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As someone who has lived in Barcelona for over 23 years now I agree with some of these points, but it also depends where you go in the city. 1) Climate - Yes t

by calgoo 8y ago

As someone who has lived in Barcelona for over 23 years now I agree with some of these points, but it also depends where you go in the city. 1) Climate - Yes the summers are warm, but not extremely hot, I have a lot worse time when i go visit the southern US for example. 2) Yes I totally agree we have way too much tourism in the city. However, the restaurants that try to rip you off etc are all in the touristy areas, and most of us who live here dont go down to those areas anyway. Regarding paying for parks, its 1 park, and if you live here its free. Most colture-related stuff has good cheaper offers for local citizens. 3) This is just personal taste, the city center is the old city with over 1000 years of history, its normal that the streets are small and disorganized. 4) Yes its expensive to live here, but we also have a great quality of life, with lots of places to go eat, drink and enjoy yourself. Yes the local salaries are quite on the low end, but if you find a good international company you should be fine. 5) I dont know where you come from, but its not unbearable; also there is tons of walking culture in this city. There is an great public transport that can get you almost anywhere in the city in just a few minutes. Most people dont drive, or even own a car, its mostly people living outside the city (or on rainy days). We do have days that are worse in regards to traffic and pollution, but this is a problem most large cities are facing and there are projects in place to improve. So im sorry if you have had a bad time in Barcelona, and I agree there are things that need work, but its not as horrible as you say. Hopefully they keep adding bike lanes and continue to reduce the car traffic in the city center.

siquick 8y ago
Thank you for the sane response. Having lived in the worlds most liveable city, Melbourne, for several years, I have so far found Barcelona to be far more enjoyable. The thing that has stood out is that people actually care about their city and socio-political events that affect their lives. I personally think the tourist issue is overhyped and most of them don't stray from the centre of the city.My local beach, Mar Bella which is only 1.5-2km from the city has zero tourists. Airbnb is a problem but this is a global phenomenon.
- tluyben2 8y ago
  For me Barcelona easily wins of Melbourne; no idea what the criteria of most livable city is; streets littered with homeless, completely dead nightlife during the week and only average during the weekend (and I am 44, so I am not looking for much but even that is not there) and expensive. Barcelona or Lisbon are a lot nicer imho.
alt_f4 8y ago
> also there is tons of walking culture in this city Your biggest pedestrian street, La Rambla, is a 10m wide sidewalk with intense car traffic on both sides. You walk in the middle of traffic and inhale the diesel exhaust that makes you choke whilst strange looking people try to offer you counterfeit bags and shoes from the large blankets they've (probably illegally) put across the pavement. Not my idea of a good time and probably not the best way to run your most famous street. > Regarding paying for parks, its 1 park could be, but you can probably understand how charging entry for (parts of) a fairly small park is unusual and is going to make visitors feel like they're being nickel and dimed wherever they go. > So im sorry if you have had a bad time in Barcelona, and I agree there are things that need work, but its not as horrible as you say. Hopefully they keep adding bike lanes and continue to reduce the car traffic in the city center. That's alright, I had an OK time overall, but I came in with higher expectations and was disappointed that some things (like the traffic pollution in the city center) felt a bit behind the times for modern European cities.
- EugeneOZ 8y ago
  In every city sidewalks are near the car traffic. That's why you call them sidewalks, lol. Next time use numbers for the air pollution level, maybe will sound less ridiculous.
  - alt_f4 8y ago
    I'm having a hard time understanding whether you are actually unaware of the concept of pedestrian streets (and that they, too, have sidewalks, LOL).
    - EugeneOZ 8y ago
      Really? If 100% of the street is for pedestrians only, what for there should be sidewalks? Can you provide some example, maybe photo?
      - alt_f4 8y ago
        For example, there are cities that operate weekend (or certain hours of the day) pedestrian zones where streets in the city center are closed off to traffic. There are versions of this basic idea in many towns in England, usually looks something like this: https://previews.agefotostock.com/previewimage/medibigoff/58208fcecd7f7b2756b54293e1b17d94/tri-10628908.jpg https://previews.agefotostock.com/previewimage/medibigoff/58... Separately, there are cities that closed conventional asphalt roads to cars, without doing any physical road reconstruction, and just marked them as pedestrian-only. I've seen examples of this in Bulgaria and Romania. My point is, don't get too hung up on the terminology, but question why is there the need for so much car traffic in the city center and pretty much no restrictions on polluting vehicles. For example, in Berlin, your car needs to be at least Euro 4 compliant to enter the city center. As a result, the roads are less busy and the air quality is much better.

by calgoo 8y ago

siquick 8y ago

Thank you for the sane response. Having lived in the worlds most liveable city, Melbourne, for several years, I have so far found Barcelona to be far more enjoyable. The thing that has stood out is that people actually care about their city and socio-political events that affect their lives. I personally think the tourist issue is overhyped and most of them don't stray from the centre of the city.My local beach, Mar Bella which is only 1.5-2km from the city has zero tourists. Airbnb is a problem but this is a global phenomenon.

tluyben2 8y ago
For me Barcelona easily wins of Melbourne; no idea what the criteria of most livable city is; streets littered with homeless, completely dead nightlife during the week and only average during the weekend (and I am 44, so I am not looking for much but even that is not there) and expensive. Barcelona or Lisbon are a lot nicer imho.

alt_f4 8y ago

> also there is tons of walking culture in this city Your biggest pedestrian street, La Rambla, is a 10m wide sidewalk with intense car traffic on both sides. You walk in the middle of traffic and inhale the diesel exhaust that makes you choke whilst strange looking people try to offer you counterfeit bags and shoes from the large blankets they've (probably illegally) put across the pavement. Not my idea of a good time and probably not the best way to run your most famous street. > Regarding paying for parks, its 1 park could be, but you can probably understand how charging entry for (parts of) a fairly small park is unusual and is going to make visitors feel like they're being nickel and dimed wherever they go. > So im sorry if you have had a bad time in Barcelona, and I agree there are things that need work, but its not as horrible as you say. Hopefully they keep adding bike lanes and continue to reduce the car traffic in the city center. That's alright, I had an OK time overall, but I came in with higher expectations and was disappointed that some things (like the traffic pollution in the city center) felt a bit behind the times for modern European cities.

EugeneOZ 8y ago
In every city sidewalks are near the car traffic. That's why you call them sidewalks, lol. Next time use numbers for the air pollution level, maybe will sound less ridiculous.
- alt_f4 8y ago
  I'm having a hard time understanding whether you are actually unaware of the concept of pedestrian streets (and that they, too, have sidewalks, LOL).
  - EugeneOZ 8y ago
    Really? If 100% of the street is for pedestrians only, what for there should be sidewalks? Can you provide some example, maybe photo?
    - alt_f4 8y ago
      For example, there are cities that operate weekend (or certain hours of the day) pedestrian zones where streets in the city center are closed off to traffic. There are versions of this basic idea in many towns in England, usually looks something like this: https://previews.agefotostock.com/previewimage/medibigoff/58208fcecd7f7b2756b54293e1b17d94/tri-10628908.jpg https://previews.agefotostock.com/previewimage/medibigoff/58... Separately, there are cities that closed conventional asphalt roads to cars, without doing any physical road reconstruction, and just marked them as pedestrian-only. I've seen examples of this in Bulgaria and Romania. My point is, don't get too hung up on the terminology, but question why is there the need for so much car traffic in the city center and pretty much no restrictions on polluting vehicles. For example, in Berlin, your car needs to be at least Euro 4 compliant to enter the city center. As a result, the roads are less busy and the air quality is much better.