There are a number of different reasons why people choose to live near Volcanoes but here are just 5 of them:
Cost of Moving
The first and most important reason is that it is expensive to move away from volcanoes. There are people who cannot afford to move away and most of them are in denial and hope that these volcanoes nearby them will not erupt again. After all, when a volcano has long been dormant, it is easy to assume and hope that it will not erupt why you live near it.
Minerals
Magna rising from deep inside the earth contains a range of minerals. As the rock cools, minerals are precipitated out and, due to processes like the movement of superheated water and gasses through the rock, different minerals are precipitated at different locations. This means that minerals such as tin, silver, gold, copper and even diamonds can be found in volcanic rocks. Most of the metallic minerals mined around the world, particularly copper, gold, silver, lead and zinc are associated with rocks found deep below extinct volcanoes.
Geothermal Energy
The heat from underground steam is used to drive turbines and produce electricity, or to heat water supplies that are then used to provide household heating and hot water.
Fertile Soils
Volcanic rocks are rich in minerals, but when the rocks are fresh the minerals are not available to plants. The rocks need thousands of years to become weathered and broken down before they form rich soils. When they do become soils though, they form some of the richest ones on the planet. Places such as the African Rift Valley, Mt Elgon in Uganda, and the slopes of Vesuvius in Italy all have productive soils thanks to the breaking down of volcanic rocks and ash. The Naples area, which includes Mount Vesuvius, has such rich soils thanks to two large eruptions 35,000 and 12000 years ago. Both eruptions produced very thick deposits of ash and broken rocks which have weathered to rich soils.