I've been living in Munich since Feb, I've visited Hamburg several times, and previously lived in London and (rural) Portugal. (I'm British)
I'm really very surprised by some of the observations being made here, just because they are very contrary to my experience. Thoughts in no particular order:
- Hamburg's road systems took some inspiration from those of LA. To me Hamburg seemed exceptionally road/car heavy. Munich in comparison seems much more sane and European.
- The startup scene is great. I'm a member of the Werk1 co-working space there, and it is a huge and friendly community.
- Munich drivers are really great with cyclists. I eBike everywhere, and never have a had any problems with a car endangering me. They are exceptionally good at giving way to anyone in the cycle lines (bike, eBike, or scooter)
- For me it is a really very clean city.
- The English Garden (bigger the Manhattan’s Central Park) is a place of absolute magic in the summer. Floating down the river through a forest in the middle of the city?! Amazing.
- People are indeed super friendly when you talk to them. They don't do much needless smiling, but they are warm and friendly. (I'm white and look fairly presentable, and I cannot rule out that being a factor)
- You drive to the Alps in 1h ish. True, you cannot see them from them from the city. But it not much time you can be at the top of a ski resort.
- I think the comparison to Austin TX is very fair. Bavaria is conservative, Munich is not.
- The U-Bahn is pretty reliable, the S-Bahn less so. I cycle or e-scooter everywhere, so don't really notice (and even when it rains it really isn't that bad, said as a Londoner).
- I think there is more of a culture of having a stable job at large companies, perhaps in Germany in general (vs the UK). And I can see Munich feeling like 'a place people come to work' if you hang out in those groups. But I think there is is more available than just that.
> To me Hamburg seemed exceptionally road/car heavy. Munich in comparison seems much more sane and European
That's an interesting perspective. I've been living in Hamburg for more than 10 years and visited Munich many times in the past 5 years or so for work, and my observation was always the opposite (and similar to the article's author).
I never felt the need to get a driver's license while living in Hamburg, given the broad coverage of the U-/S-Bahn network. It goes _really_ far. And most of the people I know who have cars usually prefer to commute by train and save the drive for weekends or evening events.
I've entertained the idea of moving to Munich for many, many times, and one of the deterrents for me always was that I found Munich to be too much of a car-oriented city; U-Bahn/Tram coverage seemed limited to a more central area where rents were quite high. Farther away, where most of my friends live, is covered by buses or S-Bahn with long, long journeys. And that's it, it's either a long commute on trains that look a bit old, or having a nice drive.
It does look like rent prices are not as high in that central area as they're used to be, which sounds nice, because living in the nice area with good public transit coverage looks lovely.
I'm really very surprised by some of the observations being made here, just because they are very contrary to my experience. Thoughts in no particular order:
- Hamburg's road systems took some inspiration from those of LA. To me Hamburg seemed exceptionally road/car heavy. Munich in comparison seems much more sane and European.
- The startup scene is great. I'm a member of the Werk1 co-working space there, and it is a huge and friendly community.
- Munich drivers are really great with cyclists. I eBike everywhere, and never have a had any problems with a car endangering me. They are exceptionally good at giving way to anyone in the cycle lines (bike, eBike, or scooter)
- For me it is a really very clean city.
- The English Garden (bigger the Manhattan’s Central Park) is a place of absolute magic in the summer. Floating down the river through a forest in the middle of the city?! Amazing.
- People are indeed super friendly when you talk to them. They don't do much needless smiling, but they are warm and friendly. (I'm white and look fairly presentable, and I cannot rule out that being a factor)
- You drive to the Alps in 1h ish. True, you cannot see them from them from the city. But it not much time you can be at the top of a ski resort.
- I think the comparison to Austin TX is very fair. Bavaria is conservative, Munich is not.
- The U-Bahn is pretty reliable, the S-Bahn less so. I cycle or e-scooter everywhere, so don't really notice (and even when it rains it really isn't that bad, said as a Londoner).
- I think there is more of a culture of having a stable job at large companies, perhaps in Germany in general (vs the UK). And I can see Munich feeling like 'a place people come to work' if you hang out in those groups. But I think there is is more available than just that.