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Lodz vs Wroclaw - difference in mentality of people? [53]
pawian, if those are the best pics of Lodz you can find on the net, then I dont know what to say... they make the city look grimy and depressing. Ive never been there so I cant comment.
I live in Wroclaw. Quite honestly the city is becoming less attractive day by day. Yea of course, the city center is quite romantic and beautiful. Outside of course are crumbling prewar German apartment buildings and communist sprawl. Not very attractive. But Im talking about living here, not visiting. The city went on a massive shopping spree with absolutely no regard given to cost, quality, timetables or logic. A number of large investments have been finished or soon will be finished, unfortunately few of them actually "affect" the quality of life in the city besides showpiece smokescreens like fountains, concerts and stadiums besides the AOW, thank god, but that was a govt project.Traffic is getting, surprisingly, worse in the city center, but still better than the nightmare it was 2 years ago. Parking on the other hand has turned into an absolute nightmare.
Public transport is crumbling at the seams and for me a joke, while at the same time becoming insanely expensive. Wroclaw is generally plagued with low salaries with a very high cost of living. Depends what field you work in, but besides IT, its meh... not worth it. You can easily make the same in Slask or even more with half of the living costs. Half.
The city, and region, also has some of the highest service costs in Poland, such as mechanics, plumbers, contractors, construction etc, and Ive found that businesses from any other part of Poland are far more "in tune" than those in Wroclaw and less likely to try to rip you off. Emailing businesses and negotiating price or a million other aspects is still foreign in Wroclaw. In this regard Warsaw is far better and CHEAPER. Overall, the roads and general infrastructure, including public transport, the parking situation, generally driving in the city, cleanliness, traffic... suck. The general bar scene and whatnot doesnt really concern me anymore, but most of the offerings for me have become stale and boring. The general restuarant scene is also quite dull and plagued with overpriced mediocrity, though there are a few gems. International food is terrible here. From sushi to Mexican, most of it sucks.
On a positive note, the bureaucracy is seriously improving, you can schedule visits and most of the govt employees are quite helpful and kind. Im still split with the general population, Ive my fair share of good people, but there is quite a lot of general ********** behavior and lack of culture, but then again far less kozaks and "szpan" than I met in Warsaw. You still cant help yourself from giving some people a good punch in the face.
