Living In The City Vs. The Suburbs: Pros And Cons
Look At The Bigger Picture
There are pros and cons to suburban and urban living, and much to consider as you look for an individual dwelling, or a family home. But the same solution will be more or less applicable to differing people. Sometimes rental is the most financially responsible, sometimes you need to build equity more directly. Following, we’ll examine some ups and downs of either category.
Commute Idiosyncrasies
A commute can be a nightmare. If you live in the suburbs but work in the city, that can mean a commute of two hours one way. Can you afford to spend four hours a day in traffic? Of course, there are always secondary routes that can be used. You can take back roads and the like to cut down on your need to contend with traffic. This isn’t desirable for everyone.
If you’ve got a job near your home in the suburbs, though, then this issue disappears. Still, what you pay in terms of travel can reduce what you save owing to more distant location of residency. If you’ve got to drive sixty miles a day, thirty miles both ways, and spend four hours in traffic on average, that’s twenty hours and one hundred and fifty miles in a five-day week.
In a year, you’re looking at 7,200 miles in commute alone, and 1,040 hours in traffic—assuming you never miss a week of work in a year. If your time is worth $20 an hour, that’s $20,800 of lost potential. In terms of mileage, gas, and wear-and-tear, the IRS values drive expenses at fifty-eight cents a mile. This means 7,200 miles translates to $4,176.
The commute outlined here costs about $25k a year, depending on how good you are with your time. This is a con of the suburb over living centrally and simply using public transportation.
Amenities
Generally, an urban home is going to give you access to more urban amenities than one in the suburbs. It could be five miles to the nearest 7-11 in the suburbs. In the city, there are bodegas on every street corner, theaters, bars, shops, or whatever else you’d like. Clearly the urban alternative excels here.
Space Considerations
Check out these listings for U Move Free La Villita, TX apartments. Essentially, any living option you need can be achieved, these are some of the more centralized rental solutions of San Antonio. Big rental units and small ones are available. You can even rent full properties if you’ve got the resources.
However, renting centrally is going to cost you more than larger units which aren’t located centrally. Are you raising a family? Do you have pets? Do you need space for work, hobbies, or other activities? Well, you won’t have nearly so much in most urban dwelling scenarios. Things become increasingly compact the more centrally you live.
In Tokyo, some hotels are essentially compartments you can stretch out in. There are certainly more spacious options, but this stereotype is well-known for a reason. Still, even those tiny sleeping spaces are more costly than some midwestern motels.
If you really need little space, you might have your cake and eat it too by living in a motorhome for a while—living mobile need not feel mobile! However there’s a legal gray area here, and you’ll deal with a number of unexpected hassles. Still, again owing to the bigger picture, this could be an option. Equity is built easier in a motorhome than an apartment if you’re strategic. With rental, you never get back what you pay in.
Making Your Choice
Residential living in a suburban sense provides better security and equity in neighborhoods that typically feature reduced crime. However, you’ll lose thousands of dollars and hours in the commute. Meanwhile, centrally-located urban dwellings are more costly and smaller, though they have access to amenities in abundance. And you can always live mobile.
Whether to go with an option that’s central, in the suburbs, or transitory will depend on you. Crunch the numbers. Figure out where you want to be in the future. Check out what’s available, and don’t forget collateral costs like commute. Let the relevant facts pertaining to your needs help you define which living possibility best represents you.