As a non-American, I’m very confused by this. If it’s a town, it’s not rural by definition. Because, you-know, it’s urban.
Also, could we get a definition of town vs small town. Do you not have the concept of a village? (Village in the UK would be a settlement with a population of a couple of thousand, with usually a pub, local shop, maybe a post office and primary school if you’re lucky).
Poor OP. They’re leaving this thread more confused than ever.
The United States is huge and every region has different definitions and expectations of “city”, “town”, “suburb”, “wide place in the road”, etc. LOL, when I was a kid we called Tulsa, OK a “small town”. Well, yeah, as opposed to Chicagoland.
You won’t find anything definitive, but we don’t use the word “village” except to connote… well, I can’t really say. But I know one when I see it!
People will start calling their settlement a “village” here when they’ve decided to start being pretentious about it. Expect to find a winery there, or a studio where someone with frizzy hair makes inscrutable physical art, or a bunch of horse enthusiasts.
The use of the word definition here should be interpreted as squishy and non-strict.
In most of the world that speaks a more British English, terms like city and town have pretty specific definitions. That’s just not the case in the US. Language is funny, huh?
My buddy grew up in Omaha. He describes it as being about as big as a few large suburbs.
Village usually means really upscale neighborhood. I have no idea why they’re called that, but they are.
Huh. Californian here, I usually only hear people say “village” when talking about towns in poor countries. (I don’t agree with this.)
Meant to add that, didn’t have the words and you nailed it. Thanks!