One advantage of small towns.

[Amarok]

I grew up (6th grade through early 20s) in a small midwestern farming town.  Population around 3K.  In my travels I don't think I have seen another town so clean.  Had bricks and such been left in front of a store anyone passing by would have removed them just for the sake of cleaning up and not to prevent crime, which was nearly non-existent back then.

Since 2006 I have lived in a bedroom community in the Dallas area.  When we got here the town was fairly small with pretty clear divisions between nearby towns.  Now we have grown to the point where you can't tell where this town ends and the next town west begins.  It may be that way soon with the next town to the SW.  The demographics are really changing as other nearby towns seem to be getting the high dollar homes...it's still good as our house is at the edge of a subdivision that cannot grow any further and there is no through street due to the train tracks and greenway.

I am about 30 miles from an area of Dallas that is dangerous to wander into for any reason.  Areas where there are bars on the windows and a brick laying around would probably be tossed aside as a worthless weapon.

Were we moved here from was a town of 600...period 600 when we moved there in 1992.  It's now in the middle of meth hell and totally trashed when it was up and coming in the 90s.  Guess it depends on where you are and how things change. The growth in the county changed directions toward the lake and away from where we were.

I feel sure there are good and bad places of all sizes.

I grew up 6 miles from Whitehorse in the Yukon . It had it's issues alcohol was a big one and drugs later on and a lot of unemployment lead to the usual issues with poverty. Why I went to Ottawa and I must say I love my choice .