How many in a small town?

[Caz Pedroso]

Hoping to get several opinions, if people have time  

 

I'm fine tuning a community for a story, but i can't decide how many people should live in the community/town/village. 

 

Its the sort of place where everyone knows everyone. 

 

What population number do people think sounds realistic?? 

[Myr]

I'd say a few factors influence that... timeframe and community style.  Back before cars and easy transit, isolated towns could have a larger population where most people knew who you were.  Modern day?  I lived with 50 people on the same floor in my dorm and couldn't name more than 6 or 7.  

 

Isolated areas tend to know people that live in the area with strangers really sticking out.  Places where new people go through all the time... no so much.

 

Not sure that helps.  probably 100-200 to know everyone... up to 500 or 600 where you feel you do... depending on timeframe and location.

[FormerMember4]

It’s really subjective to what you want. A village is defined from a few hundred to a few thousand in the community. A town has one to twenty thousand people. Both would lack a local government.

[Mikiesboy]

Agree with Myr. When does the story take place. Where? In the UK or rural Alaska? Are there roads or do you have to fly in?   All those factors will affect how many people live there. 

[Parker Owens]

I think @Mikiesboy is right in that there are lots of factors to consider. Under 1500 seems right to me. 

[Brayon]

Like others have said, there are factors to consider depending on the era of the story.

 

In a Fantasy/Medieval story, I would say a small town would be no more than 200 people, and most might be related. In a clan sort of way.

 

Colonial time period 150-300.

 

Wild West anywhere from 30 - 200 depending on if it's on a major route.

 

Modern times anywhere from 200 - 2000.

[Caz Pedroso]

Thanks for the replies everyone  

 

I think Myr is right with the about 500. 

 

Its for a possible new community in my unison island series. I want to try and be more specific on detail  so people can picture the kind of place and people better. 

 

 

[mogwhy]

i know i'm late to the party, but i'll add .  for me it would be between 500 to 1000, but not more than that. can't wait for a new story from that series. should i do the cheep, cheep dance? 

[Caz Pedroso]

52 minutes ago, mogwhy said:

i know i'm late to the party, but i'll add .  for me it would be between 500 to 1000, but not more than that. can't wait for a new story from that series. should i do the cheep, cheep dance? 

 

Its never too late for another opinion moggy  

 

Its only a posible new one at the mo. My writing list is very long at the mo. We'll see how I go  

[MrM]

If you are after 'Small Town America' or fading small town america you might use Croydon, IA. As of 2010 it only had 1585 people which has declined from 2000 when it was 1591 people. It is as 'Small Town' as you can get, I think.

 

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[Comicality]

Yep, I think they said it all.

 

Now, I grew up in Chicago, about 15 minutes from downtown. So 'small town' has a completely different meaning in my mind. In some places you could have a small suburb full of apartments and three or four story buildings, and might have 2 or 3 thousand people. But there are rural areas where folks have farms and acres of land, spread out from family to family, so the population might be a few hundred at best. I guess it just depends on the setting you're trying to create. I doubt any reader would challenge you on it. It's different for everybody, after all. Follow your gut.  

[Page Scrawler]

I live in Traverse City, MI. We have almost 16,000 people, so I'm not the best judge of what makes a small town. We have quite a few small townships and outlying villages in the area, and although they're mostly pleasant, none of them are places I'd want to live my whole life in. (No offense to small towns. I'm a city boy at heart.) @Caz Pedroso I'd say you're on the ball with 400-500 people.