10 reasons I loved growing up in a small town

Walking around my hometown in the Midwest.Courtesy of Coren Feldman

• Small towns are like giant families, and people support each other during hard times.
• When you're with the same people from kindergarten through high school, those friendships last a lifetime.
• The convenience of driving everywhere makes life easier than taking public transportation.

I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin with fewer than 25,000 people, a population that wouldn't even fill half of Yankee Stadium.

There were definitely parts I didn't appreciate, like the lack of diversity and the absence of anything to do past 8 p.m. But my years in New York City have helped me appreciate just how charmed my upbringing was — especially as many consider leaving big cities in favor of smaller towns during the coronavirus pandemic.