5 ms·
I moved from LA to Paris, my mental and physical health improved dramatically. I don't even take the subway, walking and biking are enough where I live. Hopefu
by goldenarm 7mo ago
I moved from LA to Paris, my mental and physical health improved dramatically.
I don't even take the subway, walking and biking are enough where I live. Hopefully we can reach the comfort of dutch cities within a decade.
- vovavili 7mo agoI was more comfortable living in Paris than living in a Dutch city because I was able to live in a banlieue. Biking here is more developed, and that's a plus. But having my job, my living space, my friends and my favorite weekend activities spread across Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague does take a bit of a toll. I wish The Netherlands did have a much less restrictive housing policy.
- goldenarm 7mo agoInteresting ! My comparison was indeed limited, I only lived in center of Den Haag as a foreigner. Decentralization has its pros and cons, but Paris is way too centralized around Chatelet sometimes.
- black_puppydog 7mo agoFrance as a whole is way too centralized on Paris and it's actually hurting the country. If you do read French, there is a very interesting book from 2024 (IIRC) about this. It's called "Quand le parisianisme écrase la France". Before reading this book I always thought Germany (where I grew up) was the exception for being more decentralized. But it looks like actually France is way more centralized even compared to other pretty centralized countries.
- pfannkuchen 7mo agoHow is it hurting the country? Japan seems fine with it. Or maybe it’s a scapegoat?
- lucyjojo 7mo agoIt is hurting Japan pretty bad too.
- user_7832 7mo ago> Before reading this book I always thought Germany (where I grew up) was the exception for being more decentralized. But it looks like actually France is way more centralized even compared to other pretty centralized countries. This is closely related to the concept of primate cities (you can read its wikipedia page for more details if interested). Essentially, places like France, UK, Russia (countries with primate cities) have an unusually/disproportionately high concentration of population in the largest city. There are some pros but unsurprisingly cons as well.
- mrtksn 7mo agoWhat do you think about all those videos on how dangerous Paris is? Having made the move, would you say that those stem from real experiences and are organic or would you say that it was an organized campaign for some political reason? Or maybe something else? Trump keeps saying that they want to prevent USA becoming a dangerous place like Europe, even said that recently and the Irish president disagreed with him. As an American, would you say that EU has fallen and it has become a shithole or maybe something in between? I'm just curious if its just about differences of expectations or something.
- rkomorn 7mo agoAs a European who moved to the US for 20+ years then moved back to Europe, any idea that Europe is a shithole or has fallen is ludicrous. If anything, the US degraded far more over the time I spent there than Europe did while I was away.
- mrtksn 7mo agoI am EU too and I know Europe is doing quite fine on average with some good and bad places but I wonder if all this is propaganda for the Americans or if the Americans genuinely expect something else from life.
- mcv 7mo agoMy impression is that it's propaganda to stop Americans from expecting the same from life.
- kjkjadksj 7mo agoTrump and his base think that. The rest of us know we are 40 years behind the rest of the modern world.
- goldenarm 7mo agoI don't have anecdata, but Paris homicide rate is 6x less than LA, 10x fewer car related deaths, but only 1.2x less crime. Comparing countries and policies is a great thing, we have to learn from each other. Just be careful of misinformation and out of context numbers. Sure France's GDP seems lower, but they don't need a larger car and a larger diet coke to be happier.
- pkulak 7mo agoHow's your French? Sounds like a flippant question, but I hear Parisians are not that... tolerant of even bad French speakers, let alone non-speakers. That stereotype has kept me from visiting, let alone living there, despite it probably being my dream city in every other respect. I'm in my mid 40s, and learning a new (spoken) language has become extremely difficult. I spent 2 years trying to learn German a while back and it was a pretty big failure.
- yardie 7mo agoIf you can you should go. Lived there for 12 years and my French was not amazing but no one gave me shit about it. English has been required in schools since 00s basically anyone under 40 should be able to communicate. But knowing some French goes a lot further.
- estimator7292 7mo agoParis has a population of 2 million people, a good chunk of whom are not native to France. It's safe to assume you'll encounter a very wide variety of people speaking many different languages.
- interstice 7mo agoI've had a few experiences in France, as recently as a month ago. Not speaking French (I do not) is not generally a problem, no one seems to mind. What some parts of Europe do mind is being too... How do I put this politely... Obviously from certain places with very little sensitivity for where in the the world they happen to be at the time. Often loudly.
- ungovernableCat 7mo agoPrevented from visiting? Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, and the Parisians are pragmatic people. If you're kind and respectful they'll give you that in return. I can only say the most basic phrases in French and have experienced zero problems.
- watwut 7mo agoThey acted like normal people when we have been there.
- rayiner 7mo agoHow many kids do you have? How comfortable is the downtown core for families with 2-3 kids?
- Nevermark 7mo agoSeveral years ago, I moved to twin university towns, where I can walk everywhere including between towns. Funny thing about distances in small towns. It doesn't take long to start perceiving a ten or fifteen minute drive as a "long" drive. But a two hour walk while I turn over a difficult design problem goes by in an instant. The difference between time that saps or renews our energy. And I am off for a walk...