Having grown up in a village of ~250, I can assure you that it's about as judgmental (and conformist) as it gets. And if you want to step it up a notch, try moving to a village of that size in the mountains.
Although when I lived there *mumbles* years ago it seemed like a lot of the stuff was driven by kids from towns like Cohoes
Author's example of Newmarket is over 80k people. They just mention Tiny town goths as an idea that does exist - not something extremely common.
SLC Punk! Is a “good” movie about subculture conformity.
Big communities are more diverse and easier to find like-minded people. Good if you want to blend in whilst being part of a subculture.
However, if the point is to stand out/be different then small, more homogenous communities present a great opportunity for those with the requisite confidence or apathy
A good example in Europe is how Berlin went from being a cheap city with loads of artistic freedom to a place where people wait in line for hours outside a club just to find out if their black leather shirt is edgy enough. They're all trying to stand out, but somehow they all end up looking the same.