When I travel around, I often end up in major cities, like Hong Kong, Boston, Toronto, Sydney, among others. Major cities are generally not my favourite places, but I often wonder about the reasons people want to live in major cities.
Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities, Number 1 – Travel Opportunities
If you’re passionate about travel, then living in a major city with excellent international connections is a must. I personally love Hong Kong for its amazing connectivity to Asia and Europe. Sydney can be great if you want to explore the South Pacific region. Toronto is also great for connectivity to the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe.
Transport – Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities, Number 2
If you’ve moved to a city because of its travel opportunities, then you want to make sure you can easily make it to the airport at any time of day, right? Or even any where else in the city. In these environmentally conscious times, we don’t want to be causing a whole pile of pollution on our daily commute. So an extensive, and preferably cheap, transport system is a must.
To be honest, Asian cities are much better at providing these services than most European and North American cities. Or at least they’re much better at making them affordable. Hong Kong for instance has one of the best rapid transit systems in the world for a fraction of the cost of its European and North American counterparts.
Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities, Number 3 – Work and Education Opportunities
One of the main reasons people move to a new city is to take up a new job or work in a specific field. For example, a teacher might move to London where there is currently a shortage of teachers.
As for education, tens of thousands of students move overseas each year to live in major cities where they can further their education. Boston and Toronto are top student destinations in North America, while Sydney is home to two universities ranked in the world’s top 50.
Convenience – Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities, Number 4
Want to be able to feed a pizza craving at 11pm without leaving your home? Perhaps you just want to be able to do everything you need to do without leaving your district.
Convenience and ease of finding services and retail outlets in a city can be a huge factor when deciding to move somewhere. It’s no secret that major cities generally cater to convenience better than smaller places.
Now you just have to measure your laziness against the level of convenience available in the city. Asian cities tend to be very convenient for their residents by offering delivery of almost anything. They also tend to have 24 hour convenience stores everywhere!
Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities, Number 5 – Climate
This is a major factor for some people. It can be a very personal choice. If you love snow, you’re probably not going to want to live in the tropics, no matter how much opportunity is there.
The climate of a city can have a huge effect on your well being. For example, North American cities like Toronto and Boston have lovely mild summers but may get too cold for some in the winter. On the other hand, if you don’t like sweating for at least 9 months a year, Asian cities like Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore may not be for you.
Entertainment Options – Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities, Number 6
So your city has great weather, opportunities and transport, but can it keep you entertained? This is an area where not all cities are equal.
Do you love the theatre? Or would you prefer to browse art galleries? Are you a festival fan? Or do you prefer a quiet drink in an underground bar? Do you like to shop ’til you drop? Or visit a local cultural precinct?
If you want the right work/life balance, then entertainment options are definitely important.
Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities, Number 7 – Medical Facilities
Most of us don’t like to think about it, but there will come a time where accessible and affordable medical facilities are an important factor in deciding where to live. Luckily all major cities around the world have top class medical facilities.
The bad news is that some of them aren’t cheap. This is where you might want to avoid somewhere like the US, which has a user-pays healthcare system. Instead, head for cities in Canada, Australia and some Asian countries that have versions of universal healthcare.
Real Estate – Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities, Number 8
We all need a place to live, but some cities are also known as great places to invest. Housing prices are rising almost everywhere in the world, so there is a high chance of decent returns from real estate. Where are the best places to invest though?
While the price of real estate in Toronto can get quite high, low interest rates make it a good place to look at investing in North America. Meanwhile, in Asian cities like Bangkok, Thailand, you can get into the market for less than $150,000.
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At the end of the day, it’s normally a combination of several of these that contribute to the reasons people want to live in major cities.
Do you live in a major city? If so, were any of the reasons above a factor in your decision? Or do you have your own reasons? Please let us know in the comments!
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6 Replies to “8 Reasons People Want to Live in Major Cities”
These are all so true! Whenever I think about moving to a new place, I only think about places that are closer to major airports so we can still travel easily.
Yeah, it’s all about travel for me, obviously! I live through horrid summers to be in a well connected place, haha.
I am definitely a “big city person”. For me, the major draws are culture (art and theater offerings), great airfares and flights, and restaurant options
Yes to great airfares and food!
The airport in my city is an international hub, so I can fly almost anywhere in the world for under $500! The city is also often described as a foodie paradise, a fact that I sometimes take for granted.
Interesting list; as someone who lives in an major (and rapidly growing city) I agree with most of these. One additional thought that I have is that, I think for a lot of people city-life needs to strike a balance between economy of size and being too big. Where I am now is leaning towards too big and even though I grew up here, it is a frustrating thing to survive increased crowding.
I live in one of the most crowded cities in the world and the crowds definitely get frustrating. Luckily my city’s small and connected enough that I can live away from the crowds but still have maximum convenience.