Food, Home and Style

Making Your Hometown Feel New

Why get out of Dodge when you can recreate Dodge? There are people you haven’t met, tourist traps you haven’t considered, road configurations you haven’t taken—and at the end of the day, it’s a fine place to live. And it’s up to you to make it so.

Since the start of the recession in 2007, Americans’ overall mobility—that is, the number of people who moved from one state to another—has dropped to its lowest levels since WWII, according to the Brookings Insitution. That’s because picking up and moving just isn’t as simple as it used to be. With unemployment rates still at record highs in many parts of the country and real estate troubles forcing homeowners to stay put while they wait to find a buyer, it’s hard for people to move to wherever it is that they want to be.

Even the flyover states are seeing people stay put. According to the Census Bureau, the number of people who relocated away from the Midwestern states to the coastal states (like California and New York) dropped in 2009, as compared to 2006 and 2007.

So if your dreams of flying away have been put on hold for now, here are some ways of making old stomping grounds new again:

Become a tourist. Even small cities and counties have a local tourism bureau or Chamber of Commerce. These offices offer magazines and pamphlets detailing all the local activities you probably thought you were too cool to try. With nothing left to do but die of boredom, now is the time to check out these activities and see what you’ve been missing.

Shop at a new grocery store. Sick of running into the same people everywhere you go? Here’s an idea: Stop buying your groceries at the same store every week. Mix things up and start visiting the store across town or the new store around the block. Or in the next town, or, heck, a few towns away. Not only will you avoid the people you run into most often, but you might even find a good bargain in the process.

Try new restaurants. If you’re dying to move to a bigger city for the abundant dining options, then you’re in luck. Even in the tiniest of towns, there are almost always restaurants that you haven’t gotten around to trying. Get a listing of every establishment in your hometown from the Chamber of Commerce and get started chowing down. As a bonus, you’ll probably be the most knowledgeable source on dining in your hometown by the time you’re done with the experiment.

Make new friends. The downside to moving to a new city? You’ll have to start all over and make new friends. Get some practice by finding new friends now. Start hanging out with an entirely new clique, and you’ll instantly get a taste for what it’ll be like to make new friends once you move.

Drive a new route to work. Tired of seeing the same scenery every morning? Switch things up and start driving a new way to work, school, the bank, or wherever else you head each day. Discover a new way on your own, or check out Google Maps for inspiration.

Learn to love where you’re living now. Maybe you’ll finally be able to move in a month, or a year. But for the time being, it’s worth it to chill out and start enjoying the place you’re living right now. Whether you appreciate having family close by, the abundant community events, or the small town charm, find at least one thing you like about your hometown and focus on that when times get tough. You just might come out feeling even better about where you live.

Tags: Food, Home and Style, hometown, housing, relocating