7 ms·

The part about Stockholm being 10 years ahead of Berlin sounds very delusional to me. Salaries in Stockholm are lower on average, CoL are higher, and it's next

The part about Stockholm being 10 years ahead of Berlin sounds very delusional to me. Salaries in Stockholm are lower on average, CoL are higher, and it's next to impossible to find an apartment there. Not exactly the best environment to attract talent.

uola 10y ago
I could very well see how Stockholm is 10 years ahead of Berlin in many areas, but maybe not that many were Berlin is ahead of Stockholm. It's just that it doesn't matter. Because Berlin is somewhere you can actually move to, while Stockholm would at least have to be compared to other unaffordable cities.
- kayoone 10y ago
  what areas as an example ? just genuinely curious
  - tormeh 10y ago
    London, Oslo, Munich, New York...
  - uola 10y ago
    Many, even mundane, things. Berlin apartments are a varying standard, many don't have district heating. Grocery stores closes early, aren't open on Sundays, have limited selection and don't accept credit cards (which I've heard is changing). It's fairly normal that the staff is 40+ and don't speak English. Mobile internet is expensive, you'll have to register and charging can take hours. Still uses paper tickets for most things. Overall Germany is more traditional, conservative and religious than Sweden and while Berlin might be an anomaly in Germany it's also the capital. Note that I don't think being ahead is necessarily a good thing and that much of the greatness of Berlin comes from being slightly crappy.
    - wolfgke 10y ago
      > Grocery stores [...] aren't open on Sundays This has to do with the Ladenschlussgesetz (there is no proper English term for this) which usually forbids that. In particular the German FDP (a German party that is somewhere between liberal and libertarian) wants to abolish this law but the churches lobby for upholding it. I personally would abolish it as soon as possible. > Grocery stores [...] don't accept credit cards This is because merchants have to pay some amount for any credit card transaction. So they have good reasons not to accept them. In Europe there exists a much better system: EC cards. Use them instead if you really don't want to use cash (which is much more anonymous and thus should be prefered). > Still uses paper tickets for most things. If you imagine the data trail that non-paper tickets leave behind you, I would rather suggest to start using paper tickets wherever you live (Germans are much more concerned about protection of privacy (Datenschutzgesetz) because of having two dictatorships on German ground in the 20th century of which one was only abolished about 25 years ago).
      - allendoerfer 10y ago
        While I am also against the Ladenschlussgesetzt, poor people in Germany have freetime and do not have to have three jobs to survive. It is a different culture.
        denzil_correa 10y ago
        This is not the reason why churches are lobbying against the law though.
      - drinchev 10y ago
        Facts. Although I would still argue about the credit cards. Most stores / restaurants don't accept EC ( Maestro ) ... They usually put a huge sign - "Cash only".
        wolfgke 10y ago
        > Although I would still argue about the credit cards. Most stores / restaurants don't accept EC ( Maestro ) ... They usually put a huge sign - "Cash only". But if they don't accept EC cards, they surely won't accept credit cards. :-)

uola 10y ago

I could very well see how Stockholm is 10 years ahead of Berlin in many areas, but maybe not that many were Berlin is ahead of Stockholm. It's just that it doesn't matter. Because Berlin is somewhere you can actually move to, while Stockholm would at least have to be compared to other unaffordable cities.

kayoone 10y ago
what areas as an example ? just genuinely curious
- tormeh 10y ago
  London, Oslo, Munich, New York...
- uola 10y ago
  Many, even mundane, things. Berlin apartments are a varying standard, many don't have district heating. Grocery stores closes early, aren't open on Sundays, have limited selection and don't accept credit cards (which I've heard is changing). It's fairly normal that the staff is 40+ and don't speak English. Mobile internet is expensive, you'll have to register and charging can take hours. Still uses paper tickets for most things. Overall Germany is more traditional, conservative and religious than Sweden and while Berlin might be an anomaly in Germany it's also the capital. Note that I don't think being ahead is necessarily a good thing and that much of the greatness of Berlin comes from being slightly crappy.
  - wolfgke 10y ago
    > Grocery stores [...] aren't open on Sundays This has to do with the Ladenschlussgesetz (there is no proper English term for this) which usually forbids that. In particular the German FDP (a German party that is somewhere between liberal and libertarian) wants to abolish this law but the churches lobby for upholding it. I personally would abolish it as soon as possible. > Grocery stores [...] don't accept credit cards This is because merchants have to pay some amount for any credit card transaction. So they have good reasons not to accept them. In Europe there exists a much better system: EC cards. Use them instead if you really don't want to use cash (which is much more anonymous and thus should be prefered). > Still uses paper tickets for most things. If you imagine the data trail that non-paper tickets leave behind you, I would rather suggest to start using paper tickets wherever you live (Germans are much more concerned about protection of privacy (Datenschutzgesetz) because of having two dictatorships on German ground in the 20th century of which one was only abolished about 25 years ago).
    - allendoerfer 10y ago
      While I am also against the Ladenschlussgesetzt, poor people in Germany have freetime and do not have to have three jobs to survive. It is a different culture.
      - denzil_correa 10y ago
        This is not the reason why churches are lobbying against the law though.
    - drinchev 10y ago
      Facts. Although I would still argue about the credit cards. Most stores / restaurants don't accept EC ( Maestro ) ... They usually put a huge sign - "Cash only".
      - wolfgke 10y ago
        > Although I would still argue about the credit cards. Most stores / restaurants don't accept EC ( Maestro ) ... They usually put a huge sign - "Cash only". But if they don't accept EC cards, they surely won't accept credit cards. :-)