4 ms·

Fellow Hamburg immigrant here. I admire your optimism and the will to perceive an intention behind the darkness (which was also one of my first impressions of H

by jablan 7y ago

Fellow Hamburg immigrant here. I admire your optimism and the will to perceive an intention behind the darkness (which was also one of my first impressions of Hamburg). Unfortunately, I don't see it that way, but more as general unfriendliness of the city towards a random individual. Other things in the same vain that I noticed (coming from the Balkans, if important) are: very few overhangs that the buildings offer as means of shade from the rain - often there is no place for a pedestrian to shelter from the rain, which is absurd with amount of wet days Hamburg has. Another thing that irks me is the lack of public water taps. Such a basic and affordable civilization achievement - and yet not a single one in a 2M city. Of course, I adore and enjoy the city, these are just few things that I can't really understand.

snypox 7y ago
Interesting. I didn’t even know public water tap is a common thing in other countries.
lispm 7y ago
There is the concept of light pollution, Lichtverschmutzung. If a city is too bright, you won't see the stars, animals would have difficulty to sleep, etc... The city has areas which are lighted, but in other areas it's darker. See the link to the Lichtkonzept I've put in another comment. > public water taps That's an interesting question. A few decades ago this was more common, but it has been removed over the years. I think there is a fear of pollution and also costs involved. There are only a few in the city: https://www.hamburgwasser.de/privatkunden/themen/trinkwassersaeulen/ https://www.hamburgwasser.de/privatkunden/themen/trinkwasser... The Aussenalster is a popular jogging training track and it has public water there. Currently there are plans of the local government to install hundred public water taps in the city in the coming years and two hundred in schools. That's already a movement in various other cities, too: Blue Communities.
LargoLasskhyfv 7y ago
Pffft. Zuckerpüppchen! Go get some Gore-Tex or something like that. "Es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter! Nur schlechte Kleidung." :-) That water thing is not entirely true: [1] https://www.hamburgwasser.de/privatkunden/themen/trinkwassersaeulen-gehen-in-die-winterpause/ https://www.hamburgwasser.de/privatkunden/themen/trinkwasser... [2] https://www.trinkwasser-unterwegs.de/startseite/ https://www.trinkwasser-unterwegs.de/startseite/ [3] https://refill-deutschland.de/ https://refill-deutschland.de/ There a few, as you can see, and locations marked with a sticker where you can ask for a free refill of your bottle as described in [3]. Personally i wouldn't trust public water springs for hygienic reasons. Maybe a cultural thing, i'm not used to them. I can't really remember of having seen them anywhere in Germany since my childhood. They are a 'new thing' to us.

by jablan 7y ago

snypox 7y ago

Interesting. I didn’t even know public water tap is a common thing in other countries.

lispm 7y ago

There is the concept of light pollution, Lichtverschmutzung. If a city is too bright, you won't see the stars, animals would have difficulty to sleep, etc... The city has areas which are lighted, but in other areas it's darker. See the link to the Lichtkonzept I've put in another comment. > public water taps That's an interesting question. A few decades ago this was more common, but it has been removed over the years. I think there is a fear of pollution and also costs involved. There are only a few in the city: https://www.hamburgwasser.de/privatkunden/themen/trinkwassersaeulen/ https://www.hamburgwasser.de/privatkunden/themen/trinkwasser... The Aussenalster is a popular jogging training track and it has public water there. Currently there are plans of the local government to install hundred public water taps in the city in the coming years and two hundred in schools. That's already a movement in various other cities, too: Blue Communities.

LargoLasskhyfv 7y ago

Pffft. Zuckerpüppchen! Go get some Gore-Tex or something like that. "Es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter! Nur schlechte Kleidung." :-) That water thing is not entirely true: [1] https://www.hamburgwasser.de/privatkunden/themen/trinkwassersaeulen-gehen-in-die-winterpause/ https://www.hamburgwasser.de/privatkunden/themen/trinkwasser... [2] https://www.trinkwasser-unterwegs.de/startseite/ https://www.trinkwasser-unterwegs.de/startseite/ [3] https://refill-deutschland.de/ https://refill-deutschland.de/ There a few, as you can see, and locations marked with a sticker where you can ask for a free refill of your bottle as described in [3]. Personally i wouldn't trust public water springs for hygienic reasons. Maybe a cultural thing, i'm not used to them. I can't really remember of having seen them anywhere in Germany since my childhood. They are a 'new thing' to us.