Earlier this year, April to be precise we moved houses from the centre of the city towards the hinterlands that is just getting developed. It's actually underdeveloped with a large chunk of the land yet to be developed. it was very discouraging at the time, I mean my whole life was built around the city center.
It was quite challenging having to ferry between the city center and the suburbs in a bid not to put my life on hold. I'm never a fan of moving places and once I get acquainted with a place, I tend to get comfortable and not fancy a move. That's why it was initially hard for me to get to grips with the realities of the suburbs.
But that was about 5 months ago and gradually I've acclimatized with my new environment. And it's been bliss so far. I used to read lots of articles and materials about the numerous benefits of living away from the city centre. That's because I'm an environmentalist. But one would rarely truly appreciate anything just read until he experienced it. My experiences here has shown me that most of those things are true and even more.
The benefits include health, physical, and economic.
Being surrounded by greenery all round has mitigated a lot of the harsh weather conditions. I remember the last place we stayed, we used to struggle with ventilation issues. Many times I'd be sweating inside the house when it was raining, even with the ceiling fan in full flow. One would be sitting outside on the verandah and fanning himself because of lack of ventilation.
Plate 1 = Entrance to the house. Plate 2 = Behind the house
There were no trees to create shade, with high fences making it near impossible for any trace of breeze from outside to gain any kind of entrance into the compound. It was a hell experience and which resulted in rashes and lack of proper sleep.
But over here in our new environment, the story is different. There are trees all around providing shade and acting as breeze conductors to make sure that we have no heat issue. There has been no rashes and our sleeps have improved drastically.
Since moving here I've also noticed that the black spots in our nostrils that signify chronic air pollution which could lead to numerous health complications including lung cancer has been nonexistent. The distance from the house to the major road is a 15minutes walk.
This coupled with the excess greenery makes sure that the dangerous gases from automobiles don't get to the residential areas. The leaves absorb these carbon emissions and releases oxygen in exchange for human consumption.
The availability of fruit trees and farms means that most of the fruits we take these days are organic, gotten straight from the farms and devoid of dangerous preservative chemicals. There are tomato, cucumber, and waterleaf farms all around us.
tomato farm
waterleaf farm
That is all apart from our own garden which boasts of plantain plantation, pumpkin plantation (used to make soups), a mango and guava fruit trees. There are also pepper, avocado pear, cocoyam (used for pounded and porridge), okro (used for draw soup), cassava plantation (used for cassava flakes), etc which we're still expanding. These are organic with the only type of manure used being organic manure.
Plate 1 = okro plant. Plate 2 = cocoyam
These all save us from the contaminated products populating the market. The benefits of eating what you produce, knowing that you have total control of your own food is a different kind of flex. The garden is a complete package that's getting expanded daily and it feels so good.
Plate 1 = Plantain plant. Plate 2 = Pumpkin plantation
The biggest flex of them all is the fact that for the past five months since we moved here, none of us has fallen sick. It's been like magic. I guess we don't just pay much attention to the effects our environment has on our health. The lack of unnecessary noise, the clean air, the organic food and the sweet soothing breeze brings with it that we most times miss as a result of life hassles.
The economic implications cannot be overstated. With the current rate of inflation in the market, the opportunity to buy from the owners/neighbours directly from the farm helps us save some extra money. These farmers sell to us as friends and neighbors and not as customers. This camaraderie means they give us more for less money.
It also saves us a sizable sum on a weekly/monthly basis as we don't have to buy basic vegetables like pumpkin anymore. With the aid of our modest garden, we're no more buying plantain (who's price has skyrocketed) from the market, and we're even giving out to others.
Plate 1 = Pepper garden. Plate 2 = Guava. Plate 3 = Cassava plantation*
Did I mention the part where we no longer pay rent? Yes that's another flex. The current economic situation in my country means one could really use that extra $600 that was being lost as rent.
Lest I forget, many of those plants have medicinal value. The city might seem like the perfect place to reside for economic and social reasons, but the suburbs adds much more value to one's life far more than the city.
From having to contend with poor ventilation and existential heat, to having clear and healthy environment. From eating contaminated and inorganic food and fruits to having food and fruits straight from the garden and farms. From having to pay a fortune for food and other bodily needs to having enough and to spare free of charge.
The perks of residing in the suburbs cannot be overemphasized. It's benefits are seen and felt all around us on a daily basis. I'm happy that i did not bow to the temptation of staying back in the city. The suburbs have their own deficiencies like poor road network. In fact, if a downpour occurs, our jobs for that day is overcome.
We literally have to stay indoors whenever rains visits us. Then there's also the issue of poor power supply. Compared to our previous house where we used to have 24hrs power supply, we're struggling here for the odd 4-5 hours per week.
I'm all these though, the pros outweigh the cons which makes it a viable option to explore. I might have been sad and skeptical at the beginning of the move and was even tempted to move away, but now I'm glad that I stuck around an hope to keep enjoying the good things of the suburbs.
Cover image edited on Canva using free elements
All other images are mine
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