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I can use some advice and assistance from individuals who have lived in Europe. I'm searching for a European city and I don't think visiting is enough, someone has to live somewhere to understand everything about a country. I'm searching for a place with:
1. low crime, little poverty, and most importantly clean
2. people: welcoming, worldly, fashionable, kind and easy to get to know, NOT racist
3. a great transportation system
4. a good job market and opportunities for immigrants
5. not very expensive, not too small, and a good school I can go to and earn my education.
maybe my expectations are high and the place I'm describing is utopia or awaits us after we pass away but I'm sure that there's a place that comes pretty close. the most important for me are the people.
Frankfurt tops Germanys crime statistic, anyway I find Germany rather expensive.
If Germany at all, then Munich...
- lowest crime rate in Germany
- people are very nice and open
- good public transport
- many job openings, especially IT
- variety of good universities/ colleges
I have a few suggestions and some questions which I think are important in order to help you more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iKnan
1. low crime, little poverty, and most importantly clean
You should try to avoid many larger cities if you're concerned with crime, and to a lesser extent cleanliness. This is particularly the case in Britain. Generally speaking you're more likely to find small countries with little impoverishment and low crime. Slovenia should be a good example.
For now I can say German/Austrian cities appear very clean. So are Scandinavian cities.
Switzerland is very safe. So is Luxembourg. They are also expensive countries to live in. Getting citizenship takes time and is difficult. Denmark is another case.
Realistically you should also consider how easy it's to settle down (which I assume you want) permanently.
Quote:
2. people: welcoming, worldly, fashionable, kind and easy to get to know, NOT racist
In my experience racism is found in most if not all European countries. It's just more direct in some. I would avoid (particularly outside touristy areas) most Eastern European cities if you're non-Europid. What is your race and ethnic background? How would you describe your temperament? Are you more cold and introverted or energetic and extroverted?
Quote:
3. a great transportation system
Again mostly continental Europe. Also Scandinavia.
Quote:
4. a good job market and opportunities for immigrants
What is your field of work? A lot of European countries have high unemployment. Have you also considered moving to Canada or Australia?
Quote:
5. not very expensive, not too small, and a good school I can go to and earn my education.
Now you're asking for quite a lot because you want low crime, little poverty, not very expensive and not too small. It's probably a little unrealistic because places with little poverty are usually quite expensive. What is not very expensive and not too small to you? What kind of education? How old are you?
Quote:
maybe my expectations are high and the place I'm describing is utopia or awaits us after we pass away but I'm sure that there's a place that comes pretty close. the most important for me are the people.
I look for something similar. You just need to give it more thought and narrow down a bit more.
I am German currently living in the south of France but have lived in 7 different countries ( Germany,Belgium,Spain,France,Egypt,Algeria ,Turkey )-58 yers old and -as i consider -have travelled all over the globe.
Off my head I love the city of Nuremberg (Bavaria )-very nice sized,all commodities,people very open and friendly,less expensive than Munich or Frankfurt,very low crime rate,good connection (airportnhigh-speed trains,autobahns )-weather is bad for three months a year (december-February ) but other wise a great place to live.
We are now considering leaving France and eventually move to Morocco or Turkey.We love hot weather and are used to ME/African countries-so we don't have preconceived attitutes towards Arabs or non-christians..
Actually the safest city we ever lived for four years was Cairo -my wife never ever had any problems with anybody,low crime rate,friendly Egyptians,great hospitality.
Another great place to stay is Barcelona - if it wouldn' be for the Catalan language which is quite difficultto come along with..
I can use some advice and assistance from individuals who have lived in Europe. I'm searching for a European city and I don't think visiting is enough, someone has to live somewhere to understand everything about a country. I'm searching for a place with:
1. low crime, little poverty, and most importantly clean
2. people: welcoming, worldly, fashionable, kind and easy to get to know, NOT racist
3. a great transportation system
4. a good job market and opportunities for immigrants
5. not very expensive, not too small, and a good school I can go to and earn my education.
maybe my expectations are high and the place I'm describing is utopia or awaits us after we pass away but I'm sure that there's a place that comes pretty close. the most important for me are the people.
Eurodisneyland Paris? :-)
Just a joke, not meant to stop discussion :-)
Last edited by DutchWriter; 05-17-2008 at 02:29 PM..
Frankfurt? No way. I have lived there for 2 years, it has very high crime, people tend to be not very friendly to foreigners, and it is not really clean compared to many other, smaller German cities. If it has to be Germany, then look for a city in Bavaria, Nuernberg (Nuremberg) is a good example, even smaller ones like Erlangen or Bamberg might be even better, or Ulm. Germans tend not to be the most outgoing people but once you know them a bit better, they can be great friends.
The same goes for Italy. Italians like to keep a distance to foreigners until they know them a bit better. Northern Italy has very clean and wonderful cities, try Verona for example, or Torino.
Europe usually has a pretty good transportation system. However, unemployment is very high and costs are very high as well.
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but I'm sure that there's a place that comes pretty close. the most important for me are the people.
