Do you ever use the word "quaint?" A lot of people think that calling a town "quaint" is saying that it's worth noticing. But the word actually carries some underlying meanings that those who use it may not be fully aware of. Here are some to consider:
- rural - most often, it's rural locations that are described as quaint.
- old fashioned - living in the past, past its "shelf life," out of date, not part of the "real world"
- amusing - the appearance of its streets & residents experienced as entertainment, nice to visit but wouldn't want to live there
- cute - adorable in their "cluelessness" about modern life, like a puppy or a child not to be taken very seriously, whose opinions carry very little weight
- strange and unusual - different, odd, not like a "normal" place, with an odd sense of style, silly preferences, strange habits
- not worth the effort to understand in any but superficial terms
In other words, describing a rural town as "quaint" is one of the many ways that our metro-dominated society dismisses and "others" rural people. Semantic load (all of the nuances of meaning and emotion attached to a word or phrase) can vary among individuals and communities, sometimes resulting in "semantic discord."* Linguistic and cultural differences like this often hinder liberal politicians trying to communicate in rural areas of their districts. That's one of the many reasons that "deep listening" is so esssential -- that is, listening to people's concerns, not making assumptions, not talking about them, or at them.
Small towns throughout America have been struggling to survive for decades. Some have managed to keep their traditional appearance intact, and so are labeled "quaint." Others put on an exaggerated artificial facade in order to perform "quaint" as a way to draw outside money. But the residents and governments of small towns face difficulties that are often not taken seriously by the media and national leadership. Too many of the ones that have not been bestowed with the patronizing label of quaintness have been left to deteriorate into ruins.
Wikipedia explanation of semantic discord