Why A Small Town Like Billings

Why do I choose to live in a smaller community?  This is a scene out of my vehicle while I was just south of St. Louis this past week.  The back story is that I was in a hotel in St. Louis and my son was graduating from the Army National Guard at Ft Leonard Wood which was about 2 hours south of St Louis.  In the morning I would drive down for family day and for 2 hours, drive back to my hotel.  The next day I drove down for the graduation and then back with him to get on the plane to come home to Montana.  On my 4 trips there were major wrecks on the 4 lane interstate on every trip up and back.  I don't want to sound like a backwoods hick, but I can't believe these people live in this environment.  This crash involved two semi tractor trailers and because it was on a barricaded interstate, there was no where to go for the traffic.  The backed up traffic you see was for at least 5 miles if not more.  Give me Billings, Laurel, Roundup, Broadview, Sheridan, anytime.  If I have to leave my home at 4 am to get to work by 8 am, then leave work at 5 pm to get home by 9 pm, it's not worth it.  The worst part about my commute is I hope I don't hit someone crossing the street on North 27th not using the cross walk.  It only takes me 10 minutes to get to work and home and I'm not stressed or stuck in a 5 mile backup.