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Belgrade is the closest match in Europe by far, but you better like second-hand smoke!
I'd also say Budapest, Leipzig, Brno, Sofia/Plovdiv, Gdansk in Europe--but still nowhere close to Berlin.
Bangkok maybe the only Asian city with a lot of art/culture/food and cheap (but not so cheap) real-estate. decent transpo.
What I like about Berlin:
--Great Turkish food
--Open container drinking in the park on gorgeous summer days
--Decent-sized Vietnamese community so alternatives to Wurst und Kartoffel
--More music and art than you can ever possibly consume
--Lots of legitimately interesting, artistic, and intelligent people
But:
--Low wages in comparison to rest of Germany (even in tech)
--Real-estate prices are going up quickly
--Lots of pretentious people; all the arrivistes have ruined it
--Lot of drugs, it gets old when most socializing involves some sort of pill
Just my 2 cents.
Not really any city like it.
I read Taipei and almost spit my coffee out!
Lots of cute coffee shops for your GF to take selfies but no real art or music scene.
Real estate is absurd there. You have to go down the coast to the port cities to find anything close to a deal...natural landscape is great tho in Taipei.
Taiwan, centered around Taipei, has an independent film and music scene that are pretty active though obviously mostly in Chinese languages. Real estate is absurd there for the wages people make, but rentals are a bit less crazy.
Infrastructure's good and island's small enough that it's pretty easy to get to shows in other places though obviously concentrated in Taipei. I haven't lived there full-time in a decade, so I'm out of touch, but these folks's concerts were fun and their lead singer is now an elected legislator in the Yuan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5z-AOdCAx8
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 05-24-2020 at 09:53 PM..
Well, I thought Taipei was famous for its ridiculously bargain priced housing costs, as in extremely cheap even compared to big U.S. cities. I thought Berlin was too.
It's bargain priced in terms of rent, but the property prices are highly inflated.
And it has nothing in common with Berlin. Berlin is an imperial city of one of the most impactful empires in Europe and the centre stage of numerous pivotal moments in the history of humanity and is now hiptown numero uno; Taipei is ... a place very few can name.
Last edited by Greysholic; 05-25-2020 at 05:47 AM..
It's bargain priced in terms of rent, but the property prices are highly inflated.
And it has nothing in common with Berlin. Berlin is an imperial city of one of the most impactful empires in Europe and the centre stage of numerous pivotal moments in the history of humanity and is now hiptown numero uno; Taipei is ... a place very few can name.
I disagree, Taipei is a world famous city. Not in the level of NYC or London or Tokyo in terms of fame, but everyone here in the US has heard of it, including white people.
It's also regarded as Asia's cool, progressive city.
I disagree, Taipei is a world famous city. Not in the level of NYC or London or Tokyo in terms of fame, but everyone here in the US has heard of it, including white people.
It's also regarded as Asia's cool, progressive city.
Maybe it is more progressive than other Asian cities/countries (let's be honest here, it's not a high bar), and it might be a popular destination in Asia, but to draw comparisons with a giant like Berlin is laughable.
I have been to Berlin and I didn't like it at all, but it is one of the icons in Europe. It was the epicentre of Prussia, the epicentre of the German unification as well as the subsequent empire, the epicentre of two World Wars, and the epicentre of the Cold War. I'm not saying those are particularly wonderful things to be remembered for, the wars certainly aren't, but they are some of the most pivotal moments in human history and have had long-lasting, universal impact. Not to mention all the great Germanic thinkers and artists, many of them called Berlin home or at least had ties to Berlin. All of that stayed in Berlin. If you open a book about world history or world culture I'm like 101% sure that Taipei wouldn't appear in any pages.
Maybe it is more progressive than other Asian cities/countries (let's be honest here, it's not a high bar), and it might be a popular destination in Asia, but to draw comparisons with a giant like Berlin is laughable.
I have been to Berlin and I didn't like it at all, but it is one of the icons in Europe. It was the epicentre of Prussia, the epicentre of the German unification as well as the subsequent empire, the epicentre of two World Wars, and the epicentre of the Cold War. I'm not saying those are particularly wonderful things to be remembered for, the wars certainly aren't, but they are some of the most pivotal moments in human history and have had long-lasting, universal impact. Not to mention all the great Germanic thinkers and artists, many of them called Berlin home or at least had ties to Berlin. All of that stayed in Berlin. If you open a book about world history or world culture I'm like 101% sure that Taipei wouldn't appear in any pages.
Yea, I agree that Taipei is definitely less well known as a city and has far fewer events of global ramification than Berlin. That’s just the facts.
However, that’s not the priority for the OP. In comparison to the rest of the world, Taiwan is a very progressive country whether you think the bar is too low or not. In terms of what the OP is asking for, Taipei is pretty solid.
Budapest is cool but surely outside its golden years esp. since they elected that Orban guy. He doesn't seem too pro-russian and weird these days but still not government you'd like to live under.
Yea, I agree that Taipei is definitely less well known as a city and has far fewer events of global ramification than Berlin. That’s just the facts.
However, that’s not the priority for the OP. In comparison to the rest of the world, Taiwan is a very progressive country whether you think the bar is too low or not. In terms of what the OP is asking for, Taipei is pretty solid.
Berlin is admittedly a high bar for global fame. Taipei being less famous doesn't mean it's not famous. I'd wager it's at least as famous as Budapest.
^ This really varies from country to country, in both Western Europe and Eastern Europe Budapest is very well known meanwhile only America and Australia can qualify as distant countries 90% of the people think about from time to time.
Budapest is cool but surely outside its golden years esp. since they elected that Orban guy. He doesn't seem too pro-russian and weird these days but still not government you'd like to live under.
True. The crazy conservative politics taking over Eastern Europe do create somewhat of a non-Berlin vibe since Berlin is mostly about live free party hard with a very open vibe. I visited Budapest in 2013, I believe before they elected him? I didn't get a vibe of conservativeness whatsoever in the city. I loved the grittiness of the city and the underground nightlife style.
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