English reading and listening at A2: small town or big city?

Small town or big city?

Small town or big city?

Every year, more families leave the city and move to small towns. Other people do the opposite. We spoke to two of them.

Five years ago, Rosa Martin moved from the city centre to Millbrook, a small town of 4,000 people. “My life is much quieter now,” she says. “The air is cleaner, and my house is bigger and cheaper than my old flat. My children can play outside, and I know all my neighbours.”

But not everything is easier. “The buses are terrible,” Rosa says. “There’s one bus an hour, and the last one leaves at eight in the evening. So I drive everywhere. And there isn’t a cinema here.”

Paul Hughes did the opposite. He grew up on a farm, but he moved to the city when he was nineteen. “For me, the city is more exciting,” he says. “There are more jobs, and there’s always something to do: concerts, restaurants, football matches. I don’t need a car, because the trains are faster and more frequent.”

Is anything worse? “Yes, the rent,” Paul laughs. “My flat is smaller than my parents’ kitchen, and it’s more expensive than their whole farm! It’s noisier too. But I’m happy here.”

So which is better? There isn’t one answer. It depends on what you want.