Covid has radically changed our way of life in the city. Consequently, also our relationship with the city has changed.
If you were willing to pay more for a down-town rent or to buy a small apartment to live in the city, would you do the same today?
Data on home purchases in Belgium show that people during the pandemic wanted to buy or rent properties in the countryside, where homes are cheaper and bigger. Nature is a source of energy that can help us in difficult times such as those of Covid.
If being able to have a quick aperitif after work, to go out for dinner in the evening without having to travel too many kilometres, or going to the cinema or a concert, justified the fact of living in small apartments, where you are exposed to not always easy coexistence with the neighbours and outside noise and traffic, is this still the case now?
Cities during the pandemic have turned into places to mainly work and sleep. Maybe you started asking yourself, what kind of life is it?
If you were able to go to work during the pandemic, didn’t you have the impression of living in the office? If, on the other hand, you have always worked from remote, don’t you think that you have been experiencing difficulty in finding work-life balance?
With the rules of lockdown even using public transport was a problem, due to the fear of contagion. We started to do shopping close to home.
Staying at home all the time and respecting the rules of lockdown have caused spreading of anxiety in a worrying way. In fact, it has been proven that living in the city makes you feel more isolated, even if the opposite would seem to be true.
For a long time we have been deprived of our need and desire for sociability, our walks have been reduced to the tour of the neighbourhood to fulfil our daily commitment to take 6000 steps or not to forget the challenge of staying healthy despite everything.
Things as common as eating with friends or colleagues, going to the cinema or shopping, have turned into extraordinary things.
Is that why living in the countryside has perhaps become more popular? Would spending less on a house with a garden and nature nearby make you change your mind about living in the city?
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