn’t much to do so people turn to drugs and alcohol and this becomes a lifestyle for them. I definitely wouldn’t be with my husband but would probably still be pregnant (possibly with my fifth or sixth child). There aren’t as many job opportunities as there are here so people obviously have less money which can lead to more crime. Even though the school systems have the same grade levels as everywhere else, people just seem less educated. When people think of Virginia they think of the south. When you think of the south you think of small towns. Northern Virginia is so much different from other parts of Virginia. There are different viewpoints of someone living in a big city verses someone from a small town and living outside of a major city definitely influences the people around me.

I love my hometown because it is rich in history with ties to George Washington and the Civil War. There are charming little neighborhoods that are perfect for raising a family. We’re close enough to DC that a social nightlife is only ten minutes away. (Bars are plentiful here, but people prefer the clubs and trendiness of the District). Museums, monuments and other tourist attractions are only a few metro stops away. We’re not DC though so people are friendlier and we don’t have to deal with a lot of the downsides to living there. I love the community where I live despite the high cost of living and limited space. I feel safe here. (As safe as someone with my paranoid personality is ever going to feel, anyway.) We’re walking distance to some great restaurants and shops. I love my hometown because this is where I’ve grown up and have made my little nest. I'm happy that this is where my daughter is going to be raised. I love it for the life it has created for me and who I’ve become.

So what makes you love your hometown?