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Week 7 (23-25.11) - Living in a big city or living in a suburban/rural area

Most people see the worst in every possible situation. Maybe it is just a Polish thing (talking about some good things that happened to you recently is often considered as bragging and is not welcomed) but it surely makes it easier to determine most disadvantages of  any given situation. People often say that they would prefer something else to what they have – physical appearance, habits, living arrangements. When I ask my friends about their opinion on where they live, the ones living in a city wish that they lived in the suburbs and vice versa. In my opinion both city and suburbs have their advantages and the choice depends on your priorities – which aspects of life are more important to you? Where can you find happiness? The answer is not the same for everyone. Obviously not everybody gets to choose, but if you could (for example if you worked from home) – what would it be? Where would you raise your family?


CITY



+ Health care

This is very important, even if mostly for the older people. My grandpa once wanted to sell a flat in Warsaw and move to a village 100 km away from any bigger city. Imagine how much time it would take for an ambulance to get there (and back). His idea was instantly rejected by my grandma. In a city you have an unlimited 24/7 access to all the medical specialists you want (of course let’s be reasonable – you won’t find a plastic surgeon with whom you would discuss your breast augmentation at 2 a.m. … or maybe you will?).

+ Education

Raising a child in a city is much easier when it comes to education; there are plenty of schools you may choose from (both public and private). The same thing goes for extracurricular activities – languages, dancing, playing instruments, tennis. It is a huge advantage for adults as well – I doubt that you will find a mandarin teacher teaching in a small town. Living in a city gives you a lot of opportunities to master a variety of skills.

+ Culture and diversity

This is the biggest advantage of living in a city. You have an access to unlimited number of options 24/7 – if you want to see an indie movie of your choice early in the morning or eat a traditional Moroccan dish at 3 A.M. you just go out and do it. If you want to attend a yoga class – you may easily find a place that offers you the hours that fit your schedule. Theatres, restaurants (home delivery!), museums, shows, shops – they are all available year-round and most of them also 24/7.

+ Public transportation

You may get wherever you want – there are probably around 10 buses that go there, every three minutes. If your car is broken… wait, you don’t even have to own a car, it is so easy to get anywhere. The other upside of using public transportation is that you don’t have to focus on driving – you may sleep, read a book or play a game. It is like teleportation, only it still takes some time to get where you want;) I live in a rural area and it takes me one and half hour to get to the centre of Warsaw. I have to walk 1,5 km to the bus stop, the bus leaves every half an hour (or even less frequently), I get to the end of a tram line and from there I eventually get to the centre. The night buses are every two hours, I think. Trust me, it is no fun.

SUBURBS/RURAL AREA



+ Costs of living

This sort of defines the preferences of the majority of people: if something is more expensive it generally is better. And land in an urban area is SO MUCH more expensive than in a rural area. However many people that dream of living outside of a city may find this advantageous. Also many other things are cheap: gas, food etc. Somebody has counted that living in Des Moines, Iowa is 37,9% cheaper than living in Boston, Massachusetts.

+ Space and nature

Living in a rural area means that you have access to meadows, fields, lakes and forests and people from the cities pay a lot of money to have that. Nowadays agrotouristic farms are very popular for vacation getaways. You may find your inner peace in a rural area and rest more profoundly than in a city. For those who like this kind of activities rural areas offer mushroom picking, farming (do you know how much pride and satisfaction brings a single home-grown tomato?), kayaking… Also, seeing a Milky Way from your front porch is pretty great.

+ Independence

When you live in a single-family home surrounded by a garden you don’t have to worry about your neighbours complaining that you watch TV too loudly or that you’ve burnt something in the kitchen. You may lead your life the way you like it and it is nobody’s business but yours. You are left alone to do whatever you want and nobody really cares.

+ Safety

Most of the terrorist attacks and mass violence acts (school shootings etc.) happen in big cities, mostly because the perpetrators seek publicity. The majority of mugging, pickpocketing and housebreakings take place in the cities. Sometimes it is scary to walk home or ride a bus in the evening – even when you are a grown up man. I am far less scared in the suburbs than in a city.

Sources:

Comments

Unknown said…
I used to live in the country with my parents and now I've lived in the city for a year or so. I liked living in a big house, there was a garden in the summer, a fireplace in the winter and a lot of space to put all my stuff around but...I really like having everything close around now - entertainment, education, cinemas, theatres, restaurants. I used to drive to school for an 1,5 hour and now it only takes me 20-30 minutes or even less to get where I want. I didn't have any buses or means of transportations that could take me home at night so every party or a meeting had to be carefully planed - what do I need to take (I can't go back if I forget something), when is the bus, where will I sleep? If I would sleep at someone's place, I needed to take all my stuff with me for 2 days - I couldn't decide "on the go". So for me there is no independence in living far away even when I had access to a car. Furthermore you mentioned neighbors, the ones in the country are far more noisy. I didn't experience it myself but there are stories about people in small villages where you don't have any personal life because everybody knows everything and cares about "what people could think". As for the safety, riding night buses and walking in the dark, through mud and rain never felt safe to me. When I'm surrounded by people in the city, I feel far more safer. In my old neighborhood which was very nice, there were at least 5 or 6 burglaries that I know of, even with the residents still inside. It didn't matter that everybody around had an alarm and a security firm that would come in such case. Now I live in a building where the guards are downstairs and I don't personally know anybody that had a breaking in their flat. I don't mean to say that it doesn't happen - probably it does even more often - but when the houses are far apart it's harder to notice that something is going on. I mentioned space, it was nice to have a lot of room (I can't really complain because my flat isn't small) but I was also a lot of space to clean which took a lot of time and I wouldn't say it was cheaper. The cost of energy and heat is enormous in the winter, flats are much warmer and energy doesn't cost that much.
I think that the most important how people do feel about the place they live in. Personally I can’t imagine living in small city anymore. Starting from standard of life, available facilities, education to health care it is much better to live in big city. I know from my personal experience how it looks in smaller cities, the doctors are terribly stupid they don’t know how to fill papers and their knowledge is completely zero. There is problem with doing anything. There are no jobs positions, the rate of unemployment it terribly high. There are no perspectives for life. I really can’t understand people living in small villages in the middle of nowhere.

Of course it depends what are you doing in your life. If you are employed in company in city you have to live somewhere around. I would prefer to work remotely because I can live anywhere I want. Some people like quiet, natural environment.
Unknown said…
I see advantages and disadvantages of both living in the city and in the countryside. But in this moment of my life it never crossed my mind to move to the countryside, I would feel uncomfortable there. Of course spending some time in the nature is a wonderful thing, gives you a sense of calmness, makes you relaxed. But right now I have so many things to do - education, meeting people, taking part in various events - I can't imagine living in that seclusion offered by countryside.
In fact, when I was in primary school lived in a quite small town. I was big enough to have a school nearby, some little shops (there were 2 supermarkets if I remember correctly), but right behind the block of flats I lived in there was a forest. In my opinion it was a marvelous place to grow up in. But then some priorities changed and my parents and I moved to a bigger city and a few years later I moved to study in Warsaw.
So, like I said earlier, I can't imagine living in the countryside - my heart and mind is in the city.
Tomasz Wojda said…
Even when knowing the pros and cons making decision where to live it always depends on a person. I can guess that it depends where did this person have rised. We would always look at that place brighter! One i was visiting exhibition where they where shown 4 human lungs. One someones who lived in a city and smoke, some one who smoke and live in coutryside (without that much air pollution) and persons who never smoked. That amazed me beacause a living in the city lung from someone who never smoke had the same damage as lung from a person living in coutryside smoking all life! That shows in what kind of condition we are curentlly living! RUN TO FOREST :)
Unknown said…
As a person who was living bot on the country side and big city, I have to say that the second option is much more convenient and I prefer living in city. Of course there are a lot of disadvantages but the most important reason for me is that everything is in place. You don’t need to plan everything in advance and you can be more spontaneous. Another thing is that, in my opinion I will change my point of view within time and when I’ll be older I will want to live outside of cites, without the everyday rush- but for now I kind of like it.
Thanks for your comment:) Living in a big house certainly has a lot of advantages, I just love sitting in front of a fireplace in winter! I also agree that having to plan your returns is a huge disadvantage of living outside the city. I didn't know that burglaries were so common in rural areas - in my neighbourhood there has been only one that I am aware of. It is good that you have a guard always present in the lobby of your building. Have you ever heard about "door handle thieves" (złodzieje klamkowi)? I've read about it last week and I must say I'm a bit scared. A thief walks from door to door, listens if there is anybody inside close to the door and if not he tries if the door is open. If it is, he goes inside for no more than 10-15 seconds and grabs everything in a short range that looks valuable - for example a purse left by the door. It is very important to remember about closing the door! Oh, and the lady that wrote about this was living in a building with a guard too, but still someone was checking their door twice a day for a couple of days. They tried to catch him, but never succeeded, he always managed to get in an elevator.
Haha, in my village there is only one shop and a kindergarten, nothing more, I know what you mean;) When I travel I often wonder what people in these small towns in the middle of nowhere do. I think that the majority of them must be farmers or small factories workers.
Suburbs are a nice choice for freelancers - it is relatively quiet, but you still can get to the city if you need to. Of course it gets really inconvenient if you have to go to the city everyday. Used to get up at 5:15 in the morning everyday for four years of my high school - it was more than inconvenient.
I agree with you - countryside is a wonderful place to grow up in. You spend a lot of time outside, breathing fresh air, getting to know the nature... I remember being very surprised one time in a primary school when we went to zielona szkoła or something - a lot of children has never seen a real cow before and they were staring and pointing fingers.
What is your favourite part of living in a city?
I didn't know that living in a city damages your lungs that much. Thank you! I have found a link for the ones that are interested in this subject.
Thank you for your comment. When you will be thinking about moving outside of the city, just remember to choose a place where medical care is easily accessible.
Unknown said…
As a child I used to visit my grandma's family home a lot, which was in the countryside, so I would visit the neighbours and feed their pigs, cows and horses - it's surreal to me to think that a child would never see a cow :) But I know such things happen.
And my favourite part of living in a city? I guess that it's shopping - it takes me less than 5 minutes to get to the closest discount store... it's the simple things... ;) Also that I can call my friends and grab a beer any time.
Unknown said…
I really like your arguments, we all know about them but we don't event realise that it might be different in suburbs.

I have always struggled about the fact that I don't live in a "city centre", but I still live in Warsaw (Wawer district). I have similar problem with public transportation to you but thankfully I can commute with car, and even standing in a traffic jam for an hour is faster than taking a bus. But sometimes I regret that I cannot multitask in a car and in a result I waste like 2-3 hours a day on commuting.
But beside that problem I have all advantages that the big city offers, and I have some that living in suburbs offers, what is kind of cool to have that mix :)

My biggest dream tho is to live close to the mountains, but close to a big city :) so in fact you are living in an amazing area, absolutely beautiful, with wonderful views, you can go to snowboard any time :D, and if you want you can go for a shopping spree to the city that is like very close (30km?) :) in a meantime I could do remote work :D sounds perfect to me and I even have found one destination that would be perfect to me! :D
Unknown said…
It all depends on our priorities and stage of life we are at. Active and dynamic way of life which is common for young and full of ambition people determines choice of living in a city.On the other hand mature and stabilised people looking for calm
and predictable surrounding often move to suburbs. Obviously we can't forget about financial limitation which most often regulate our decisions.
Unknown said…
When I was a little girl, my parents decided to build a house on the outskirts of Warsaw in the town Wesoła. Wesoła has been not yet a district of Warsaw but a small town which had own right. Today Wesoła has been a district of Warsaw for 13 years, located on the outskirts of Warsaw. I think this is a compromise. Wesoła is the quietest district and staying in it you don't feel the big city (a lot of famous people have their homes here) but has some type of municipal facilities eg. nice and well-groomed sidewalks or sewer because of the fact that is a district of Warsaw.

Currently I don't live in my family home but often I come back there when I want to get calm. In my opinion, most of the young people who live in the hustle and their main priority is access to the civilization they need urban life as I have now. Looking at my mother, she cannot imagine already living in the center of Warsaw but as you wrote - she has different priorities than me.
Unknown said…
I come from a small town and when I started college I moved to Warsaw. I prefer big cities. For four years I have lived in Muranów. It is a very quiet area even though it is practically the center of the city. Today I cann't imagine that I could live elsewhere. Maybe when I had a family and I'm tired of living in the city I think about moving to the suburbs of the city. Currently, I don't mind the buzz and rush of a big city, I like it. The big advantage is the number of opportunities for growth and finding a job. Alternatively, in the future I would like to move to a place where it is warmer!
Unknown said…
Well, what can I say, I agree with your statement that both city and rural areas have disadvantages and advantages and what is better depends on one's priorities. I have lived my whole life in Warsaw and to be honest I feel tired of it sometimes and think of moving out just to be away from the noise and rush. But I won't deny that living in a city is more convenient - everything is close by and you have an easy access to what you need (if you ignore traffic jams).

I would love to live in a small city near the sea, and a perfect situation would be mountains by the sea so I could have the most important stuff nearby and beautiful views at the same time, haha ;) One can dream.
Kit said…
Maybe it is because I never lived in the rural area, but most of its advantages seems to be not too useful.
I'm excluding the safety one, because it's more a stereotype than a real fact. Unless we're talking about zombie apocalypse, carpet bombardment or other disastrous events, I doubt that worse lighting and much smaller number of people are the most important safety factors.
This whole 'close to the nature' idea sounds like the biggest lie country people like to believe. Like they have a god-damn national park outside the window. Most of times, what they have is a barn, tool shed, garage and neighbors ... or farmlands. And no romantic beautiful meadows and hills speckled with flowers and serene rivers with tiny waterfalls.
Only pros of living in rural area I see is the fact, that you can do barbecue near your house and have a big, seriously stocked up workshop for all your creative hardware needs.
Unknown said…
Wow, if I would ever have to talk that I am less scared to live somewhere then somewhere else I would move to another part of the world like ASAP. City is for me. I want its infrastructure, its cinemas and theatres, its schools and restaurants and its anonymity. I used to live, literally, in a forest. It was technically still Warsaw and it was 40ish minutes by car to city center but it was a forest with no neighbors and wild animals just on the other side of window. I moved so I could walk to my office and to be closer to friends. I never felt scared while living in Poland. If I ever will consider this feeling I will move to another country. Peru perhaps.
Michal Kulesza said…
Poland is rather safe place to live, I would move somewhere else if I would feel frightened.
Even at Warsaw, close to the Center of the city you can find calm and quiet places where you can buy detached house. Prices... are uber-high (over million zlotys for tiny house built before war) but, maybe some day I will own one :)
Unknown said…
I don't imagine life in the country. Maybe in city is more dangerous but it is more comfortable. We have what we want - shop, education, medicine. Of course life in city is really stressful because of work and competition but I think that we can get used to it.
Sometimes I want a break without "big city life" and then I go to Tatra mountains or somewhere where I can relax
I live close to you and I agree that this mix between living in a city and in the suburbs is cool. I have two supermarkets, a big farmers' market and a lot of different public transport options nearby and still there is a big forest on the end of my street.
I think that Switzerland may be a nice place for you, there are mountains just a short ride away from the biggest cities:) What is the destination you have found?
Thank you for your comment. But there are also young people that prefer living in the suburbs and mature ones that choose living in the city centre, right?
It is nice to have a getaway place in the outskirts, you are lucky:)
Of course, opportunities of growth and job offers are another argument for living in a city. Thank you for your comment. Where would you like to move to?:)
Hmm, mountains by the sea... You should live in Norway then:) It would be really nice to stay there, of course if the costs of living were lower.
Wow, you have a very negative attitude towards rural areas! You know, it is not hard to find a place to live nearby a forest or even a national park and still be close to a bigger city. There are more forests in Poland than one would think. Thanks for the argument about zombie apocalypse or UFO attacks, it is very important and cannot be overlooked;)
What is your favourite part of living in a city?
My friend lives in a forest in Izabelin and she is afraid to stay alone at home. They have a lot of windows on the ground floor and I guess it may be scary at night. Have you watched a movie called "The Gift"? It is thriller about a couple that moves into a new house and starts getting bothered by a neighbour - a person from husband's past. It is really scary, made me a bit afraid of staying alone at home:)
Yeah, it would be really nice to own a house that was in Warsaw centre... One can dream:)
Sure, getaways are a nice option. However, there are people that are tired of living in Warsaw everyday and they just can't take it anymore. I have two friends that own a flat on Hoża and they say it is a horrible place to live, especially during summer. It is boiling inside, but you cannot open any windows because the street noise is deafening. It may be comfortable in other aspects, but people also need some peace at night:)
Unknown said…
O, Switzerland may be nice, for sure! I have never been there, but maybe one day :D The only problem is that it's extremely expensive :P
My perfect place is somewhere near Salzburg or Innsbruck in Austria and I hope one day I will live there :)
Unknown said…
Most of my life I have been living in a suburban house and I always kind of hated it. A big house always seemed like a problem to me, there always been a lot of things to do - cleaning, gardening, finding a cat that's hiding somewhere. Taking care of all those thigns seemed like a waste of time, not to mention how long the transportation took. I also never felt quite "safer" living outside of the city. There were a lot of stray dogs where I lived, and I'm scared of walking alone in the dark, so lack of street lights was a problem. There's nothing fun about being dependant on your parents to pick you up from a bus stop. Once our car even got stuck in the snow during winter. Suburbs are also filled with all kinds of bugs, grasshoppers, spiders and mosquitos. I defenetely preffer living in the city, where everything is closeby. In the future I'd love to have a small, non binding apartment, that functions as a safe heaven between discovering new places and travelling.
If I had to pick what I don't like about living in a flat, I'd say I'm not used to people coming and cnocking on my door to check on ventilation, gas and stuff. Another thing are the neighbours - sometimes you can hear what they're doing in their apartments (whitch is weird), or when they're doing a renovations (whitch is horrifying).
First of all there is a huge difference in living between rural/suburban and urban dense areas. Costs of living vary between rural and city areas but are converging. Quality of life is different because in the inner cities one has more access and opportunities to spend time culturally examples: theater, cinema etc … Costs of travel is substantial from a time perspective as well as time management view point. In a city areas are more popular with younger people and there is huge differences in mentality and quality of education. In summary one has to optimize time and financial responsibility with education and social activities outside work. An active professional life is popular and also not forever sustainable. Many people go back to living in rural areas to enjoy other activities and have less stress of modern way of life.
Julia Osiak said…
I'm definitely a city person. I love the night life, the energy, the constant flow of new people and their ideas. For everyday life, I choose the urban setting. Of course it has some drawbacks and you pointed them out nicely. I also see the good sides of living in the suburbs. The peace and the quiet are really nice, until you watch a horror movie alone at night and it's so calm that you can hear the wooden floor cracking :p
Aleksander M said…
It all depends on the kind of work you do. As a freelancer able to work at home I enjoy living in the suburbs with my own garden, I am driving a car everywhere anyway and I don't have to worry about finding a parking spot.
It only sucks when you want to go out drinking with your friends at night. If I did 9 to 5 in downtown area - I would much rather rent a flat somewhere nearby.
Now I live in single-family house and it takes me about one hour to get to a city centre. I find it very annoying and difficult because I do not have direct mean of public transport and that is one of the reasons why it takes me so long to get somewhere. In the future I would like to live in a flat. Basically just to avoid all responsibilites and dutties connected with house and living in it. When you live in home you have to take care of most of the things just by yourself. You are just responsible for every single thing. When you live in the flat you have administration to take care of it and you do not have to worry about it at all. Living in the city has many advantages but the most important is that in the city you have much more posibilities to find dream job. And I think that attracts most of the people because it is crutial thing for my peers right now.
But of course from time to time I like to go to a lake house just to relax, rest and have some peace. And I think that is perfectly normal.

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