Where can I find a nice area to rent a studio or one-bedroom apartment in or near Katowice?

The old part is sh!t, the new apartments close to the shopping centre are nice though.


There is no place in Katowice called Śródmieście, however, there is an area of Tychy called that.
It's about a 30 minute drive from Katowice, in traffic it would be more like 45 minutes.

Personally, I can recommend the south city centre, also Brynow, Osiedle Tysiąclecia is good too, huge park and shopping centre close by, serviced by many buses and trams or it's also close enough to cycle to and from.

Also Piotrowice or Ligota are ok, but you'ld be better off having a car living out in those areas, buses service them, but not so many as Tysiąclecia.

There's a basic rule to Katowice, try and stay south of the train station and you should be fine.

Avoid Załęże, Szczopenice, Nikiszowiec, 1-maja, Zawodzie, they are all scumholes.

Thank you Smurf!

The exact reply i wanted:)
I will definately reflect your advice!!

As i will have a car, it seems that i will have more options to choose!

Thank you again!!

Merged: Just arrived Katowice and looking for a flat

Hello everybody.

I just arrived Katowice to work with IBM, I have to say that I expected a gray city without life because several comments I read on this forum, but in my opinion this city has its charm, lot of green areas and people seems friendly.

Anyway, I wanted your valuable help to find a nice place to live.... A couple of months ago some of you guys recommended me Os. Tysiaclecia, but it seems a little far for IBM on Francuska 34, so I found a place called Os. Paderewskiego and it's really close by walking to IBM.

Can you give me some advice about that zone? Also, does anyone know somebody whose renting a flat?

Ps: My wife and I are from Venezuela and we're not caucasian, should I be worried about racism in Os. Paderewskiego?

Thanks again for your kind help.

Hello everybody.

Any help please?

Thanks!!

Sure, Paderewskiego has the highest amount of car theft in Katowice city centre. I read that in GW 2 years ago. I'm not sure if it's the same.

I think the reason is that many people work in offices around that area and during the day thieves rob the cars.
However, other crime is pretty low there.

You're close to a shopping centre (3-stawy) it's pretty basic, but it's got a hypermarker and a few restaurants, some clothes shops, and the usual 40 different places to buy a mobile phone.

There's a park there of the same name and you're also close to the old airport, muchowiec. A lovely place to got for a walk/cycle. They have music festivals there during the summer.

You're in a decent part of town if you move there. however, the nightlife is boring as hell. There's very few pubs/restaurants that you'd be life to hang out in, but on the other hand you can walk into the city centre in about 20mintues I reckon.

If you have a car you'll be fine coz you can go to the shopping centre for most of your shopping. Otherwise, I think a recently opened supermarket, Biedronka, is located around there too.

There's another very small shopping centre close by too, but it's pretty crap. It's got a small supermarket and a couple of nakeries and, bizarrely, a DVD rental place. It must be one of the last ones still open in central Europe.

Thanks Smurf! Excellent description of the place.

In a couple of minutes I'm going to see a flat in Os. Tysiaclecia for 1200PLN a month... It seems OK but according to google maps it's like 6km far from IBM... any detailed comments about that zone?

Thanks again!!

I don't live there, but I have friends who live close.

It has many supermarkets close by. It has Silesia's largest (or maybe it's Poland's largest) shopping centre very close by and a few other really large hypermarkets and department stores close by too.

There's a massive park right beside it too, I think it's Central Europe's biggest park, or something like that. It's huge anyway and it's great during the summer. Lots of attractions and things to do. A few free concerts and events. I think the first one is next weekend actually.

It's serviced by buses and trams very often and you'd be in the city centre in about 10/15 minutes by bus, a little longer by tram. I knew a guy who lived there a few years back and he cycled everywhere. You're not exactly walking distance from the city, but you'll have more than enough amenities there if you chose to live there.

Good luck

Hello fox_265, have you found a flat already? Could you please share your experience.
Did you get some help from IBM?
How long it takes to find a decent place to live in Katowice?
Is it necessary to hire some agent/translator to communicate with flat owners?
What documents are needed to sign a contract?

Hello loghyr. Yes I found a nice flat on Tysiaclesia. IBM doesn't help you with this. It's not very difficult to find a flat as long as you speak polish.

If you use a real estate agent the may charge you with commission fees that sometimes is equal to a monthly rent of a flat.

Regarding the documents just a copy of your passport and/or visa.

Hope this help.

Please inform us about you finding a flat.

Regards

Thanks fox_265!
Unfortunately I don't speak polish so it will be not so easy for me. I plan to arrive to Katowice at the beginning of the May - it's not enough time to learn polish well. :(

Cuold I ask you some more questions about your experience?
Are you working in Global Services Delivery Center? How long does it take to get from Tysiaclesia to GSDC?
Why you rejected Paderewskiego? It looks very attractive in terms of location.
How long did it take to find a flat?

Thanks in advance!

I have lived in Katowice for 20 years. I am a native Polish. The most dangerous place is Szopienice (I lived there too).

Zawodzie, Tysiąclecie, Załęże and the rest are safer.

Hooligans are in every city. You can't avoid them. They can be seen even in the centre of city, not only in particular places.

When it comes to racism: people usually don't like Arabs and Turks, that's a fact.
No problem with other people.

Example: My teacher of English was Nigerian. He never experienced racism in Katowice.

Osiedle Paderewskiego is nice.

Merged: Moving to Katowice

Hello,

I might move to work in Katowice after about a month, wondering if anyone is looking for someone to share the apartment with! :)

I am Egyptian :)

Hi Youssef,

What and where are you going to work in Katowice ?

@msam
I will work as workforce analyst, may be in June.

Hey fox_265,

Brother you must have got good experience of the city by now. I may also need help about the city and looking at your experience with the city I guess you might be the right person for me. :)

I am also planning to land in Katowice may be by last week of March. I am also targeting Tysiaclecia to get a flat on rent.

Since you are already putting up there could you please share your thoughts about the place ?
Is it safe to live there with family ?
How about the supermarkets, are they enough to meet the daily needs ?
How long does it take you to commute to IBM Office at Francuska ? Is it practically possible to commute by cycle or only the car/trams are good ?

Thanks in Advance :)
Regards
Kabir

Hi Kabir.

Of course I can help, gladly.

Tysiaclecia is a nice place to live, but on one hand you would have to take a bus from and to IBM, which is about 30-45mins depending on the bus you take. Personally I will move fron Tysyaclecia by the end of March looking for some flat near the office.

If you decide for Tysiaclecia, there's a lot of supermarkets (Tesco, Lidl and others), pharmacy, bakery and several little shops for daily needs.

If you change your mind, you can search and apartment in the following zones:

- Paderewskiego
- Francuska
- Rodzkinzkiego
- Maja
- Jagiellonska

Those are close to IBM like 15-20 mins by foot. Also in those places there's lots of colleagues from India, Lebanon, etc.

I have to say that people is very friendly so there's nothing to afraid. Of course there's zones that you need to avoid, for that there are other posts around here that can help you.

Public transport is relatively good, sometimes you can find delays but in general is good. You can use a bicycle around city and also, IBM is bicycle friendly...meaning that there's a bike parking and showers/lockers.

You can come by car as well with no issues.

Feel free to ask more questions and I will help.

Cheers!

Thanks a lot Bro,
That's some very useful information for me to check some more options.
Will be bothering you for some more info. ;)

Regards
Kabir

Hi all,

I'm moving to Katowice with my wife.

I would like to know if the area of Kilińskiego and Żwirki i Wigury is a good place (safe) to live in Katowice.

When I ask about safety I mean for example, some days I need to work till late of night, Could I get back to home walking? or, could my wife go to supermarkets at night? Just examples of routines.

Thanks in advance.

No they're not. If you are referring to Silesia centre. Awful over-priced plastic gash.


Yes, generally. The latter has the cop-shop...... Up and coming area, as they say:) Good pubs and restaurants too!