rats and mice live in cities, yes. but there's a huge difference between "rats and mice living in cities" and "rats and mice living in apartment buildings."

the first one is normal, the second one is not. hell, my parents live in a house in a wooded area and even then they've only had mice inside two or three times in the twenty years they've lived there. it is absolutely not the norm to be getting rodents inside your house or apartment.