Hi everyone, I have been living in Berlin for a few years now, and have loved the city. However, the latest changes, both political and economic, lead to a quality of life decrease that I can’t ignore.
For example, new bike lanes are out of the question, and even almost-finished ones are to be converted back to parking spaces. I usually ride my bike through the city, and this leads to a real decrease in safety and quality of life for me.
Another example from the same cause is the A100 extension, by which the number of apartments will go down again, important culture areas will be razed, to make room for cars to drive into the city.
A different cause but maybe still a political decision from many years ago is to not build enough apartments, to the point where it feels impossible and discouraging to look for a new apartment, let alone one in an area with more of what Berlin has to offer, i.e. cultural events, restaurants, cafés etc.
Public transport is horrible outside the Ring, many busses are either late or don’t arrive, and many go to 20-minute intervals outside of working hours.
Anyone else feel this way?
Our new CDU-led government is much worse than I expected; analysts earlier where saying that CDU basically conceded almost everything to SPD but Senate actions refuted this. This is definitely a conservative government implementing a regressive political programme.
So yes, I’m upset, but will I uproot myself because of a three-year setback? No, it can’t work like that. In the previous place I lived I was politically active for 12 years before I conceded and left. And I was a younger person with less to give up than now.
It’s not on the cards for me to be a nomad, giving up on my life every time an election doesn’t go my way. It has to get much worse than three years of CDU rule.