We cannot choose the first city we live in. Wherever we are born usually becomes our home. I won’t mention names, but there are some cities where one is lucky to be born in, whereas there are some other cities where you curse for living in there. It’s a matter of probability and not under your control.
What is possible, though, is to move to another city or country in the later years of the life. It usually happens via studying abroad or working abroad, or finding other possible ways of migrating to a place. Regardless of how it is done, moving to a new place does change the life fundamentally. One cannot easily know these changes before making the decision of moving.
There are generic few factors one should consider when changing places:
- cost of living
- employment opportunities
- housing market
- education system
- healthcare system
- safety and crime rate
- lifestyle and culture
- community
- family
- climate and geography
- transportation and infrastructure.
All of the above criteria and beyond do not have an absolute metric evaluation mechanism. The overall prioritization is a complex algorithm that has combined impact of the above mentioned points. Moreover, the evaluation is mostly relative to the previous experiences and information gained.
Living in a city that has good employment opportunities, mediocre cost of living, but with a very introvert community and ugly aesthetics can make the living less pleasant. On the other hand, living in a city that warm climate, sea, nature with less quality of healthcare and education might become more pleasant if you are able to survive and grow in the environment.
There is no white or black about this case. I know a person who moved to Barcelona from Stuttgart, and I know a person who moved from Barcelona to Stuttgart. Both had their own reasonings and both make a lot of sense. So, one needs define and decide what is important for them and how do the target locations satisfy the needs.
It’s a hard choice. Once a decision is made, reverting it is not easy. Anyways, I believe that once one makes the decision, there should not a regret about it.