What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in urban area...

What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in urban area. 

It is better to migrate to an urban area as there is a good standard of life with 

sanitation and clean water as well as education. This increases the chance of 

employment as the environment of learning is adequate, however living in urban 

areas can be very expensive and be overpopulated which leads many to homeless 

families. There is also pollution which affects the learning environment although 

this can be prevented. Therefore living in urban areas has more advantages than 

disadvantages. 

 Urban living advantages

• Social life - more people to meet and hang out with

• Services - faster emergency response times, more healthcare facilities, 

libraries, banks, public transit, etc…

• Workability - if you care about being somewhat car-free, a limited 

amount of urban areas are dense enough with good pedestrian facilities to 

allow residents to walk from their homes to businesses easily

• Employment - in general, urban areas have a greater concentration and 

diversity of jobs

• Entertainment - more entertainment options at all budgets (theaters, 

museums, random block parties, music, etc…)

• Recreation - depending on where you live, well-maintained recreational 

facilities either in the city or nearby (skiing, hiking, swimming, cycling, 

boating, etc…)

• Eating/Drinking - restaurants and bars at all budgets featuring more 

diverse cuisines and active nightlife

• Supermarkets - numerous types of supermarkets selling various goods to 

fit your lifestyle

• Urban living disadvantages

Air pollution - although where I live usually scores an AQI under 30 (lower 

numbers are good), I am sure I am breathing more car exhaust and dust 

particles than I would be in the countryside

• Noise pollution - depending on where you live (quiet neighborhoods 

usually exist), you will need to tolerate some level of noise at different 

times of the day (traffic, neighbors)

• Urban traffic - if you drive, you might have to experience daily traffic 

jams at rush hour; depending on where you live, traffic might include 

more than just cars (motorcycles, train crossings, trolleys, bicycles, 

pedestrians)

• Expenses - you will pay more for less space

• Space - you have less of it

• Crime - some neighborhoods may not be advisable to visit at night, your 

car might be the victim of a break-in, someone might steal your mail

• General increased likelihood of getting injured - you might get hit by a 

car, hit your head on a crossbar that is too low, trip on uneven pavement, 

etc…

Countryside living advantages

• Open spaces - the country is open fields, forests, plains, mountains

• Fresh air - few cars and open space means the air is clean and fresh (unless 

there’s a factory or power plant nearby… or dairy farms… or crop 

dusters…)

• Quiet - less people, less traffic, less noise

• Recreation - I know I listed this as an urban living advantage but this is a 

different kind of recreation; this is your favorite swimming hole, forest, 

mountain, river; if you live near a city then you’ll probably get urban folk 

coming out to enjoy hiking facilities but if you’re in deep country then you 

make your own trails; also, hunting, fishing, camping

• Extremely fresh food - the countryside general has roadside farm stands 

where farmers sell their goods daily

• Open roads - you can drive for miles and only see a few other people on 

the road, and you know them

Countryside living disadvantages

• Less people - hopefully you have a good group of friends because they’re 

the only people in town that are your age

• Distance from services - emergency service response times will be longer; 

the post office, the hospital, the library, etc… are all farther away

• No nightlife - if you like going out at night, you will have to go to 

whatever large city is closest to you

• Less entertainment options - there might be a theater, but your 

entertainment might be the local teenagers causing trouble down at the 

general store

• Transportation options - unless you live in town where you can walk to the 

local stores, you will need to drive everywhere

• Strange smells - this is location-dependent, but you might live next to a 

dairy, a cattle/hog farm, an onion farm, or some other agricultural land use 

that emits strong, unpleasant smells

• Less employment options - less diversity of jobs, the job you want might 

be miles away

I listed every advantage and disadvantage that I could think of.

In the USA, “urban area” and “countryside” have a lot of different meanings 

depending on where you live. You might live in the countryside but are only a 30 

minute drive from a large city. However, you might be hours from the city. You 

might live next to a farm, or you might live at the foot of a huge mountain.

On the other hand, not all cities are alike. East coast cities are older, more urban, 

and will feel more like a city (crowded, busy). Aside from Chicago, Minneapolis, 

and perhaps Denver, southern, Midwestern, western, and southeastern cities almost 

always require you to drive everywhere. West coast cities are also car-dependent 

but are trending to be more