For the past 15 years, I’ve moved back and forth between the country and the city. Now, I’m finally putting down roots and truly appreciating the advantages of city life.
Having lived in both rural and urban environments through different seasons of my life, I’ve experienced a wide range of lifestyles and communities. At 38, I have a clear understanding of what I value, what I don’t and like and what each setting offers.
This article focuses on city life. Below, I share 10 advantages I continue to experience firsthand, why they matter, and how city living provides unique benefits and opportunities for residents.
10 Advantages of City Life
- Food options
- Job opportunities
- Public transportation
- Social life
- Art and culture
- Urban planning
- Innovation
- Growth
- Convenience
- Energy
What Are The Advantages Of Living In The City?
Now, let’s take a closer look at the 10 advantages of city life and why they matter.
diverse Food Options and culinary experiences
One of the biggest advantages of city living is access to an incredible variety of food options. City residents can find any type of food imaginable, often within walking distance or quick delivery.
The restaurant, bakery and cafe options are endless, making it easy to expand your cultural experiences through food.
Cities are often the first to embrace food trends meaning you can try everything from oversized pizza slices to innovative dishes long before they reach smaller towns.
The city food scene is constantly evolving, expanding, and innovating. Driven by creativity and diversity, the is always dishes to discovery, taste, and fall in love with.
Many of these culinary experiences inspire home cooking as well, influencing the meals you prepare for yourself and your family.
RELATED: Best Toronto Pizza for Every Type of Pizza Lover
Job Opportunities and employment options
This advantage might seem obvious, but it wasn’t until I experienced it firsthand that I understood its importance.
In many small cities job options are often limited to chain businesses, retail, or service based positions.
For those that value long term career growth outside of the minimum wage, professional development, and meaningful work these limitations lead to feeling stagnant and unfulfilled.
City life offers a wider range of employment opportunities, industries, and career paths from creative and corporate roles to entrepreneurship.
For ambitious people who want to grow, build a career, or start a business, the city provides the resources, networks, and opportunities that support professional growth.
Public Transportation and a walkable life
I’ve been driving since I was 16 years old, and although I love nothing more than the freedom that comes with driving your own car, public transportation is a vital part of city life that I’ve come so accustom to it feels inconvenient to drive anywhere.
Public transportation is more affordable than gas, and faster than driving. I can travel from one end of the city to the other quickly, and don’t have to worry about the safety of my car.
Social Life and community
This is a two part advantage. First, there’s the rich social life made through friendships and the variety of activities you are able to do together given the options available throughout the city.
Second, is the volume of people you meet and form relationships with. Whether its a co-worker or a barista at your local cafe, the city is more densely populated so the ability to meet people is far greater.
People in cities are more likely to want to get together after work and on weekends, versus smaller cities where businesses close early and people tend to stay at home after 6pm.
Art and Culture
Art and culture is important, especially if you want to grow as a person and enrich your life.
This might not be important to many, but for many, art and culture is a big part of how our lives are shaped.
Art galleries are often free and events are often hosted within them, full of like minded people wanting to expand their lives.
Culture is a huge advantage! In urban environments you will be among many different cultures, and experience different parts of the world in one neighbourhood.
Knowing how other people live and what they offer is priceless.
Urban Planning
Another advantage of city life is infrastructure. Technology plays a big part in that, and cities who implement a smart way of living helps improve the experience of living in the city.
Smart cities use data analysis to improve things like public transportation, education facilities available, parks and green spaces, roads, and allows people to stay connected more easily.
Innovation, technology and modern living
Innovation might not be important to you at first, but think about it, a new store comes to market larger cities are more likely to open a location.
New ideas and tests are always on the roadmap in cities, so things don’t ever feel stale, life moves forward and things actually improve.
Living in the country felt like living in limbo for years, change doesn’t happen often and that feels like a slow demise.
personal and professional Growth
Personal and professional growth is so important. I can’t tell you how much I’ve grown since living in the city.
The experiences you go through, the things you learn, the opportunities available are endless.
If you live in a small city, or the country its easy to stay in limbo and never grow, it often feels like growth just isn’t important to those around you.
It’s so easy to not grow as a person when you’re not surrounded by inspiration and change.
School and job opportunities are available in the city, and they eventually mean a higher salary as you move upward in your career, and promotion opportunities that smaller cities don’t have the room for.
Convenience and Accessibility
The one thing I didn’t love about living in the country was the lack of convenience. If the weather was bad you would have to wait to leave the house.
If you wanted to bake or cook something and you were out of an ingredient you would have to drive to get it.
If you wanted to go to a restaurant, or bar and it was closed when you got there, you would have to divert and drive somewhere else rather than simply walking down the street.
Convenience is huge for quality of life, and I personally LOVE that I can walk 5 minutes and get everything I need.
You know what that means? Fresh fruits, veggies, bread and baked goods daily! That means when I have a cookie craving, I can happily satisfy it.
Accessibility is a key advantage of city life, urban environments provide convenience and ease of access for its residence.
Energy and pace of life
Have you ever heard of the term sleepy city? Well, that’s my idea of a slow demise. Sure its nice to relax every once in awhile but the energy living in the city offers is unmatched.
People are excited, energized, and active. Energy is important when it comes to getting what we want out of life.
Energy attracts you to the right people, people who are also feeling your energy.
I can’t count the amount of times I went to an event to be so disappointed by the lack of energy from the people and environment.
Discover the Advantages of City Life Despite its Cons
City life offers a unique blend of opportunities and challenges. While it may be fast-paced and crowded, cities provide endless possibilities for personal growth, career advancement, cultural enrichment, and social connections.
The vibrant energy, diverse communities, and convenient amenities make cities an attractive choice for many individuals seeking a dynamic lifestyle.
However, it is important to acknowledge the downsides such as pollution, high cost of living, and increased stress levels.
Ultimately, whether or not city life is suitable depends on individual preferences and circumstances but with proper planning and a positive forward thinking mindset, you can navigate the urban landscape successfully while enjoying all that city life has to offer.
