I was wondering, based on the “you Americans” vibe, if they were from a nation that is so densely populated that no town could really be considered separate from a city. But then I realized I can’t think of any nation like that except, like the Vatican.
Maybe it’s more “flew into Newark one time heading to NYC” and assumed the whole country is like that. Honestly, this is a pretty baffling conversation.
Edit for clarity.
There are lots of things to be said about small towns, both good and bad.
“Small towns do not exist” is one of the most batshit takes I’ve ever heard.
Don’t dare let me be caught speculating!!! But some people for whatever reason are unduly credulous, underexposed, and there’s a lot of bizarre “stories” going around. I’ve heard so much bizarre bullshit from such a strange sampling of human beings online and offline in the last decade I honestly don’t even know what to make of any of it.
I mean, many european nations are smaller than US states. I could see that being involved here. You can drive from the bottom to top of Germany and cover about 533 miles. That wouldn’t even get you from the easternmost point in Tennessee to the easternmost point in Oklahoma, and wouldn’t get you from the bay area to Vegas.
Are small towns birbs?
Birbs aren’t real. I saw it on the internet.
Not just unpopular, it has a side job as “factually incorrect” for some part of the world. In the United States, for example, “town,” “city,” and “borouigh” are defined by the US census.
Sorry, I think I was trying to make a parallel point, not disagree with you or misunderstand you. My threading discipline was lacking.
We should unflag this so others can read it, IMO.
Anyway.
My dude - here is Hoxie, KS. It has a little over 1000 people, like the article said.
What is this town a suburb of?
What are any of these small towns (including the ones so small they don’t show up anymore at this level) suburbs of?
You would think the term “fly over country” would give a hint as to what is out there. 
At this point I think you’re clearly Trollling, because no one is this ignorant.
I love New Jersey’s:
New Jersey
City Incorporation is by special act of the State legislature; there is no minimum population requirement.
Town Same requirements as for a city.
Village Same requirements as for a city.
Borough Same requirements as for a city.
In other words, “Rules? There’s no rules!” Which is not an unusual approach for New Jersey. See also New Jersey traffic rules, which mostly amount to “Do whatever the convention in your area is.”
Hoxie is clearly a suburb of Nutrien Ag Solutions.
I thought City, Town, Village, and Borough all referred to different forms of government more than size. Meaning, they’re about the way the area is governed and not really the size. Implied would be at larger sizes, the City form is more practical than the Borough form.
I remember years ago a nearby town voting about changing from a Town to City government and organization.
They are legally defined at the state level. Then the US Census Bureau uses the definitions that states have.
Possibly, but the part of New Jersey I’m in has mostly townships, which I guess are the same as towns? I dunno. And townships are made up of multiple unincorporated communities that have no official designation. I live in Whiting, which is within Manchester Township. Manchester Township is huge in area and includes a lot of land that’s undeveloped. But then Lakehurst is a borough that is completely within, but not a part of, Manchester Township. Local government in New Jersey gets complicated. At least we finally renamed the Boards of Chosen Freeholders to County Commissioners a few years ago. The freeholder name was kinda yikes.
Tell me you’ve never been to a rural area without telling me.
ETA: I see I’m late to this party. Drinks are on me!
Where my dad lived, and where I live now after first living at his place, the “ambulance service” is volunteers and they show up in their pickup trucks in normal clothing.
Which is why I refuse to grow old here.
That sounds … inconvenient is not the right word, but it’s not good. While I don’t really like New Jersey, I do like some aspects of where I live. I live in a development that looks very suburban, but it isn’t really. Deer and turkey and other wildlife are common sights, and it’s usually quiet at night. At the same time, I’m close enough to both mid-sized cities and huge metropolises that when I need or want what those places offer, I can reach them easily. Kinda the best of both worlds. If there weren’t so many Trumpers here, it would be much better.
I volunteered on an ambulance a very long time ago for a short time. My brother as a firefighter much longer than I did. Though they had equipment.
After having lived in a rural town (Norton, Kansas) for a year, it was a town. It had a hospital since it was the county seat (I’m not sure other county seat towns have such amenities as a default) but it wasn’t anything large and they did airlift to larger cities down south like Garden City IIRC. Anyways, it wasn’t a suburb like OP was mentioning since it literally was 50 miles away from a larger town up north in Nebraska (McCook, NE) by highway.
Plus, I want to mention that I think some folks don’t realize many of the small towns you do see out there are the result of our formerly extensive railroad network. We’ve torn most of it down, so some of these towns seem out of place until you pull up passenger rail service schedules from the early 1900s which shows often multiple trains going to many of these places. If only we could rebuild even a fraction of that. *le sigh*
