Ode to Munich
A cite in the Economist lead to the Mercer 2007 World-wide Quality of Living Survey, which came out a couple of weeks ago. Munich, where I live, was ranked 8th in the survey.
People often ask me how I like living in Munich (having lived here for 2 years now, having previously lived in Chicago, San Francisco, and Berlin), and especially how it compares to Berlin (the two cities have a bit of a rivalry in Germany). I tend to reply that it has its drawbacks, but it really can't be beat for quality of life.
Munich has great weather, for example. It has four solid seasons, and they're pretty much storybook seasons. Winter is snowy, but not too cold, and has beautiful sunny days. Kids go sledding in the parks and teenagers and adults have easy access to great ski slopes. Spring is filled with green and flowering trees, and not too much rain. Summer is hot and sunny, but rarely dangerously hot and humid. Fall is long and warm.
Munich also has great public services. When there's snow in the winter, the streets (and sidewalks!) are always clear by 7am. There's almost no litter. The public transportation is fantastic, anchored by a very extensive and quite new subway system. The parks are ubiquitous, huge, and beautiful. The bike paths are extensive, generally separated from cars, and well-maintained.
Munich just smells good! Its buildings are attractive and colorful, and grafitti-free. The sidewalks are wide, and often separated from the streets by expanses of lawns with big trees. There are produce markets and pedestrian-only areas that actually work, and are packed with people daily. Guests tell me, "you live in a small town", but Munich is actually over a million people, and quite dense (you can get from one side to another, using public transit, in an hour). And yet, there's hardly any crime.
Munich has multiple symphonies, operas, and ballets, cinemas both pop and art-house (including an all-english one), musical venues both large and small, 17 public pools (9 indoor), a world-class soccer team, countless biergartens, 2 world-class public universities, and at least 5 large art museums. It has great street and city festivals at all times of year, crowned of course by the Oktoberfest, an event which I love (even though I don't drink beer).
Within 600 feet (about a block) of the front gate of my apartment (which, by the way, is extremely quiet) I have access to (off the top of my head): 6 bakery/cafes; 3 hairdressers; 3 take-out shops; 3 bars; 9 restaurants; 2 drinks/liquor stores; 2 tailors; 2 dry cleaners; a laundromat; a bicycle/sporting goods shop; a video rental place; a butcher; a produce shop; a drogerie (the household-goods side of a pharmacy); an apotheke (the pharmacist side of a pharmacy); a magazine shop; a boutique clothing sore; a fishing-goods shop; an antique shop; a pet supply store; a lamp store; a household appliances store; and many other things which I've forgotten at the moment. Within 1200 feet (about 2 blocks) are a grocery store, post office, subway station, large park. Within half a mile are a public swimming pool; large, daily organic produce market; theater; countless more restaurants, bakeries, hairdressers, pharmacies of both kinds, and 5 large grocery stores, including an all-organic one.
The quality of living in Munich is fabulous. So whats its other side?
Well, it is the bourgeoisie capital of the world. There's not a large amount of diversity (although it does have a sizeable immigrant population); pretty much everyone is quite well off. It's also very inward-looking; I am always ironically amused by a commercial for a local newspaper which runs in the cinemas here: many scenes of people having fun in well-known places in Munich, set to soothing music, followed by businessmen reading the newspaper in what looks like the sparkling cafeteria of a large business, with the tagline: "Learn about your world."
Clearly, the world stops at the borders of Munich.
Despite the great quality of living, the people of Munich are always complaining. The summer was too hot. The summer was too rainy. There's not enough snow. The students are going to starve, because university fees have gone up to $500/semester (yes that's right, a 5 and 2 zero's). The news that tests had shown the "fine dust" content of Munich's air to be above EU limits (although it was far below dangerous levels, and lower than most other large European cities) resulted in a week of public chest-beating, culminating in the newspaper headline, "Life here is hell!"
I sometimes feel guilty about enjoying life so much in Munich. It's so easy to just not deal with the fact that so much of the rest of the world doesn't have the same easy life as "Muenchners" do. I don't think I could spend the rest of my life here in Munich. But if anybody needs to have some rest and relaxation, to take life just a little bit easy, recovering from ill health, a loss, or just a tough life-phase, Munich is definitely the place to be.
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