Do you never just want a huge supermarket or shopping centre?

I've lived in both (as well completely remote rural and suburbia). I beg to differ. Large cities/urban areas have neighborhoods, and those neighborhoods very much have a sense of community as well. Not quite as all encompassing as small towns, but then small towns can become suffocating as well with everyone in your business.

Suburbia, otoh, is where it can be very hard to find any sense of neighborliness let alone community because they have been around cars for commuters who are gone all day, from before sunrise to after sunrise in most cases, because of the commute time. All for the kids, whom they seldom see; barely more than the neighbors they only wave to.

I grew up in a small mining town and yes it's very much like you say. But as the mines near-surface gold depleted and our corrupt goverment's actions started to trickle into the municipal system, the economy went belly up and the town had to change its income strategy to a half-baked hospitality / fancy truck-stop model, and i decided to move to the big city. But i'll always miss the good old days.

Lots of small towns have corrupt government and a ton of meth. Sadly they're still way better than big cities. I love the big city too, I just know better than to live there so I live miles form anything.

But then if you fart everyone in town knows. If you have a torn jacket everyone knows. If you bring home a friend for the night they are all peeking in through your window.
It is a good/bad kind of thing. If you want privacy, you aren't going to find it in a small town. At least in the big city you are just another body walking around, invisible pretty much.

That sounds like a great place to live.

i just move to a small town out in the sticks,and you are correct,they are fruendly and if you stopped on side of road,will always stop and ask is everything ok,i love it

That sounds pleasant.

That is so cool! You definitely don't have that in big towns.