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I did a research stay two summers ago in Munich and oh my God, it's the best place I've "lived" by far. So clean, so calm, yet so vibrant.
by amunozo 1y ago
I did a research stay two summers ago in Munich and oh my God, it's the best place I've "lived" by far. So clean, so calm, yet so vibrant.
- mvdwoord 1y agoI lived there for three years, about 10 years ago, and could not agree more. Highest quality of life I have experienced.
- vasilzhigilei 1y agoI lived in Munich for a month a few summers ago. While I enjoyed it, and it was definitely clean, I couldn't help but describe Munich as a "city where people go to work". Pleasant, but not exciting. Very walkable, though!
- mft_ 1y agoInteresting; from my experience, clean, calm, safe, and expensive, but absolutely not what I’d call vibrant. A lot of the time it feels flat and dull in comparison to other large cities - Berlin, London, Barcelona, etc. (My personal theory is that it’s just too rich and developed; you need cheap ‘edgy’ areas to support the people and business ideas that make places more interesting. Plus Bavarian culture is [in a nutshell] basically Catholic Churches and beer houses/gardens, so not hugely varied.)
- Barrin92 1y ago>A lot of the time it feels flat and dull in comparison to other large cities [...] My personal theory is that it’s just too rich and developed; you need cheap ‘edgy’ areas As someone hailing from Cologne but with lots of friends in Munich, I tend to agree. Maybe it's the "Ruhrpott" dysfunction you're used to when you grew up in this part of Germany, but Munich always felt like a giant Apple Store, Hamburg does too but with a Protestant/Nordic spin instead of the posh Catholic south. I think also another factor is that Munich is monocentric, the urban core absorbed districts very quickly (most people wouldn't know it these days but Bavaria used to be very underdeveloped for a long time) whereas the Ruhr area or Berlin are much more decentralized urban agglomerations, growing over a longer time, making it a bit more chaotic and sprawlish and economically hit or miss.
- CGMthrowaway 1y agoIdk about that. The Bavarian State Opera is very good, and all three(!) of Munich's three orchestras are world-class. Munich is a science and tech hub bringing interesting and important transients all the time. It has an amazing art collection, English Gardens that actually get used, and cultural and entertainment amenities that are well-spread across different parts of the city.
- amunozo 1y agoWell, you're right. I was comparing to places as clean, calm and safe as Munich. I only found that kind of peace in much smaller cities that were way less vibrant. I understand (and agree) with your second paragraph, but from all the "too rich and developed" places I've been, this is the most vibrant. Except for housing, I did not find it particularly expensive. I ate out at very nice places for less than 10€ a lot of times, ice creams were amazing and cheap, too. At least compared to Spain, I did not noticed a big difference, taking into account the wealth of the city.
- bgnn 1y agoVienna is a better version of Munich for the things you seem to like. Have you been there?
- amunozo 1y agoLong ago, when I was a teenager. I really want to go back because I have heard that, too. I heard kind of similar things about Zurich, which I've also been some time ago but only for a while. I will definitively visit both soon as I'm moving to Switzerland so it would be closer than from where I am now.
- PartiallyTyped 1y agoWhen was that? Right now if I were to open uber eats, burgers cost on average across 10-15 stores about 15eur each, chips not included. I pay about 1k and live with roommates, and a high end salary here gets crushed to almost half after taxes and whatnot.
- amunozo 1y agoSummer 2023. I was in a student dorm so my rent was extremely cheap (400€). But I found plenty of foreign food (Korean, Taiwanese, Turkish) to eat for around 10€ in Maxvorstadt.
- ta12653421 1y ago
- fxj 1y agoMunich has a smaller version of the Octoberfest all year around. Beer Gardens everywhere, many people wearing "Tracht". The tourists love it and the munich people love the money. It has some nice places like the English Garden or the River Side. Also the Farmers Market in the city centre is nice to hang around. It is not for the young crowd but more for the settled and wealthy ones. Very much like Zürich, but bigger. The mountains are close and the lakes around Munich are famous. Also many nice castles like Schloss Nymphenburg, the Residenz and of course the castle built by Ludwig II. Lots of historic buildings. The city was founded 1158 and parts of the old city still exist.
- specialist 1y ago> but absolutely not what I’d call vibrant. Could this varying perception be age, cohort, interest related? Young me would recoil at current me's sense of culture and preferences.
- CGMthrowaway 1y agoMunich, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Trieste, Krakow, even Innsbruck, Bratislava - I have traveled all over Europe, just about everywhere, and my favorite cities are consistently in the old Habsburg Realm. I don't know why but that's what they all have in common.
- hellrich 1y agoMunich/Bavaria were not ruled by the Habsburgs, unless you want to count the whole Holy Roman Empire.
- CGMthrowaway 1y agoYeah good point. Now I need to find a different commonality
- jackcosgrove 1y agoI think "Habsburg" is a good enough descriptor. It encompasses the Catholic, northern-influenced culture (if not actually in the north like Trieste) as well as the baroque, counter Reformation-derived artistic styles.
- lostlogin 1y agoThey had a couple of notable 20th century leaders.
- mistrial9 1y agosee the movie The Sound of Music
- CGMthrowaway 1y agoLOL good point but I don't think that's it, although maybe whatever reason why I like these places is part of the reason Nazis wanted them :)
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- selfmodruntime 1y agoI live there. It's the best city I ever lived in. I just wish my rent wasn't so sky high.