Comments on: Out With The Old, In With The New: Find Out What’s Going On in your Community http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/12/21/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-find-out-whats-going-on-in-your-community/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Interested Reader http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/12/21/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-find-out-whats-going-on-in-your-community/#comment-933352 Interested Reader Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:02:00 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=6403#comment-933352 I agree with SEC Lawyer some of these are very specific to small towns. Talk to your post master? I know my city must have one, but we have 8 branches, I’m not going to go to one and bug employees so I can find free stuff to do.

Same thing with city Hall. I’ve been to my City Hall — there’s no bulletin board. There are a lot of employees doing their jobs but entertainment finder is not one of them.

I’m also confused about why looking online is suggested for some things but not others. My newspaper has a community calendar – online. My parks & rec has a list of events -online. Same thing with the library. No needt to waste time running around looking for bulletin boards.

]]> By: Debbie M http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/12/21/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-find-out-whats-going-on-in-your-community/#comment-933347 Debbie M Wed, 22 Dec 2010 04:28:33 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=6403#comment-933347 I find out events from my local weekly paper (such as open-air plays and concerts, 5K runs), the library (all kinds of stuff like lectures and practice sessions in a foreign language), book stores (signings), and a local university’s daily calendar (lectures, music, poetry readings, plays, movies, sports). And google (pick-up games). I’ve seen children’s play groups advertised at grocery stores, too.

(I am in a smallish city with bad mass transportation; I live fairly centrally but I recall getting a walkability score of around 50.)

You can also start your own group and throw your own parties of course. Invite people over to carve pumpkins, make gingerbread houses, tie-dye some shirts, have an informal music recital or art show, etc. This works anyplace with friends in commuting distance from a summer camp in the middle of nowhere to a mid-city high-rise dorm.

]]> By: lurker carl http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/12/21/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-find-out-whats-going-on-in-your-community/#comment-933341 lurker carl Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:46:51 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=6403#comment-933341 This advice is absolutely geared for those living in cities and the surrounding ‘burbs.

When you live in a small town or out in the countryside; no colleges, no libraries, no Chamber of Commerce, no parks, no museums. The local newspaper covers 5 counties. Internet access may be choosing between nothing or dial up.

But anyone who doesn’t know what’s happening in the community is either newly transplanted or a hermit. When you go to church, enroll children in school, join the local hunting club/antique tractor society/old car club/farm bureau, use services from the local businesses, attend auctions – you’ll learn about everything and everyone in the area. And everyone will learn everything about you.

]]> By: SEC Lawyer http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/12/21/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-find-out-whats-going-on-in-your-community/#comment-933337 SEC Lawyer Tue, 21 Dec 2010 23:12:27 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/?p=6403#comment-933337 One reason that I like this blog is the quaint tone of many columns. This advice given by Trent is appropriate for small-town living. It doesn’t fit big-city life as well. Here’s how I figure out what’s going on in the city in which I choose to spend most of my time: I take the elevator down forty floors and step out onto the street. Then I walk to my office a mile away.

As the “walkability” of my neighborhood is rated “100″ by the computer (on a scale of zero to 100), basically everything that a person could possibly want or need is encountered on my thirty-minute stroll. (That includes a beach and a park, by the way.) I also read the daily newspaper and the (free) weekly newspaper because . . . (big sigh) . . . there are “a few” things (not many) that happen more than a mile away. But basically it’s as easy as walking to or from my office. This is in fact why we spend most of our time in the city.

Eventually we will live full-time in the country, and then Trent’s list will make sense for us.

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