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Small towns such as Elizabethton may not be the home of multinational corporations, shopping malls, or the seemingly amenities that big cities offer. However, they do offer something that we all desire and ultimately need: community and neighbors. With fewer people often comes a closeness that simply isn’t possible in a large city. When neighbors know one another and recognize each other at the grocery store or a downtown event, a spirit of cooperation takes hold, and residents work together.

This is also true in communities where schools are located. Parents work together to provide opportunities for their children. They get to know other parents on a personal level. Local realtors report that homebuyers and renters seek affordable houses and often yard space for their families, small communities where they can know their neighbors and build relationships.

Main Street Elizabethton and the Elizabethton-Carter County Chamber of Commerce do a great job of promoting downtown Elizabethton. For example, simple things like shopping take on new meaning in small communities. Most of the time, the “customer” is also the friend and neighbor of the seller, who happens to own the local shop. Going a little further, the exchange in a shop feels less like a transaction and more akin to neighbors helping neighbors. One example is Lingerfelt Pharmacy downtown where a group of men meet daily in the back of the store for discussion of daily events, sports, politics, etc. And, if you are a customer, store personnel usually know your name. If you’re new, they’ll readily get to know you.

Beyond the friendly conversation that comes with a trip to the store, the customer knows that his money is staying in the community and helping to keep his neighbor’s business open. Both sides are more invested because they are both part of the same community.

And, small towns such as Elizabethton are innovative, too. For example, take the Saturday night concerts at the Covered Bridge Park, planned by the City Parks and Recreation Dept. The park is overflowing each week with visitors who come to not only listen to the music, but to visit with friends and neighbors. Farther up the street is the weekly Saturday evening car show, which draws visitors from out of town as well as locals. 

This Saturday evening will find even more entertainment on the outskirts of downtown, with the Toby Mac concert at the Elizabethton High School Stadium and a food truck rally.

In the summer there is the River Riders baseball team. And, what other town has a river running through it and numerous walking and biking trails.

In the past small towns meant fewer resources, but that dynamic is changing. As long as there is robust internet access, anyone anywhere can connect to anything at any time, meaning you don’t have to live in a big city to have access to a large community.” This reality is increasingly understood by community developers and smart city engineers alike.

Small communities like Elizabethton are anything but boring. Like other small towns such as Greeneville and Mountain City, Elizabethton has a unique ability to maintain the social fabric that keeps communities together. The tight bonds that flourish in communities where residents frequently interact and truly get to know one another are impossible to replicate — no matter how much data, technology, and information we have at our disposal. In an era in which we are constantly focused on thinking big, we should not neglect how much we can learn from the local, the peculiar, and the familiar that distinguish communities that may be small in size, but remarkable in their intimacy. Some believe that small towns should follow the path of big cities or risk fading into obsolescence, but perhaps it is small towns whose example should be followed instead.

We learned this week that more than 35,000 cars pass through town each day, more than double the city’s population. Congestion and stop-and-go traffic is a common sight. Think of how many people are exposed to our town each and every day. They pass through town as they travel to Roan Mountain, North Carolina, and other parts of the Tri-Cities.

We have much to offer as a small town, not only attraction-wise, but with a variety of businesses and events, and the people, who live and work here – our richest resource. We have much to be proud of.