What do you think of this city? I hear it is dirty and plain, but besides this - how do you find the people. I am thinking of finding a position in this city. I'd just like to hear some input? Anything that you'd like to say about the city.
It is in the heart of Upper Silesia - a huge industrial area. It used to be very polluted because a lot of heavy industry is there and in commie times natural environment wasn't a top issue but now It's much better. Generally I don't think that this is a bad choice.
I really don't like this city - its dull. I have no opinion on the people because i found the whole town so horrible and boring that i think i either went to sleep while i was there or got intoxicated by all the pollution - either way, it wasn't a good experience. I actually know a couple from near there that are very nice, but lets look at the facts - they don't live there anymore - enough said!
No offense meant to anyone who still lives there - but you've got to admit that its not a 'nice' city.
I was there last month for a few days when going thru to Rybnik. Looked okay to me, plenty of decent shops, centre was very busy, looked like a place on the up.
Katowice is a the capital of a large industrial connurbation, much of the industry was based on coal and metalurgy but now services are playing an increrasingly larger role. The center has many ugly buildings but some cool architecture as well - which makes it similiar to Warsaw in that respect, but it lacks Warsaw's more international flavor. Katowice has enough clubs and pubs to make nightlife interesting, and at least you will be close to the mountains and close enough to Budapest and Prague to make weekend trips by train feasible. Randompal's scale of livability for Katowice: 7 (out of 1-10)
Katowice is rather depressing, I think.The location is convenient...not far from Czech,Germany and Krakow.One of those places in Poland that Poles usually smirk at when you mention it, like Lodz.
I live in Katowice just opposite the spodek, I have been here for three weeks and I really like it. True its not pretty but there are a lot of good clubs and plenty going on. It depends on what you want somewhere "beautiful" don't come here. However Katowice has an interesting place in Polish history, the achitecture may at first stike you as ugly butthere are some really interesting historical buildings. There is also chorzow a giant park just outside the city which is amazing, also you can get away to the traditional tourist destinations really easily, Krakow is about an hour away and easily accessible.
I'm teaching English here :-) surprise surprise. Idid my CELTA in Wroclaw and wanted to stay in the south of Poland. I didn't want to go to a touristy place like Kracow as I want to attempt to learn a little Polish. Plus I enjoy outdoor sports so Katowice is a good location to get to the mountains as well as the rest of Europe.
Katowice - You must be f..'ing mad, off your tiny brain!!! It's got the lowest property prices in Poland for a good reason - no-one in their right mind would want to live there! It's Wolverhampton, Akron, Kingston-upon-Hull, Essen, all in one ? basically goddamawful,
and you can't breath the air in winter cos everyone's burning coal on their stoves at home. And the women are ugly too (almost as bad as Northern lasses in the UK)!
If you must go to this part of Poland, try Wroclaw - a far more civilized town. Or even Poznan or (the much underrated) Torun, or even Rzeszow (which iirc has a Ryanair link).
Just don't do it dude! (I know I'm in Poland and regretting every minute!)
There is some nice City/Town (about 180 K citizens, 800 K with 20km area around the City Borders): "Bielsko-Biała" - 50 km south of Katowice.
It's good place to living - it's not Metropoly but Albo not total Village/Province - everywhere is Near: Warsaw (3,5 hour by Inter-City Train), Vienna - even nearer than Warsaw, Mountains, Lakes, Low Crime.
Hi i was just in Katowice...vacationing from Barabdos, been to a call called onyx in tarnowskie gory totally cool
keatgray....................katowice is a nice city, people seems friendly, very expensive malls ....not dirty at all...PLain would definitely say not..it depends what you all looking for ...then again if you are a foreigner you would definitely like it..
Hi, I have been living in Katowice since September this year. My husband was transferred here through work (automotive industry.) It is definitely not a beautiful city by any stretch of the imagination. It is kept pretty clean, but the air quality is problematic at times. Transport connections are good here, but this is important if you want to get out of the city, not for whether you want to stay here. If you want to be in a big city that is a nice place to live and want contact with other expats, you are better off living in Wroclaw or Krakow. These towns are also close to good hiking areas, and have a lot more to offer.
Every Pole we meet thinks we're crazy for leaving Australia to come here, and I can understand why. Still, we wanted to get back to Europe and experience something different so here we are. As with any experience, you get what you put into it.
You will really need to learn Polish if you come here, though. I find most people either don't speak English or their ability is quite limited. And Polish is a difficult language! I speak German fluently, but I am truly struggling with Polish.
This is an industrial area - not exactly focused on culture. People are pretty nice - but I think that is just Poles in general. In other words, you'd get that anywhere in the country. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have your pick of anywhere in Poland to live, I think you could find something better.
