[Flying Shadow]

Voted YES

Spent my childhood years in Calcutta,now settled in Kerala.
I never wished to go back to Calcutta nor move to any metros after that period, unless and until my job entails me to without a choice.

Kerala seems too good to leave it.
Climate, people, environment, infrastructure and development of a place determines whether I would stick to a place.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Interesting discussion. I am quite surprised by the number of people who have voted yes. Outnumbering 'No' by almost 3 times!

Well, I belong to the minority who voted - No. I've lived all my life in big metros - Mumbai during early childhood and Bangalore ever since.

You answered your own question. Those who grew up in metros, have no reason to give up the ecosystem they grew up in.

But people who grew up in smaller towns before moving to metros, are more open to moving back. I came to Bangalore only at 13, after living in many small towns and villages. So I could move back to Udupi in my 30s again. I still spend 50% time there. But my wife grew up in Chennai & Bangalore, so she found it hard, and is happy to be back in Bangalore full time.

Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns have much slower pace of life. Folks from metros find it very hard to live such life full time.

[PatchyBoy]

I was born & brought up in Chennai and lived there for the first 18 years of my life. After a 4 year sojourn in Hubli, I migrated to Hyderabad where I lived for another 15 years. Then I traveled overseas. When I returned to India, I relocated to Bangalore where I lived more than a decade. Then finally, I moved to Mysore and have been living here for the past 18 months.

I do not miss living in a tier-1 city. Not even a tiny bit. The air here is much cleaner, I have access to good medical facilities, the roads are much better - going anywhere in Mysore from my house takes 30 mins tops. Compare this with a 90 to 120 minute drive to get to office in Bangalore - a mere 7 kms from home.

I have a 50 mbps FTTH connection, very few power cuts. I have space to have a garden & I grow my own veggies. There are several species of birds living in the vicinity. There is an ASC about 20 minutes from home, who does a reasonably good job with my car. Amazon & Big Basket are available. So are OLA & Uber. Suzan & the dogs are very happy in Mysore. End of the day, that is what matters the most, I suppose.

The icing on the cake - I have an assignment which allows me to work from anywhere and pays me enough to maintain a decent lifestyle.

All said & done, the question by the OP doesn't have a simple Yes/No answer. There should have been more options like -"I want to, but can't", "I already did", "Planning on it, but not now", etc.

[Latheesh]

I know many people moved from big city/developed country to small city/towns. All of them made sure they were financially comfortable before making the move. Tier 2 cities have almost everything except high paying jobs, traffic, and pollution comparing to big cities.

[tiger_stripes]

Voted yes, but will plan the move closer to retirement. I live in Mumbai and love it. But for me, the main reason to be in a Tier 1 city is the employment opportunities. The Tier 1 amenities (malls, multiplexes, cabs, etc) are a trade off against other 'amenities' (open spaces, greenery, peaceful life, clean air). I am planning an eventual move to Goa, where I can get the Tier 2 benefits and at the same time there are sufficient entertainment avenues such as restaurants, beaches, clubs, multiplexes that one does not miss out on Tier 1 lifestyle.

[TROOPER]

Voted Yes

I'm born and brought up in Mumbai.

My native is in Mangalore - Udupi region and the place has developed for real in the past decade.

Mumbai will never be as clean as Mangalore. The main roads are excellent. The night life too is improving. The real estate is improving (although overpriced) thanks to people who work/worked in the Middle East & growing businesses around.

Only downside? 24/7 electricity, but that is mostly limited to monsoons.

Medical issues? I've got a flat in Kadri, and there are so many specialities of hospitals and clinics around that I would lose count.

Want to get your home appliance serviced? It could happen the very same day. Both our water purifier and AC were serviced the same day we made a request. Benefits of a small population

Of course, the laid back attitude in Mangalore can make even the most Zen-like Mumbaikar go at times.

I'm 25 now and plan to move by 30.

[aveemashfaq]

I am actually in the process of deciding to move out to a village. Beat that.


My father is retired and by God's grace, my job is online so no need to attend any physical location. I can afford to build a house in my mom's village with the puny savings I have.


At 27 years of age, I can have my own house, I already have a car, all bills paid. So, I can invest all my savings and retire early and start my own business (still have to figure what business I should own). Meanwhile, I will be growing veggies in my garden, breathing fresh air, have my own solar setup to power my home and cut down all expenses. I have a tier 2 city 60 kms away with decent enough roads so I don't miss out on the hustle and bustle of a city when I need it. The tier 2 city also has good medical facilities and tier 1 city 120 kms away. Once my house is complete, I have all bills paid, I can get out of this rat race pretty soon. I just need to build more skills and become a freelancer and own a business to never return to a city.

Only fly in the ointment, I am not married yet. I'm guessing that girls would run away when I tell them the bizzare idea of living in a village doing vegetable gardening, me having a workshop, we bonding together and teaching our kids by ourselves. Women today have a lot of expectations in terms of the kind of house they live in, are particular of not having parents-in-law staying with them, the school their children go to etc... Need to decide that now that I am close to getting married

[charanreddy]

Voted Yes. Would eventually move to someplace quiet. How ever I do it already in a way. I stay in Sarjapura Village , 20 Kms away from Bellandur - Outer Ring Road. There are lush green fields around, underground water is still available and its a village atmosphere. Have made quite some friends already from in and around that locality.

I need to travel 45 Mins - 1 Hr for work one-way , but feel its still worth it as I used to spend the same amount on road when I was staying in BTM. Malls and Multiplexes are 1 hr away as well.

I feel this is probably a good alternative to completely moving away from the City.

[sushantr5]

What I see in Germany, People travel for work a lot. Travel as in not daily travel. They travel to work city on Monday and Travel Back to home city on Thursday. Friday is Work from home for everybody. This is what I see in IT and Services Industry. Government has rules for this like
1. Travel time is considered as working hours, if not then €10 per hour travel compensation.
2. Daily Food allowance
3. Stay arrangement has to be born by company.
4. You cannot force employee to shift to working place and forget about firing for this reason.

Disparity is such a low that often my colleagues find that in hotel they stay, there are people who are also staying and are working for road construction or building construction.

We cannot dream such social scenario in India. But within my capacity I would like to do similar when I return to Pune next year.

1. Make a base home location in smaller town nearby Pune like Satara.
2. Travel every Monday to Pune and travel back to home on Thursday.
3. Already own a flat in Pune, so stay on weekdays will not be a problem.
4. In case of need I can travel back home on any day on week.

But my plan is disapproved by my better half. Hopefully one day she approves in future after experience the situation in Pune.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by srini1785

Are we seeing a pattern here?. All mumbaikars have voted a Big No. Once a mumbaikar always a mumbaikar.

Another mixed pattern, Bangalore is 50:50.

And pretty much all Delhi/NCR folks have voted yes it seems.

There's a noticeable divide between North and South India in certain aspects. Up north, the Tier 2 and 3 cities are also not so great in most standard of living parameters. Air/Water/Soil pollution is more (air quality index in most small cities as bad as Delhi), and Govt. services in general are more corrupt and inefficient.

It will be tough to find a city like Mysore up north. And so there's an inevitable migration of well paid professionals to South, and abroad. What makes this all the more scary is that India's urban population as percentage of overall population is still low, another 30-40 crore people migrating to cities from villages is not an unlikely scenario. The pressures on our existing infrastructure would be unimaginable.

Originally Posted by saket77

Voted yes, and I have already done so.

I do not consider just my job as the most important and guiding factor. I would like to look at the entire picture in form of 'summation of life'. If you look it that way, then your life comprises of a lot of other factors like family, friends, comfortable living, ease in commuting, less time spent in traffic, pollution level below the red line, etc. which was sorely missing in the metro I lived in. If you factor in everything, you will see that your work is one part of this whole equation. So, if you lose some, then you gain some and the sum total of life will be still the same. Now it entirely depends upon your priorities. People who are ambitious career wise obviously have less options in tier-2/3 cities compared to the metro cities.
Having said so, a good, stable and well paying job/ work is absolutely necessary, since money is a real important factor in life without which, you can lose a lot of factors that I stated above. So, considering everything if the situation permits, I would always opt for a smaller town in the current world.

You've summed it up really well Not sure what's the reason but we in India tend to attach super importance to our jobs, above and beyond what is needed. No one denies that one needs to pay their bills, but come on there's more to life than basing all your life decisions on a single factor alone.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by sushantr5

What I see in Germany, People travel for work a lot. Travel as in not daily travel. They travel to work city on Monday and Travel Back to home city on Thursday. Friday is Work from home for everybody. This is what I see in IT and Services Industry. Government has rules for this like

We cannot dream such social scenario in India. But within my capacity I would like to do similar when I return to Pune next year.

I noticed this in France too, they work for 35 hours in a week. I was a beneficiary of this concept till this month, now have to travel 5 hours a day to work for 7 hours.

Having an office in Tech parks has become a thing of pride for our leaders, builders are so generous to fill up vacant areas around these Tech parks with wafer thin apartments. In my opinion people fear to speak about their work. A concept of WFH is seen as low priority job. The traffic problem will never be solved, population density is increasing everyday. The money invested in metros, expressway, ring roads are all waste.

[SatishChour]

Voted - No.

Smaller towns have too many problems compared to a couple of issues of big cities.

I live in Bangalore, and except for the traffic and bad roads, I love everything about this city.

Some problems with small towns:
1. Health care.
2. Schools.
3. Recreational facilities
4. Shopping options.
5. Missing conveniences like Swiggy/Zomato or Ola/Uber/QuickRide etc.
6. People themselves - May not be as broad minded as Metro cities, too much interference in one another's lives.
7. Fuel, LPG etc will be same price, but cannot expect income in the same range as Metro's.

If only the roads and traffic gets sorted out in Bangalore, i think it is the one of the best cities to live in.

[ashikthomson]

I voted no.
My school days were in a tier 3 city. My college days were in a tier 2 city and then I was in bangalore for my job. And each time, upgrading to a tier above have given me enough satisfaction. Despite the busier environment and higher living costs, still life is more sorted in bigger cities I feel. Now I have shifted back to my home town for some personal reasons, but I'm longing to get back to bangalore soon. ( But I don't feel, I'll be willing to relocate to any other tier 1 places in central or north, because banglore is atmost a 9 hour journey away from my hometown by road)

[AltoLXI]

Voted - Yes.

Born, brought up, studied and enjoyed life to its fullest for the first 20+ years in tier 2 city in North Karnataka (Dharwad). Though Bengaluru is karma-bhoomi, feel nostalgic whenever I visit janma-bhoomi Dharwad once every six months. Read somewhere that people are always bound/attached to the place where one is born and spent their childhood.

Having stayed in Bengaluru for more than a decade and having seen the city losing its charm and identity slowly and steadily, felt that there is no point spending second half of life in fast, noisy, materialistic city which I really cannot connect to. Younger generations do not agree with my views and I am fine with that though because it again depends on individual preferences and perspectives about life.

Unfortunately, even smaller towns and villages are falling into the trap of consumerism and sometimes feel as if they are microcosm of bigger cities.
However missing sorely, even in smaller towns, is the societal bonding, simple but lively lifestyles, traditions without any showoffs, contended living which we used to witness when we were youngsters.

Still remember from the DD serial we used to watch as youngsters:

Duniyaa badal gayee, insaan badal gaye, badale nahi lekin, mitti ke rang.

[SoumenD]

Voted No.

First 18 years of my life was in a small town(Tier 3/4 if I may call it) in Jharkhand. Thanks to that, I know very well about the limitations once can face there. Post that studied in Bhubaneswar which was a decent upgrade and then worked across Hyderabad, Pune,Bangalore, Netherlands & Australia. Yes, pollution and traffic is indeed painful but we tend to forget the other facilities that are available at the tip of our fingers as we start taking them for granted. As of now I have a small apartment in the green-ish outskirts of bangalore & it works out as a perfect balance for me as I can enjoy peaceful life during the 3 days of week(1 day WFH & weekend) & am close enough(within 20-30 mins drive) to malls, multiplexes & hospitals if need be.

Although the travel time(1hr one way) to office does feel irritating at times, I can't imagine going back to smaller towns atleast during my work-life for following reasons :

1. Job opportunities in Bangalore for IT professionals.
2. Climate is superb almost throughout the year.
3. Medical facility is top notch.
4. Has excellent air connectivity(read direct flights) with most of cities where my relatives are. This way I get to stay in touch as well as far enough at the same time. If you know what I mean