People who like big cities

[x65943]

People who like big cities, can you explain why?

I have never lived in a city with 1 million people or more, and the idea of it it kinda terrifying

Awful traffic, everything is expensive, high crime, impossible to afford a home

What are the benefits and are they really worth it? Am I just blinded by the fact I have always lived in smaller places?

 

[Scarlet]

Oh wow I had no idea there's only four cities in the UK that actually have a million people in them, that's wild.

As somebody who lives in a town with almost 200k people though, I can say the transport links are really solid. That's the big reason I chose here over smaller places that are perhaps closer to where I actually work. A lot of things are convenient to get to as well, with there being plenty of nearby options for things like supermarkets, food, and other things.

I feel like the answer to your question really varies from country to country. A US city with more than a million people will be designed entirely differently to one of our four cities for example.

 

[SylverReZ]

"England is my city."
BIG UP THE MASSIVE!

 

[Beetlejuice90]

I live in a big city of 4.5 million people and the advantages are that everything is close by. Grocery Stores, Clothing Stores. Furthermore you don't need to use the car or bother trying to find a parking spot since you can access everything with the metro. If I go out I can find a barber withing 3 minutes of a walk or basically everything.

 

[AncientBoi]

 

[squeakycleanswine]

I live in a big city of 4.5 million people and the advantages are that everything is close by. Grocery Stores, Clothing Stores. Furthermore you don't need to use the car since you can access everything with the metro.

Not needing a car is a big factor when I talk to people who live in the city it seems, and I can honestly see why. No need to pay for gas, car insurance, etc. Lots of saved money in that regard.

 

[Chary]

Houston is the third largest city in America, and if you want to consider the "greater metropolitan area", then it's over 7 million people living here.

I couldn't imagine living anywhere else, really. Houston is such a unique city in that it's so massively spread out, and there's so many things to do. If you can think of it, there's probably 20 of that specific place in a 10-mile radius. There's so much to explore and find and see. You never run out of anything to do with your downtime, and yeah, there's traffic, but I think the benefits--the food scene, downtown, all the sports stadiums, space center, museums, the low cost of living, no income tax, the absolute friendliness of everyone, it's just all so good.

You've also got the insane diversity of the city here, where I don't think you get that in many other places; you can drive down a single road and go from incredibly packed little mini areas that are cultural highlights, like an entire block's worth of Indian, Persian, Vietnamese, anything really, centered grocery stores, clothing, shops, and restaurants.

tldr: yehaw city big nice

 

[eyeliner]

I first read the c for a t.

I have nothing to say in that regard.

 

[DinohScene]

As an introvert, even a small town with 50 inhabitants is already too much.

 

[RAHelllord]

Big cities are more convenient and save a lot of time, assuming you live in one that is designed for people and not for cars. My current city is only <300k but I've lived in and visited multiple 1m+ cities and the nice things about all of them are the anonymity, plethora of things to do, and generally decent public transit.
Traffic in big cities is only a problem if you actually have to use a car, and that's more often than not easy to avoid due to aforementioned public transit.

Crime rates are also usually not any higher per capita, but just increase linearly as more people just means more instances total at the same rate. Hell, if you look at the crime statistics in the US (link) the first city with a million or more people is in 12th place for murders, 22nd for rape, 8th for robberies, 20th for aggravated assault, 31st for burglary, 14th larceny, 17th vehicle theft. Which directly means a lot of smaller places are actually a lot worse.

Things are also usually not that much more expensive once you figure in the time and money you can save by just not using a car, or using it less often. Though that heavily depends on the area, Berlin for example has it pretty bad and the high cost of renting largely off-sets the benefits the public transit provides. But that's a political failing more so than a direct result of it being a big city.

Though they aren't without downsides, if you need a car you're regularly fucked, cities are more noisy, the air a little less cleaner (thanks ICE cars for both of those things), and apartments are generally also not quite as private as a nice house somewhere. But personally the convenience of living in a place where I can walk everywhere I want to go, and take a train to everywhere else, beats out the disadvantages.

 

[JuanMena]

Not fair.
My neighborhood has 2M people in it!


My city has 10M people recorded at 2015, wtf?

 

[x65943]

thanks for all of your answers

have a potential job in Manhattan and basically was told I would have to sell my car, I really like driving and having that freedom - so that idea kinda scares me a bit

but perhaps there are more benefits than I was thinking of - although Jaysus the cost of living is gonna be so much higher than I am used to

I will also have to worry more about pickpocketing and stuff I think

 

[KiiWii]

I misread Cities for Titties.

Ignore me.

 

[RAHelllord]

thanks for all of your answers

have a potential job in Manhattan and basically was told I would have to sell my car, I really like driving and having that freedom - so that idea kinda scares me a bit

but perhaps there are more benefits than I was thinking of - although Jaysus the cost of living is gonna be so much higher than I am used to

I will also have to worry more about pickpocketing and stuff I think

As a rule of thumb only move if they're willing to pay enough to make it worth your while, and then you should also be able to afford a car, either permanently or rented for the few times a year that you need it. Though if you want to keep your car check what the parking situation will be where you plan on living, and especially how much it'll cost to park there. It's usually cheaper as a resident but seldom free these days.
Also pickpockets aren't that much of a thing unless you're really careless. Don't keep your wallet in a back pocket or in any other open pocket on your person or a bag, ensure all pockets on your backpack are zipped up, and ensure you don't lose anything on public transit.
Things usually only grow legs when they're left unsupervised.

 

[Megadriver94]

Depends on the individual city and the country in question.

 

[JuanMena]

thanks for all of your answers

have a potential job in Manhattan and basically was told I would have to sell my car, I really like driving and having that freedom - so that idea kinda scares me a bit

but perhaps there are more benefits than I was thinking of - although Jaysus the cost of living is gonna be so much higher than I am used to

I will also have to worry more about pickpocketing and stuff I think

Sell half hours of love
Or 3 minutes, I don't know.

Open your OnlyFans

 

[EchoStorm]

I live(d) in a big city, and anyone says they love it here is lying to themselves. It's a 'lifestyle' but it's not a life. Life starts in the suburbs, anything in 'downtown' city limits is just cope, hedonism, gluttony, narcissism and selfishness.
I'm not mad. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I don't live in a big city and I don't like living in them either, but even for a person like me, there are certain benefits. The availability of restaurants and takeout (of any kind) and convenience of having shops and malls all over the place, not to mention public transport, are definitely big ones.
The main drawback is just that it's too crowded and it stresses me out as an introvert.

 

[thehawksfuckingdead7]

In my city Tangier, Morocco, we have 1.3M people approximately. The crime rate is high, the apartments are expensive too unless you look in the wrong places. I lived my whole life until this point here and I can't imagine myself living in a small city/town. For a year also I lived in Istanbul, Turkey, it's about the same as Tangier except it's gigantic, I got lost a lot and all I could do is rely on the GPS. I love living in the city.

 

[Fien]

I live near the center of a big city (0,6M), 10 minutes by bus.

But I don't like it just because it's not easily accessible by car (traffic jam, expensive parking). I instead most of the time drive to other places further away which are more car-friendly for food, shopping, restaurants, leisure.

I simply don't like going somewhere without the car because it's the only transport where you are not affected by weather conditions (roof, A/C) and have a seat guaranteed. And a car is the only option if you don't want to carry (heavy) stuff through the whole day shopping because you can drop off bought stuff before going to the next shop or a restaurant.

And, I really love car driving Mine has more then 600.000 kilometres on the odometer and I hope it will hit the million one day