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Pros And Cons Of Living In The Greater Banjul Area.

If you’re debating making the move to the urban area of the Gambia, but need to weigh up just what’s pulling you to - or keeping you away from - the capital, we’ve compiled a list of living in greater Banjul pros and cons for you to browse through. One of these facts about this amazing area might just be the push you need.

 

Pros of living in the greater Banjul area

Amenities

People that live in small villages that are far away from the busy life of the greater Banjul area might really hate this, but there’s nothing worse than getting home and realizing that you’ve forgotten to buy something you had planned to have for dinner. Now, if you lived in the city, it’s not really a big issue. You can go to the nearest supermarket to get it. This applies to many other things, such as an emergency, etc. This is a good reason for living in the greater Banjul area.

 

More services available 

Especially if you have kids, having to commute every day and having the kids depend on you to get to school when they can’t just take public transportation on their own, can be quite stressful. Even if we think that it’s not that much and that it won’t be that stressful, in the long run it will. Also, there’s nothing better than having the school or university we go to, close enough to our home that if one day we’re running late, it’s not that big of a deal. 

The same happens with work too, we lose a lot of time of our lives in the car or motorcycle just to get there, making us feel as if we worked extra hours.

Apart from school, university and work, the same applies to hospitals or doctors. It’s much better if it’s close to our home, just in case one day we need to go to an appointment if we feel bad. It wouldn’t be a nice idea to get a car or motorcycle if we’re sick: another of the several advantages of the city life.

 

Ambience 

This really makes our quality of life much better. Being surrounded by families, seeing people on a daily basis, are things that some people might value more than others, that’s why we said that it depends on every person.

An example of things that we might not be able to experience if we chose to live in the countryside it’s nightlife. We can agree that if we have to go out to the city to go out at night, we might not be able to get the car back. This makes it impossible to fully enjoy the experience. 

 

More job opportunities

This is a very obvious advantage. We can’t really find job opportunities for certain jobs if we live in a more rural area. Instead, if we live in the greater Banjul area, there are many more opportunities for us to choose from and therefore, being able to choose between different places to work at. If we’re lucky enough to find somewhere to work in rural areas, we don’t really have the choice but to get it, it’s not common at all to get a good opportunity in these kinds of places.

More property possibilities

In the city, we have a higher chance of finding a place to live sooner than if we had to look for a house in a rural area. This is because of all the amount of apartments that there are in the city in comparison to the provinces. Visit the Silma Views website

 

Cons of Living in a Big City

While life in the greater Banjul area has a ton to offer, it can also come with drawbacks, especially if you’re used to a more rural environment. Disadvantages of living in the city include:

 

More People

Cities attract a lot of people, which can definitely be a con if you like personal space. Sidewalks, grocery stores, and other public places are more crowded in the the greater Banjul area than in the provinces. On the other hand, some might consider more people to be one of the benefits of living in the city. After all, higher population density makes it easier to meet people in your new city. 

 

Less Space

Larger populations also tend to mean less room when it comes to housing. To fit more people in, apartments and residential spaces might be smaller than you’d like. Depending on the city, it can be difficult to find rentals with plenty of square footage, enough storage space, or outdoor areas like yards. 

 

Higher Cost of Living

With more people concentrated in the greater Banjul area, the cost of living tends to be much higher than in the rural areas. You might find more job opportunities with higher salaries in the city, but you also have to consider the larger price tag for rent, groceries, and other necessities.

 Noise 

Because cities have so much going on, they tend to be noisy. You have to worry about the noise from traffic, police sirens, large groups of people walking down the street, nearby concerts and vehicles. Crowded apartments might also mean thin walls where you can easily hear those living next to and above you. If you enjoy peace and quiet, life in the greater Banjul might not be for you.