What's it like to live/work in Berlin?

[Thomas D and Jack Thomas]

Imagine young, cool people with 2 days unshaven faces and designer jeans, dancing to sexy minimal music.

thats actually not the best representation of the city. While that aspect is certainly flourishing, its all the other things that make berlin so intersting for me after almost 5 years. There is a big flea market culture, the old school east germans are funny, the police are chill, the taxi drivers nice, the streets wide (which is not the easiest for europe). The music scene is too diverse to call berlin a minimal town, with the goth, punk, and brit pop scenes doing so well. Even rockabilly has a wide audience.

I guess people wear designer jeans (unless a torn pair of levis 501s counts, i dont), but fashion also covers a wide spectrum. Fucked up and multicolor haircuts are also quite common on seemingly normal people.

I was kidding...partially. I really like Berlin.

[idealstandard]

Berlin has a very high unemployment rate. Do not expect ot come here and find work. However, if you can show that you can survive from outside money (web development might work, living off family, already established as a dj/artist/etc), then you have a chance. I just showed up and didnt leave. It took a few years before I found a job that could put me into the system. The main concern is that outsiders will latch onto an already overworked social system.

You do not need to speak german to absolutely survive, but it puzzles me how anyone here lasts longer than a year without learning anything.

It's a great city for living (parks, transportation, neighborhoods, etc) but do keep in mind there is no sun from october to april.

Plus one. Expect to be paid less than in other places in Germany too.

And it's f*ucking cold in january! :-)

[livecollective]

"truth is good, but control is better"

guess that explains why no one will j-walk in the middle of the night when no cars are coming, they will wait till the sign turns green... awesome city.

Great place to network, but i think its just becoming or (has been for a while) that place to be, and I wonder how many more "artists" it can support before its just another place...

I would hope those moving there love the city for more than just the music. Even though that could be a huge part of it .

All in all, one of my favorite cities to visit in the world. If not the most.

[TiEZ]

berlin was always a place for people who did not found a place somewhere in the world.

[plastik]

some of the greatest artists have had a berlin time in life.
david bowie, lou reed....

[apanell]

ive visited berlin once but it wasnt a minimal trip of any kind and i didnt like it... i couldnt live there for sure, its huge and seems rather impersonal but i dont know for sure since i only been there once hahahaaa

[Der geile Ami]

ive visited berlin once but it wasnt a minimal trip of any kind and i didnt like it... i couldnt live there for sure, its huge and seems rather impersonal but i dont know for sure since i only been there once hahahaaa

Living here is a different story than visiting. Berlin hasa great network of neighborhoods. The city is large, but not huge like london or nyc or... coming from nyc and having lived in dc and la, i find the size ideal, but it may not work that way for people coming from small towns or cities. The same big city cultureshock can happen at many big cities. while berlin might be large, it is rare that you would find yourself traveling extreme distances everyday. Most people can live and work in a small radius (my work is 2km away) and hte transportation system is quite extensive and fast.

[positivefeedback]

the public transport here is great. i had to travel last night from one end of the city to the other. it took half an hour on the nice, fast, clean underground.

Its just like any city. the longer you stay, the more cool little places you find away from the tourist traps