🇬🇧 Is it better to live in a big city or a small town?

With the ease of remote work amplified by the pandemic, many people can work from anywhere. Given this, what are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city?

I think that for people like me, who appreciate art and culture, going beyond mass culture, big cities are more interesting because they are where international music concerts take place, where we have more museums, a greater number of movie theatres, international film festivals, among other benefits. Even in Europe in many small towns it is impossible to have a rich cultural life. At the very least we have to travel to enjoy concerts by international artists. Relatively short trips by Brazilian standards, but they are trips. As in some capitals the distances between places are also relatively long, it is worth evaluating whether it is better to live in a neighbourhood far from downtown in a capital or in a neighbourhood closer to the centre of a smaller city.

Most people do not value art and culture. For them, anywhere can be good. They are different lifestyles. A person whose hobby is going to parties and seeing pop artists can have it anywhere. A person whose leisure is completely connected to the internet can have it anywhere with a good internet connection. In some countries this is possible even in rural areas, far from cities.

After the pandemic, this awareness can lead more people to migrate to smaller cities or even rural areas, seeking to have quality of life at a lower cost. And looking for the security that many big cities don't offer.

With entrepreneurship having been transformed into a fad of the moment, with a distorted meaning, it would be very useful if more people following this fad chose to undertake in smaller cities, since most “entrepreneurs” use low-skilled labor, easily found in those cities. In this way, they would also contribute to reducing the number of low-skilled people migrating to large cities and, as a bonus, would have lower costs. Yes, there is a cost of moving, if the person lives in a big city, but given the savings provided by a smart choice of where to live added to the advantages of trying to live in another city, it is worth it.

For those who want to start a business that can serve the whole world, it may be interesting to evaluate which countries are best for this, in addition to evaluating the cities that best match the desired lifestyle. On this website you will find other texts to evaluate what quality of life is for you and your family. For personalised guidance, hire my “The Nomad Advisor” service.

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Nycka, the Nomad