Cities are large urban settlements based on extensive systems of housing, transportation and infrastructure that are looked after by a local administration. These are the vibrant centres of community living that offer a wealth of business, education and career opportunities to residents. Often referred to as the commercial, historical and geographic heart of a metropolis, the city centre is the most central, and often the busiest, part of a city. It’s also known as “downtown.” Contrary to popular belief, downtown life isn’t all glitz and glamour; this sort of lifestyle has its downsides. In this blog, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of living near the city centre that will help you come up with an informed decision.
Pros and Cons of Living Near the City Centre
Some of the most prominent benefits and disadvantages of living near the city centre are listed below
Advantages of Living Near the City Centre
First of all, let’s take a look at the pros of living near the city centre:
Socially Active Lifestyle
While living the city life, your chances of meeting new people grow, giving you plenty of opportunities to socialise. You can grow your personal and professional network by becoming a part of a large group of people who can be your college friends, fellow neighbours or office colleagues. Interacting with people who have come from a different region or have had life experiences different is not only a refreshing experience but also teaches you many new things about the world around you.
Central Location
When living in the downtown area of a city, everything seems to be interconnected and easy to reach. Ideally, the streets in the city centre feature a mix of shops, restaurants, public libraries, urban open spaces, salons, spas and recreation centres educational facilities and healthcare services. Since markets in the city centre are open till late at night, people residing in the surroundings have the privilege to experience and enjoy the city lights even after it gets dark.
Entertainment Options
From cinemas to sports complexes and glittering shopping malls, moving to a metro area, you’ll have plenty of places to see and things to do around for the sake of entertainment and fun when you are a part of the city life. So, if you are seeking cultural and entertainment enrichment, then moving near the city centre seems to be an ideal option for you.
Public Transportation
The biggest benefit of living near the city centre is that you don’t have to drive yourself every time you go out and deal with the hassle of parking and traffic situation. Instead, you can use different modes of public transport available in the city. Take Lahore for example, the city’s most advanced metro bus system caters to thousands of commuters every day. Along with mass transit systems, the downtown areas in cities have rickshaws and taxis that can be used by the general public to move around the city.
Disadvantages of Living Near the City Centre
Like any other location, there are some disadvantages of living near the city that we are going to list down and discuss further in this blog.
Noise Pollution
The noise level in the surrounding of the downtown area is normally higher than in the suburbs. The densely populated metropolitan areas have more traffic with honking horns of the fast and slow-moving vehicles, as well as trains and nearby airports with loud planes flying in and out, contributing to the noise pollution.
Less Parking Space
The parking situation in the city centre is a huge hassle faced by everyone including the residents, commuters and shoppers. Finding a parking space for your vehicle is not a guarantee in big cities. Even if you are lucky enough to find one, then there are chances that it might be blocks away from your destination and you may have to cover all this distance on foot. Due to an acute shortage of parking space in the urban centre, you may also be to park your vehicle in most cases. In this regard, Saddar Town in Karachi is a noteworthy example that usually remains jam-packed throughout the day and finding a vehicle parking space is a challenge in itself.
Less Privacy
In most cases, when someone moves from the suburbs to the urban centre, it involves downsizing of the living space. Lack of availability of land to construct independent homes and sky-high property value are the two reasons that limit the homebuyers to the choice of apartment living. Privacy always remains one of the biggest concerns of people living in an apartment building with their neighbours on the other side of the wall.
After going through all the above-mentioned pros and cons of living near the city centre, will you be buying a home in the downtown area of your city or not? Let us know about your thoughts by emailing us at
blog@zameen.com. Also, don’t forget sharing your valuable feedback as it helps us improve our blogs and make it more engaging and informative for our readers.
On a side note, you can also check out a couple of our recently published blogs in which we have discussed the pros and cons of living in a corner house and talked about the perks of residing in a gated community.
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