Megacities VS small cities: where it is better to live in the USA

Фото: Depositphotos

For some, America is a skyscrapers, bursting with energy downtown and hour traffic jams, and for someone - a small city with neat doll houses in which everyone knows each other. It is not necessary to conquer New York or Los Angeles to feel happy and enjoy the pleasures of life in the United States. ForumDaily talked to immigrants who managed to live in large and very small cities and felt the difference between them on their own experience.

Escape from New York

Svetlana flew to the USA from Ukraine in 2013, according to the program Work and Travel. I worked for three months in Maryland, and after the end of the program I decided to stay in the States illegally. She went to New York, dreaming about the beautiful life of the series “Sex and the City”.

And there she repeated the fate of many immigrants. The girl’s dreams were destroyed - she had to work three jobs to cover expenses and save a little for the future. Svetlana cleaned the apartments of wealthy people, walked dogs, worked as a stripper in a nightclub on weekends and as a waitress in the same club on weekdays. This schedule allowed her to pay for a $1000 room in Brooklyn, buy food and clothing, spend a small amount on entertainment, and send money to her sick mother.

“I slept 5 hours a day - and that’s at best. I was really pissed off, as they show in the most dramatic films about New York. At the same time, when I had days off, I tried to go to the fitness club, attend exhibitions, parties, meet friends and walk around the city. All this was to the detriment of sleep and rest, of course, but I lived as actively as possible. Like Carrie,” says Svetlana.

The girl remembers: while she was an illegal, work was hard to find. In addition, many did not pay the promise, taking advantage of her position, and some employers blackmailed. Despite all the troubles, the Ukrainian did not lose optimism and treated it as an adventure.

In such a schedule, Svetlana lived for several years, until she met an American at work. On the tenth date, he made her an offer and thereby helped to get the coveted green card. However, her life did not become easier after that.

“After marriage, his attitude towards me changed. He started drinking and beating me. Eight months after getting married, I packed up my things and ran away from our apartment in the Bronx one night. My husband didn’t work too hard at work, so I worked hard as before, only refusing to work as a stripper for obvious reasons. By that time, I was tired of everything - both my beloved New York and working 8 hours a day. That’s why I ran away to Montclair to stay with an American friend to stay with her for a while until I decided what to do next,” the girl confesses.

The town of Montclair is located in New Jersey, just 40 minutes by car from Manhattan. However, this is a completely different world. The town has about 40 thousand inhabitants. In local ratings for the quality of life, Montclair is rated highly: the city is very beautiful and calm, there are no traffic jams, shops and restaurants are abundant, a large number of galleries, theaters and parks.

Real estate here is quite expensive - a house costs about the same as in Brooklyn. However, rent is quite affordable: you can rent a nice apartment in a townhouse for $1500.

In Montclair real estate is cheaper than in New York. Photo: zillow.com

Svetlana fell in love with the city. After living with a friend for several months, she found a separate studio for $ 1100 and moved. In Montclair, she continued to do cleaning, and later opened her own cleaning company and went to a normal income for her.

“Either I’m tired of New York, or my ex-husband’s attitude turned me away from the city, but I’m glad I moved. I want to live in Montclair, have children, raise them here. This is an ideal place for family life. Many people here already know me, respect me, and life in this small city seems much more pleasant to me than these eternal races for money in New York. And if I want, I can easily go and hang out in Manhattan,” Svetlana says optimistically.

Single story america

Despite the fact that there are more than 320 million people living in America, the million-plus cities of all 10. Tops the list of the largest cities in New York (8,5 million), followed by Los Angeles (3,9 million), Chicago (2,7 million), Houston (2,3 million), Phoenix (1,6 million), San Antonio (1,5 million), San Diego (1,4 million), Dallas (1,4 million) and San Jose (1,3 million). It should be borne in mind that these figures reflect the population of only the cities themselves, the number of inhabitants of the agglomerations formed around these megalopolises may be more at times. However, even in these big cities, unlike Moscow or Kiev, traditional high-rises and skyscrapers can be found, as a rule, only in the business center. Americans prefer to live in their own one-or two-story houses.

Another difference: if in the countries of the former CIS between cities there may be half-empty territories the size of small provinces, then between many American cities and suburbs there is sometimes no visual separation, except for a modest road sign. In essence, it is a miniature city in a metropolis.

Фото: Depositphotos

For example, in Florida, the famous Miami and Miami Beach, which is a separate city, is divided only by a small bridge. And the cities of Hallandale, Hollywood and Aventura are only suburbs of Miami, in each of which there are no more than 20 thousand people, but tourists also count these places as Miami. Los Angeles has the same structure: the metropolis itself has grown together with the many surrounding towns: Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Monica, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Long Beach, etc.

At the same time, life in such suburbs is usually somewhat cheaper than in the metropolis itself, although all the conditions for a wonderful life have been created - good transport links, shops, hospitals, schools, cinemas and restaurants.

Naturally, there are also small cities in the USA, which are really far from large cities and big “cities”, as the megalopolises call the Americans. In these “sleeping cities”, US residents love to live, because real estate is cheaper there, and they prefer to go to work in a big city.

City from the movie "Twilight"

Anastasia Ruban in 2011, she moved from Ukraine to the small town of Oak Harbor in Washington state to fiancé Mat, whom she met on the Internet. Over the 5 years of living with her husband in America, the couple changed several cities within the state of Washington: they first lived with Mat’s parents in Oak Harbor, then in the town of Sultan, and finally moved to Everett. Husband changed jobs, and the family, as is customary among Americans, moved to be closer to her.

“Everett is not a very big city, but I am in love with it. Just over 100 thousand people live here. The locals are very nice, simple people, there are no traffic jams, free parking everywhere, fairly low food prices and most importantly, our cozy home. By the way, it is located just 15 minutes from the plant Boeing, where my husband works,” says Anastasia. She herself recently found a job in a local store.

Everett is located assembly company Boeingwhich is one of the main employers of this city. Local residents can also find work in the naval base located in the district, in municipal services, in local clinics and shops.

The city is very developed: you can find hospitals, colleges, shops, parks, and places for entertainment. For families with children - more than 50 public schools. Even so, Everett's crime rate is higher than the state average. The average cost of housing starts at $750 for a one-bedroom apartment.

Anastasia says that Everett is also very fond of the fact that he is located in 15 minutes from the Pacific Ocean and, although it is cold in her, she loves to fish there.

“My husband and I are big fans of fishing. This is our passion! And in Everett and in the state of Washington in general, there are all conditions for ideal fishing - the ocean, many rivers and lakes. We catch salmon in the river not far from our house, and trout in the nearby lake. And from the windows of our house you can see the mountains. Even in summer, after spending literally 40 minutes on the road, you can find yourself at the top of the mountain, where there is a lot of snow,” the girl says joyfully.

The girl really likes life in Washington state. Photo: from the archive of Anastasia Ruban

Anastasia also loves to warm up by the fireplace during the lingering rain that often visits Washington state. “Do you remember nature from the popular movie “Twilight”? This is the beauty we live in,” she says.

Before Everett, Anastasia’s family lived in the town of Sultan, from where her husband had to travel two hours each time to work. The girl was very worried that her husband returned home sleepy and tired, and could get into an accident.

“Although we lived in Salten for only 9 months, I miss this small green city and its people a little. A little more than 4 thousand people live in Salten, and everyone knows each other, so it was easy for me to get to know each other there. Yes, there were few people my age there, but does age matter if you are on the same wavelength as a person? My friends ranged from 50 to 80 years old. Everyone has their own interesting life story, and people were not shy about telling me them,” shares Anastasia.

Perhaps this is why Salten has such a low crime rate - almost half as much as in other cities. At the same time, all conditions for a comfortable village life have been created there - 20 grocery stores, 8 schools, 2 libraries, 2 parks and several cafes. There are even buses in Salten, although most residents have their own cars.

On the other hand, it is very difficult to find work there and many residents go to work in companies that are located in other cities.

In the USA, it is generally customary to change your place of residence, and Americans like to do it with dignity and without whining in the spirit of “moving is a small death.” According to research The United States Census BureuDuring the year, more than 16 of millions of people move on average within the USA.

The most popular reasons for moving are the search for cheaper and better housing, a place to live (42.2% of migrants surveyed), family circumstances (27.4%), a new job or the desire to be closer to work (20.2%). Residents of the United States are leaving for Florida, Texas, Washington, North Carolina and Colorado. But from New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are leaving the most people.

Within Kansas

Evgenia Romana-Ranchir changed Russian Kazan with a population of more than 1,2 million to the American town of Eudor (Kansas), where about 7 thousand people live. Her husband had a home and a job here. The family was not in a hurry to relocate and spent 7 years in Eudore.

For Eugenia, this time was not easy: in the first few years after the move she had children, and her whole life began to revolve around the house and the little ones. The girl remembers that the town was very small, and she had nowhere to go, even for a walk.

“The entire infrastructure of Eudora is several parks, each of which has two pairs of swings and one slide, a post office, grocery stores, a gas station, schools, and several family restaurants. I felt like I was in prison! Everything is far away and boring,” admits Evgenia.

The girl notes that she did not notice the special friendliness of the locals, which is attributed to the inhabitants of small towns. She recalls that people were all on their own and lived on a home-work-home schedule.

“When I first arrived, the neighbors came to visit us and congratulated us, but we didn’t become friends and didn’t spend weekends together, as they show in the films,” Evgenia confesses.

Life in the boring town of the family is very tired, and the search for a good school has become a real problem. Educational institutions in Eudore Eugene was not satisfied. This is not surprising, because in the town there are only 4 public schools and several libraries. All higher education institutions are located outside the city.

“Many people like to live in small towns, but not me!” says the girl. Her family from Eudora moved to the suburb of Kansas City, the city of Shawnee with a population of 70 thousand people. There the girl was finally able to exhale.

In 2010 magazine Money magazine turned on shawnee in the list of the best cities to live in the USA for its affordable housing prices, clean air and no traffic jams.

Shawnee has well-developed public transport, many schools, shops, and parks. There are colleges. Entertainment is provided for residents - museums, theaters, parks. The unemployment rate is quite low because there are many operating companies in the city. Rent is quite cheap - from $825 for a one-bedroom apartment. You can buy a house here for $150 thousand.

Now Evgenia’s children have grown up, and she has time to work - she is involved in the affairs of the Russian-speaking community of Kansas and organizes events for Russian-speaking immigrants in her state. In the future, Evgenia dreams of moving to a larger city, but for now her family is tied to Shaunti, since her husband works there.

Evgenia is not the only one who dreams of moving from a small town to a big one. However, there are plenty of people who love suburban life. Most American families have never thought about leaving their hometown and going to conquer the metropolis.

In small towns, Americans enjoy the cost of renting or purchasing housing, the slower pace of life, the lack of traffic and congestion, friendlier neighbors, low crime rates and the lack of high competition at work. But a small selection of stores with food and goods, a long road to large supermarkets and hospitals, a lack of entertainment, a limited number of opportunities for self-development and business development - these are precisely the factors that push Americans to conquer other cities.

From Mexico to the USA

Olga Priyma and her family moved to the city of Midland (Texas) from Mexico City (Mexico), because her husband worked in the oil industry and received a new appointment from his company. After a million-plus city, Midland, with a population of thousands in 100, seemed to the girl quite tiny. Although in the Texas city there was a small center with high-rise buildings, and one large chain supermarket, and parks for walking.

“I was pleased with the weather and climate in the Midlands because out of 365 days only 10 were rainy. And what beautiful sunrises and sunsets there were! Only in Midland, by the way, did I see tumbleweeds, because the city is located in the desert,” the girl recalls.

Olga says that the Texan city was the abode of wealthy people and that is why prices in local stores were far from low, as was the value of real estate. Their apartments in Midland cost $ 1400, and Olga spent at least $ 100 for one trip to the store.

“I remember that it was a big problem for us to furnish the house with simple furniture in the Art Nouveau style, because local shops offered antique heavy furniture with carvings, patterns and so on. It seems like a small thing, but it’s unpleasant,” says the Texas resident.

She faced a real problem when she needed to go to a good female doctor, and all the specialists were busy for several months ahead or didn’t take new clients at all. With pediatric doctors was the same situation.

“One day my child became very ill, but we couldn’t get to the pediatrician. I had to treat the baby with traditional methods. Of course, we could go to a public clinic and stand in line all day, but I decided that this was a very bad option. It was unrealistic to go to a clinic in another city: San Antonio or Dallas was 5 hours away by car,” recalls Olga.

In this city, the girl's family lived 10 months, after which the husband was sent to work in a small Mexican city on the border with the States.

After a while, Olga and her husband won the green cards and chose a city for life on their own. Since the entire oil industry is developed in Texas, Olga’s family settled in Houston, where more than 2,2 million people live.

In Houston, she likes it, and now she is happy with her life for all 100%. Initially, she and her husband lived in a suburb of Houston near the Gulf of Mexico. After the divorce, the girl moved to the center of the metropolis.

“I like living in Houston, it's a big city, even if it's not the state capital. There is a large airport with direct connections to many destinations, theaters and large entertainment centers, where stars sometimes come or you can watch musicals. Life is in full swing, in a word, and I love to feel the bustle of the city, of which there is too little in America compared to Russia,” says the girl. Tired of small towns, Olga could not name a single disadvantage of living in a large metropolis.

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