My town has never changed much and I've been here almost 35 years. I don't live near to any major city, but the town government here did not allow sprawl to take over. Its still small farms and mostly rural residential. They have built apartment buildings on the highway recently to satisfy affordable housing requirements, but that's it.

Most towns near me are quaint with mom and pop type businesses. I'd love to see it stay this way forever. The only reason it does is there is a limited public water/sewer system for many towns. Its all private wells, septic systems and oil tanks for heat. There are no gas pipelines and when they try to propose one being built, it is fiercely fought by the local government and the public.

I'd be leery about talking with people where you live too, especially after what happened to you in the store.