Big City Life

Contemporary life offers vast opportunities for seeking one’s dream place of habitation. Some people prefer to escape from loud and crowded cities and enjoy quite loneliness and calm being in a village, while others tend to settle down in metropolises with their plentiful opportunities. This paper is devoted to revealing the pros and cons of living in a big city such as Los Angeles. However, my personal strong belief is that metropolitan life may provide significantly more opportunities to a person eager to take a challenge.

The first reason why so many people leave small towns and villages for larger cities is vast education and career opportunities. Obviously, a small town is not capable of providing so many schooling facilities, working places and decent salaries. Although the overall cost of life differs strikingly from what small town dwellers are used to, more and more people tend to move to big cities. It is worth looking at comparison of a small town Wooster, OH and Los Angeles, CA. According to various resources, life in Los Angeles will cost a lot more, for example the prices for houses will almost double from about $207,000 in average in Wooster to stunning $515,000 in Los Angeles (Bankrate.com). Other living costs will also increase: health care expenses will grow 13%, groceries and transportation will show about 9% of rise (CNN Money). Meanwhile, education costs will vary independently on the location. For example, the College of Wooster costs about $49,780 per year 2012-2013(housing and dining included) (The College of Wooster 2012) while California State University, located in Los Angeles charges about $32,654 for the equal package (California State University 2012). Although, paying a lot for living at the same time means having a higher standard of living with more and better services. Those coming to large cities to find their dream lives will need a lot of strength and insistence to reach the goal.

Cities like Los Angeles can boast of a huge choice of activities, such as all-year-round outdoor sports from skiing to swimming. There are plenty of places to see, such as Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, Hollywood museums, the Griffith Park with its observatory, the Pasadena Museum of History, etc. (LA Tourist). There are also Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, cinemas and theaters. Night-life fans are offered a huge quantity of dance clubs. Wooster, on the contrary, being a home to the Wooster College and the Ohio State University, may boast numerous cafes, bars, antique shops, golf and country clubs and Ohio Light Opera performances in summer (Trip Advisor).

While being in a non-stop rush, Los Angeles residents spend a huge amount of their time on the road. There are two reasons for that: large distances leading to long hours of commuting and heavy traffic resulting in jams. Heavy traffic leads to another disadvantage of all big cities – ecology and smog. There will be no compromise here. Towns, villages and suburbs will always attract those who value fresh air, clean and tidy streets and free roads. However, Los Angeles can offer almost all types of landscapes from the ocean to mountains within a close reach for those longing for a breath of freshness. It is also famous for its brilliantly favorable weather. It is sunny almost all year round, which has an immediately favorable impact on the people living here resulting in optimism, strengths and health.

Summarizing all said above, big cities may provide more chances to a person in search of a better, more eventful life with opportunities for education, career and entertainment. While still having some disadvantages, cities will continue attracting people by a vast scope of advantages, such as high, though expensive, standard of living, possibilities of professional and cultural development. Big city life is a constantly changing adventurous journey, which demands a smart approach to utilization of its gifts.