Reply #16: where to begin? [View All]

The city is certainly among the best places to live in Europe. First grade cultural institutions, yet low rents and low costs for food etc. .
More parks and green than almost any other city of it's size (from a plane it can look like a forest with roofs in between ), excellent public transportation and no other European city has so many bars and Restaurants - many of them better than the usual German dining place. Another Berlin highlight are the frequent open-air parties, sometimes drawing over a million guests.



Socially the city is still pretty much divided, new Berliners (like me) are generally more willing to switch halves. The Western half has changed far less, and has preserved a certain mellow atmosphere.
The Eastern Districts with a high percentage of new-Berliners are wonderful places to be: little to no conservative party groups at all, more children than anywhere else in Germany; many artists and students.

West Berlin, suffering from the loss of the past subsidies, has the higher unemployment rate (very high in all of Berlin), not to mention quite corrupt politicians. West-Berlin corruption is the reason for the current empty treasury, yet the major parties have almost no members from East-Berlin in higher positions.
The wall resulted in a practically total lack of suburbs, the city is still very compact, yet underpopulated.


The frantic search for money makes it relatively easy for companies to request the removal of protected buildings.

Novotel got the senate to permit the removal of the famous "Ahornblatt" (Maple Leaf); the Airport Tempelhof and the Palace of the Republic (currently being used by the German main industry Lobby group :puke:)are endangered.