Although I don't live in Venice, I visit often, sometimes for long stays, so I feel qualified to offer a bit of an answer

The pros are obvious and easy: it's beautiful, quiet (no cars), incredibly safe. The colors, the fashion, the history, are all there.

The cons: everything is a process. There's no popping over to ikea for a mattress or sofa or off to Costco for a TV or radio or whatever. First, there is no Costco or IKEA. But more importantly, the buying of the thing is, frankly, the easy part. The hard part is, getting it. You can easily spend as much on delivery as you do on the product. Try hauling a fridge across seven bridges (ten steps up, ten steps down, each time), through 4 streets and up a flight of stairs. Or, try renovating a bathroom when the tradesmen have to haul construction waste out and tiles and fixtures in, on tiny boats requiring multiple trips—up and down four flights of stairs no less.

Then, there is the city’s shrinking resident population. Most of Venice is hotels or second homes owned by Europeans living elsewhere. Municipal services (schools, some medical care, and lately, even grocery stores) are in decline. That can be tough to manage.

As for the size of the tourist crowds, I don't find them that bad. Certainly no worse than New York or parts of London. But the behavior of the crowds is tiring—-the litter, the inappropriate dress (gym clothes are for the gym, folks, and get your hairy leg away from my sandwich, put some long pants on, buddy).