People often ask me why I am still in
Mantorville and why don't I move to a big city? I have always found
this to be a strange question, I mean why would anyone want to live
in a big city when they can live in a beautiful community like
Mantorville!
Mantorville, like many small towns, has
a strong sense of community identity where neighbors help each other
and are considered valuable assets and not just someone to put up
with. We are neither disgruntled about life in a small town nor do we
feel like we're stuck here. We embrace membership in our community,
county and state and celebrate life through a strong volunteerism
committment. We have back yards for our children to play in, pay
lower taxes in communities with a low crime rate and enjoy beautiful
public spaces because we all chip in to clean up, fix and build these
community assets.
We start our businesses here in order
to provide goods and services to our neighbors and friends and in
turn we make an effort to shop locally because we want our friends
and neighbors to be successful with their business endeavors.
When I tell my big-city friends that I
know the names of the neighborhood kids and where my neighbors work,
they tell me that is what they wouldn't like about living in a small
town--how everyone knows everything. However, what they are missing
is that we take the time to understand each other not because we are
nosey but because we care.
Mantorville is also a historic town
which was chartered before Minnesota became a state. In historic
communities like Mantorville we have preserved our heritage through
architectural assets because we realize that in order to understand
where we are going we must have a understanding of our past. We also
realize that many of the “old structures” in our community can be
re-purposed and this actually saves money. Small towns in America are
where our traditional values are still held in high regard, where we
live by the golden rule and we understand that if we see something
that needs to be done, we call our neighbors and friends and make
plans to fix it and make it better.
Why do I love living in Mantorville? Is
it because of our sense of community? Is it because of lower taxes,
lower crime and higher quality of life? Is it because we have
stronger educational systems? Yes! All these things and many
intangibles make me ask, “Why wouldn't everyone want to live in a
small town?”
Sincerely,
Chuck Bradford
Mantorville
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