I've been in big car cities for a while, Houston, and been in smaller towns and cities with less overall people participating, Columbus, and I've come to a couple of conclusions. First, it's a lot easier to be a big fish in Columbus than in Houston. I can show up at certain meets here in town and my FD with a built LS engine may not even be in the "top tier" of cars at the show whereas in a town with a smaller culture it doesn't take as much to make your car "special" or whatever. Second, overall the community is closer together in Columbus than here. The meets in Houston are, by a vast majority, big but they contain cliques/groups that don't care to talk to or have anything to do with other groups at the same show, whereas the meets in Columbus just seem friendlier. IMHO.