Berlin to vote on eminent domain for corporate landlord properties who own over 3k apartments.

[Zinneke]

Itt neoliberal shills read bloomberg and the economist and want Berlin to become like Paris and Amsterdam.

The horror of being a prosperous capital that contributes to the nation's wealth instead of being a drag on the nation's budget.

Almost all capitals are a drag on national budget, the high GDP per capita are to large extent caused by the transfer of capital from the rest of the country to the capital to run the central administration. The main different for Berlin is the smaller German central administration, the fact that Berlin lies in the middle of nowhere and Cold War worked against the same kind of investment you saw in other West Europe capitals through the same period.

A few capital have the benefit of having a secondary value as transportation or industrial hubs which raise their value.

Berlin is actually the only capital in Europe that brings down it's countries GDP per capita despite also being one of the most subdivided as a legacy of it's cold war existence. It's economic performance is pitiful.

Because the political class historically favours the capital regions in most other countries (Belgium being the other exception).

Germany has the least issues with hypercentralised economy. Of course there are differences between regions but decentralisation and federalism in Germany works.

Are seriously debating whether Paris or Amsterdam are better places to live than most German big cities? Because that's the debate here and it's German cities, no contest. Amsterdam has the cycling and drugs and gener aesthetic granted, but living costs there are obscene compared to German cities.

[President Johnson]

I predict this will be declared unconstitutional, similar to the rent cap earlier this year.

[Santander]

Are seriously debating whether Paris or Amsterdam are better places to live than most German big cities? Because that's the debate here and it's German cities, no contest. Amsterdam has the cycling and drugs and gener aesthetic granted, but living costs there are obscene compared to German cities.

Cost of living in Munich is comparable to Amsterdam, but I recognize you did say most German cities, not all. Personally, I prefer Munich over both Amsterdam and Paris, regardless of cost of living. As an expat, the Netherlands can actually be better financially due to favorable (temporary) tax relief. If you can get a decent-paying job in a nice small city (e.g. Nuremberg), Germany is great, but most of NRW is not that appealing. Some people like Berlin, others like Munich, but who likes Duisburg?

[Lechasseur]

Are seriously debating whether Paris or Amsterdam are better places to live than most German big cities? Because that's the debate here and it's German cities, no contest. Amsterdam has the cycling and drugs and gener aesthetic granted, but living costs there are obscene compared to German cities.

Cost of living in Munich is comparable to Amsterdam, but I recognize you did say most German cities, not all. Personally, I prefer Munich over both Amsterdam and Paris, regardless of cost of living. As an expat, the Netherlands can actually be better financially due to favorable (temporary) tax relief. If you can get a decent-paying job in a nice small city (e.g. Nuremberg), Germany is great, but most of NRW is not that appealing. Some people like Berlin, others like Munich, but who likes Duisburg?

I would think that the Southern part of NRW (Düsseldorf, Cologne) would probably be a pretty good place to live (I've been several times and quite liked it), but yeah I agree the rest of the region for the most part isn't where you'd expatriate to.

And yeah I very much liked Munich myself, I need to go back at some point. I'd definitely be more Munich than Berlin myself.