Where you are, I would lean strongly toward the Uniden (nee Bearcat - that name has been gone a LONG time) 396XT, as its strong signal handling is somewhat better than the 500. The GREs have a hot front end - and in an urban area, maybe too hot. You may have issues with overloading and spurs, more so on the 500 than with the 396XT.
Note: from here on out, anything in blue is a link.
There is another advantage - there is freeware for the 396xt, and AFAIK, none for the 500. Look at
FreeScan, and the user manual is in our wiki (when you install FreeScan, stay online and use the Help pulldown). We also have 2 FAQs - one devoted to the object oriented scanners, the other for the DMA scanners. Both are stored in our wiki - go to the blue toolbar under the Scanner Master ad, float your mouse over
Wiki and select
FAQs from the pulldown. You will see the GRE/RS and Uniden FAQs in the list. Read them for yourself.
One thing to keep in mind - you will undoubtedly need a USB-serial cable to connect to your PC. If memory serves, the 500 comes with one, while you need to purchase one from Scanner Master for the Uniden, called the USB-1. There is also another brand that some folks seem to like - in either case, installing and finding the drivers is discussed in the wiki article linked below..
Connecting scanners via USB - The RadioReference Wiki
73 Mike