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City livability: would you recommend your city to a fellow translator?
Thread poster: Mario Chavez (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:14
Spanish to English
+ ...
Bilbao Jun 28, 2017

Thirty-odd years ago Bilbao Town Hall and other local authorities undertook a project to transform the city with a services/leisure/tourism focus, after the steelmaking and shipbuilding concentrated around the estuary took a dive. They revamped the grey and gloomy waterside area, formerly ignored because all it had was cranes and dock facilities, built a few more bridges to encourage mobility and connect up districts, and created a much more pleasant river walkway with leisure amenities, headed ... See more
Thirty-odd years ago Bilbao Town Hall and other local authorities undertook a project to transform the city with a services/leisure/tourism focus, after the steelmaking and shipbuilding concentrated around the estuary took a dive. They revamped the grey and gloomy waterside area, formerly ignored because all it had was cranes and dock facilities, built a few more bridges to encourage mobility and connect up districts, and created a much more pleasant river walkway with leisure amenities, headed up by Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum. They put in a new airport (still insufficiently sized, in my opinion), and visitors started to arrive, whereupon hotels and catering cleaned up their act too. Used to be you would never hear a foreign language around here, but all that has changed.

It's small enough to walk just about anywhere, or a tram and metro if you're lazy enough, but it isn't the valley village it used to be. The food and drink is excellent, it has theatres and street stuff, culture on tap, and there's always something going on, especially as summer approaches. People are friendly, and it's quite a safe city in terms of crime. Can be pretty expensive for some things, the price of opening up to the exterior.

I like it. I'm well into Year 23 here, and no plans to move.

By the way, did they move the Abbey Road pedestrian crossing because too many pedestrians were walking across it and slowing down the traffic, or was it just that so many feet walking over it - shoed or unshoed - erased the lines? Or both? Or did Paul buy it and ship it out to the Mull of Kintyre?
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TonyTK
TonyTK
German to English
+ ...
Abbey Road Jun 28, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

By the way, did they move the Abbey Road pedestrian crossing because too many pedestrians were walking across it and slowing down the traffic, or was it just that so many feet walking over it - shoed or unshoed - erased the lines? Or both? Or did Paul buy it and ship it out to the Mull of Kintyre?


If you watch the live feed of the zebra crossing at

http://www.abbeyroad.com/crossing

you'll see Tom selling tickets on the corner.


A vote for Germersheim - pop. of 20,000 but has a university, making it very lively and multiethnic. Close to France, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe. Only 700 miles from the sea. One public toilet.

[Bearbeitet am 2017-06-28 10:34 GMT]


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Abbey Road Jun 28, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

By the way, did they move the Abbey Road pedestrian crossing because too many pedestrians were walking across it and slowing down the traffic, or was it just that so many feet walking over it - shoed or unshoed - erased the lines? Or both? Or did Paul buy it and ship it out to the Mull of Kintyre?


Alas, Mervyn, too many pedestrians are still walking across it and slowing down the traffic. I believe it was moved because it was too close to a road junction.


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:14
Spanish to English
+ ...
Fifth Beatle? Jun 28, 2017

Is it just coincidence that the white car on the left of the album photo appears to be a Beetle? And did you know that they weren't going to the Abbey Road Recording Studio that day either? No - turns out they were going to help Paul buy some shoes at the Abbey Road Shoe Shop. And there's an unconfirmed rumour they also intended to drop in at the Abbey Road Menswear Mall to see if they couldn't get George out of his denims.

To go back momentarily on topic (!), it looks like a rather
... See more
Is it just coincidence that the white car on the left of the album photo appears to be a Beetle? And did you know that they weren't going to the Abbey Road Recording Studio that day either? No - turns out they were going to help Paul buy some shoes at the Abbey Road Shoe Shop. And there's an unconfirmed rumour they also intended to drop in at the Abbey Road Menswear Mall to see if they couldn't get George out of his denims.

To go back momentarily on topic (!), it looks like a rather nice leafy place to live.
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Leafy Jun 28, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

.... it looks like a rather nice leafy place to live.


Leafy indeed, as in crisp leafs (or leaves) of £ notes. St. John's Wood, where Abbey Road Studios are situated, was and still is the most expensive part of the most expensive city in the world. I live much further up, well away from the oligarchs, footballers, and fashion models.

[Edited at 2017-06-28 12:30 GMT]


 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:14
French to English
Paris Jun 29, 2017

is simply the most beautiful and romantic city in the world, and now boasts a decent network of cycle lanes.

I couldn't afford to live here just on what I earn, my partner luckily brings in far more money. We were lucky enough to buy our house when the market dipped 20 years ago, and the value of the property has been rising ever since. The children have forbidden us from ever selling it even though neither actually want to live here after we've copped it or got shunted into a home
... See more
is simply the most beautiful and romantic city in the world, and now boasts a decent network of cycle lanes.

I couldn't afford to live here just on what I earn, my partner luckily brings in far more money. We were lucky enough to buy our house when the market dipped 20 years ago, and the value of the property has been rising ever since. The children have forbidden us from ever selling it even though neither actually want to live here after we've copped it or got shunted into a home.

Once my partner has retired we intend to winter abroad because global warming isn't happening fast enough to make Paris bearable all year round.
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Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 14:14
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Back to the original subject: City livable Jun 29, 2017

Well, I live in Amsterdam, great city by the way, but because of all the noise around me (they are always working to make the city 'better'), I sometimes can't hear myself thinking.

We bought a cottage in the woods, just an hour drive from the Dutch capital, and man, what a place to be/work. I would recommend it to everybody, though I do realise that not everybody has the opportunity, but my advice would be: 'Get out of the city!'

[Edited at 2017-06-29 17:27 GMT]

[Edit
... See more
Well, I live in Amsterdam, great city by the way, but because of all the noise around me (they are always working to make the city 'better'), I sometimes can't hear myself thinking.

We bought a cottage in the woods, just an hour drive from the Dutch capital, and man, what a place to be/work. I would recommend it to everybody, though I do realise that not everybody has the opportunity, but my advice would be: 'Get out of the city!'

[Edited at 2017-06-29 17:27 GMT]

[Edited at 2017-06-29 21:59 GMT]

[Edited at 2017-06-30 08:24 GMT]
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Guofei_LIN
Guofei_LIN  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 23:14
Chinese
Just did the opposite more Jun 29, 2017

Robert Rietvelt wrote:
'Get out of the city!'


I just made the opposite move, leaving our house on the suburb and moving into an apartment in the city to be closer to where my wife works and where my daughters go to school/university. Problems with living in a house on the suburb is long commute time and a lot of work around the house (too much space to clean). Now we live in the city, cinema, restaurants, museum, library, park, are all within walking distance. We probably will stay in the city for some years.


 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:14
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Come to Germany ... Jun 30, 2017

... especially to Kiel, and rent as a 50 year old single male a small flat in a neighbourhoud outside the student districts, populated by people with a middle to small income and experience, what does it mean to be considered as a "perpetual student" just because you stay home all the day over, doing a "job", which of course easily can be done by Google translate and by Smartphone Apps or dictionaries and which will no way have to be benefitted by social welfare institutions, because the guy doe... See more
... especially to Kiel, and rent as a 50 year old single male a small flat in a neighbourhoud outside the student districts, populated by people with a middle to small income and experience, what does it mean to be considered as a "perpetual student" just because you stay home all the day over, doing a "job", which of course easily can be done by Google translate and by Smartphone Apps or dictionaries and which will no way have to be benefitted by social welfare institutions, because the guy doesn´t look rich at all, does he, and his car, a Skoda, must have been paid by his father and perhaps we should better inform the finance authority or the police to turn his flat upside down, we don´t need those neighbours who are too silent, debt-free, well educated and show a rational attitude instead of suspecting everyone and everything as bad and negative in our filthy rich country ...

[Edited at 2017-06-30 07:23 GMT]
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Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 14:14
English to German
In memoriam
Greetings to Kiel Jun 30, 2017

Matthias Brombach wrote:

... especially to Kiel, and rent as a 50 year old single male a small flat in a neighbourhoud outside the student districts...


Greetings to Kiel, the city where I was born and lived until I was 32. I still like the feeling of having a coastline near to me, wherever I am. Right now I live near Bremen, which is also nice, "a village with a streetcar system", as they say. But as others pointed out, as a translator you can be a digital nomad. The idea to move to a nice warm island with an internet connection does appeal to me very much. I've already cast my eyes upon a certain island.


 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:14
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Kiel: Not the worst place to be Jun 30, 2017

Kay-Viktor Stegemann wrote: I still like the feeling of having a coastline near to me, wherever I am.

... my best regards in return and nothing to say against Kiel as a city, especially when one is fond of the maritime atmosphere Kiel offers. Moreover, cultural life isn´t bad at all compared to the smaller cities nearby. But I still miss the beautiful landscape around Flensburg, which invites to short trips to Denmark, North Frisia, the Northfrisian Islands and the Anglia peninsula southeast of Flensburg. All these areas with their beautiful beaches and landscapes were just half an hour away for me by car or by bicycle, whereas now it is a kind of round-the-world-trip. Most beautiful, of course, is the area northwest of Bremen, where you life: East Frisia, where I was born ...


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:15
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Amsterdam Jun 30, 2017

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Well, I live in Amsterdam, great city by the way, but because of all the noise around me (they are always working to make the city 'better'), I sometimes can't hear myself thinking.

We bought a cottage in the woods, just an hour drive from the Dutch capital, and man, what a place to be/work. I would recommend it to everybody, though I do realise that not everybody has the opportunity, but my advice would be: 'Get out of the city!'

[Edited at 2017-06-29 17:27 GMT]

[Edited at 2017-06-29 21:59 GMT]

[Edited at 2017-06-30 08:24 GMT]


Many years ago I was being considered for an in-house translator job in your city. I found a lady translator in the city who gave me invaluable livability information and cost-of-living data...until my would-be employer told me the interviews were off (long story).



 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:15
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Maybe I will Jun 30, 2017

Matthias Brombach wrote:

... especially to Kiel, and rent as a 50 year old single male a small flat in a neighbourhoud outside the student districts, populated by people with a middle to small income and experience, what does it mean to be considered as a "perpetual student" just because you stay home all the day over, doing a "job", which of course easily can be done by Google translate and by Smartphone Apps or dictionaries and which will no way have to be benefitted by social welfare institutions, because the guy doesn´t look rich at all, does he, and his car, a Skoda, must have been paid by his father and perhaps we should better inform the finance authority or the police to turn his flat upside down, we don´t need those neighbours who are too silent, debt-free, well educated and show a rational attitude instead of suspecting everyone and everything as bad and negative in our filthy rich country ...

[Edited at 2017-06-30 07:23 GMT]


Nothing beats a local's view and description of a city, big or small, whether the description is tinged with irony, melancholy or humor. Thanks, Matthias!


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:15
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
And then there are the South American cities... Jun 30, 2017

...such as Montevideo (Uruguay), Buenos Aires and Córdoba (Argentina), the latter being where I was born a parsec ago.



Cities such as Buenos Aires and Córdoba (I haven't been in Montevideo) are very walkable centers, not just in downtown. You can find many cinemas (or, as I would call them, “indie filmhouses” in American English) and bakery/pastry shops almost in every corner. Suburban cities in
... See more
...such as Montevideo (Uruguay), Buenos Aires and Córdoba (Argentina), the latter being where I was born a parsec ago.



Cities such as Buenos Aires and Córdoba (I haven't been in Montevideo) are very walkable centers, not just in downtown. You can find many cinemas (or, as I would call them, “indie filmhouses” in American English) and bakery/pastry shops almost in every corner. Suburban cities in America are the opposite: lack of walkability and plenty of car drivability, which increases one's angst for living in such a schizophrenic society where you have to drive or travel elsewhere to find people to talk (restaurants, hotels, beaches, resorts, etc.) and again drive or travel to do your weekly or biweekly shopping because, well, where you live is where people go to sleep and ignore their neighbors.
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neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 14:15
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Jun 30, 2017

Valencia (Spain) is a great and up and coming city, especially if you're young at heart. I now live outside the town in a semi-rural setting, but it's still only a 40-minute drive away. For the same price as a small flat in the city, I rent a 2-bedroom house with a large garden and swimming pool, and very few neighbours living all year round (a lot of people only come in summer or at weekends).

 
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