I grew up in a rural area next to a smaller city, and also spent a lot of time staying with relatives in small towns. Moved to a city as an adult.
Small town gossip and people who try to be a big fish in a small pond are absolutely common occurrences in small towns. It also happens in cities, but is less noticeable because it is easier to avoid those kind of people and get 'lost in the crowd'. Going back to visit the smaller towns showed they still gossiped about the same people and things because there just isn't as much going on to talk about.
Kind of like when only having a few networks meant everyone talked about the same shows, while streaming means there is far more things to talk about and the discussion gets spread out.
The one big positive for small rural towns is that a large portion of the population does support each other on a regular basis. A lot of work is done as favors instead of transactional like in cities, but it also means that if a disaster happens neighbors will go out of their way to help those in need, even the people they don't like.
I personally prefer either the city or completely rural and town adjacent because small town people are absolutely exhausting to interact with the majority of the time and it feels like there is no escape. Visiting can be fun!