Pros and Cons to living in a small town

I drove into Seattle yesterday and on my way home I started thinking of the good and bad that comes with small town living.

Driving
Pro - you don't have to deal with tons of traffic. I used to have the local news' traffic web page bookmarked so I could quickly see what highways and byways to avoid on my way home. Now all I have to remember is to not try making a left off of Miller when I go home past 4:30. So simple.

Con - for most true small towns, you have to take some country two-lane highway to get in or out. Which means your chances of getting stuck behind some slow driver increase. Yesterday, I was clipping along until I got about 2/3 of the way home and got stuck in a ten-car pileup behind one driver going at least 10 miles below the posted speed limit sign. This time, thankfully, my bladder was doing just fine.

Shopping
Con - choices are limited and some large-town basics are nowhere to be seen. This means the local stores have the opportunity to hike prices in the competition vacuum.

Pro - the reasonably-priced locally owned stores have really nice owners who are so excited to meet their customers and create relationships that will encourage local shopping. I.e. our local florist and music store.

Materialism
Con - associated with the above, there's not a lot of options for buying quality items, such as furniture, nice clothing or fancy cars.

Pro - this means that everyone is more or less in the same boat and there's not the same competitive feeling that you need to keep up with what everyone else has. Because chances are, you're already there.

Okay, that's all I can come up with for now. I hope you are all doing well.