We tend to have a romantic nation of living in the countryside in the UK. Whether it’s quaint cottages or picture postcard views, there’s a nostalgia attached to rural life.
Yet not everyone is built for the quiet life and it’s certainly not everyone’s idea of the way they want to live. Here are seven great perks to living in the city that you’ll definitely love if you opt to set up home in one:
Transport
Buses, trains, trams, taxis – you name it, you’re likely to be able to actually use it if you’re in the city. In the country you’ve got no choice but to use your car to get everywhere. In some villages buses are rare and run infrequently.
Shopping
Do you love browsing the shops for a bargain? Want to have a choice of more than one place to get your clothes? Do you want access to shops that are open at a time of day when you can actually get to them? Then City living is definitely for you.
Sport
If you’re a sport fan you’ll know that nothing quite beats the rush of live action. Whether it’s Premier League football, test match cricket, international rugby or nearly any other competitive spectator sport you wish to name, you’re likely to be able to enjoy it for yourself without having to travel for miles in a city.
Leisure
It’s not just sport either, being in a city gets you access to a whole host of ways to use your spare time, be it the cinema, theatre or concerts. Cities are where the action is at.
Jobs
Enough of the fun stuff, there are plenty of serious perks to city living too. Businesses congregate around cities and that means there’s a better chance of getting a job. Not just that, but wages tend to be higher in cities. Government statistics state that the median income is about £3,500 a year higher in big cities than in rural areas.
Housing
Getting a job is important, as is finding somewhere to live. Cities are often a hub of economic activity and that includes construction work on new homes, meaning there are always new developments popping up to provide housing. It’s important to remember, too, that city living doesn’t mean having a home slap bang in the main shopping street – suburbs give you all the benefits of access too while delivering the quality of living you want. In huge places like London then, homes in Hackney are still only 20 minutes away from the centre of the capital, for example, and give a nice, balanced city life.#
Services
A job and a home should be easier to find and access to services is better too. Research reported by QualityWatch shows that people in some rural areas have to travel more than ten times as far as those in urban areas to get to their nearest hospital. It gives the example of West Somerset, where the average home-to-hospital distance is 18.5 miles, and compares this to just 1.6 miles in Camden.
