I'd really appreciate some help refining this thought but I believe that for low and middle income earners, the pros of living in a city no longer outweigh the cons.
If you're spending most of your time working to make ends meet then here is how I view the two. These are of course relative to living in a small town, not a completely rural setting.
Pros:
- Large selection of fast food places
- Large selection of stores to buy material junk
- Short travel distances (likely canceled by commute times)
- 24/7 stores
Cons:
- Expensive housing which forces people to rent small apartments or even rooms that prohibit social gatherings.
- Limited or no personal outdoor living area, backyard
- Expensive or non existent parking.
- No sense of community
- Limited exposure to nature and non developed areas
What I'm trying to get at is if you're simply working minimum wage or slightly above you could get the same job in a small town where you don't have to spend money to enjoy simple pleasures and the cost of living is dramatically lower. Sure you have to buy groceries when the store is open, or drive an hour to a larger town when you need a new computer but seriously I could probably list a 1000 benefits to living in a small town where there isn't a war over every morsel of land, you're more free to use your land as you wish, there are fucking trees and grass, and every move you make isn't watched.
Really hoping someone can bounce a few thoughts back on this. The city and province I live in are facing really dark times and I think this is playing a huge factor.