The link gave me immense pleasure as I am presidently resident of Agra that finds place in the list. Besides there are place like Srinagar and Parna where I lived for some time. Small cities have uniwue pleasure to live in. Here you derive pleasure of village as well as city. A small city is bigger than village but smaller than a metropolitan city. 

True sir. The moment I have seen the name Agra in the list I thought of you. Along with it gave me pleasure to see my Place Visakhapatnam or Vizag in the list.

I have lived in a metropolitan city for some time. I came to the conclusion that one should have far more income to be able to afford living in such cities. Smaller cities are surely cheaper to stay and still get similar facilities as those of metropolitan cities. Where bigger cities score is in opportunities they offer for economic growth compared to smaller cities and that is why more people flock to them.

No doubt bigger cities offer employment opportunities..But they drill a hole in your pockets. But the smaller cities offer you a visual treat . With a pittance you can rejuvenate your senses This gives an opportunity for  sharpening your mental faculties which remain with you forever. What I conclude is all depends on the person  to settle with which opportunity he prefers.

It is not the case with all cities since Mangalore is a very expensive city according to outsiders ...Autos are far more expensive than Bangalore and since we have  only private city buses which are, no doubt very efficient the cost is much more. Funnily enough locally grown vegetables are much sought after and they cost almost double while compared to what is available in super markets and state run vegetable stalls..

Sure, it's not the case with all cities. For example in Visakhapatnam , the cost of living is very high. But if you go to the nearby village fairs by your own vehicle or by buses, all the veggies, fruits are cheaply available. Even you can get ready made garments much cheaper than the main city.

Wish it were true for all cities outlying areas.

@Vijay.

I'm afraid the conditions are not possible for all the cities.  Because many of the outskirts of  many cities were invaded by the concrete jungles which we call Development.