I live in a small town in europe, built a house and well it takes me about 25 minutes to the next bigger city (not huge one, lets say 50.000 people live there.

I sometimes find myself getting frustrated because the next gym is 7 minute drive by car to another smaller town. Grocery shopping I also do in another town nearby. Same people, same stuff, nothing new.

I am thinking about selling my house but I love the quiet area too. I love my freedom in my house and yard and I know everyone in town but nobody has my interests.

I can't just go to board game nights, meet many people in a bar, go shopping, go to a cafe and all that. I always have to drive those 25 minutes first.

But would I do all those things I wrote above if I'd live in the city? A few friends live in that city and say everything is so expensive and they do the same as I do (same gym, same grocery, same routine) just in the city.

But I feel like I am missing out.

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[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I moved from a smaller city (~100k) to a bigger city (>2m). These are the biggest pros as I see it:

Better jobs. I would never have had the kind of career growth I had staying where I used to live.
Possibility to live without a car. I can walk/bike/take transit everywhere, without compromising on convenience. This saves me a lot of money and gives me lots of "free" exercise.
More people who share my interests in the vicinity.
Closer to the largest airport in my country, giving me convenient access to travel the world.
An unending amount of nice restaurants with different foods to taste.

Neutral points which people like but don't really matter that much to me:

Bigger dating scene. I already have a long-term partner so this doesn't benefit me.
More expansive nightlife. My personal limit is basically bars where I can talk to friends, and the occasional karaoke. The night clubs and related activities do not really interest me.

Cons:

The housing costs are more expensive than where I used to live. With the increase in income I still make it out way, way ahead, but it's a notable tradeoff.
If I want to visit some of my family members, I need to take a train for several hours.

On balance, the pros far outweigh the cons for me, and I will likely be staying in the city for a long time.

[–] syklemil@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Better jobs. I would never have had the kind of career growth I had staying where I used to live.

Side note here: Better access to work-related events. It is possible to WFH for some jobs that were previously city-only, but you'll be missing out on not only the casual socialization of stuff like grabbing a pint after work, but also various technical meetups. I've gone to meetups for fields of work not related to me just because I find the topic interesting and it's easy to swing by.

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 3 points 19 hours ago

Agreed, I think being on-site has large social advantages.