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Studying in University of Lodz as an Indian student? What's the city like - is it safe here?


AnupamDash 1 | 21
1 May 2015 #31
Thank you very much for your information @irishlodz .
your information will be very helpful.
Do you live in Lodz?
kpc21 1 | 763
1 May 2015 #32
In £ódź there is many foreign students, but I wouldn't call it multicultural. Just like each big city in Poland. It's easy to meet a foreigner in Piotrkowska (the main, central street with many restaurants, night clubs etc.) or in the areas of the two major universities (University of £ódź and £ódź University of Technology).

£ódź is slowly changing, but it's still the dirtiest and the most neglected of the Polish big cities.

And, to be honest, I also wouldn't recommend you studying in Poland. The quality of education isn't too high here. Better would be the whole western Europe.
irishlodz 1 | 135
1 May 2015 #33
Yes I live in Lodz.

It never fails to amaze me the hate Poles have for Lodz. How is Lodz the "dirtiest" city in Poland? It is not even in the 10 worst large cities for air quality in the country. Every city was neglected under communism, some cities got more of a handout than others. With the investment underway here now Lodz will have the best transport infrastructure in the country in a few years (New rail stations, new ring motorway, new underground, inner city relief roads).

Multi-cultural, I'm not claiming the city is half non-Poles. I'm not even saying it's 10% non-Poles. However, it is just about as multicultural as any Polish city apart from Warsaw and Krakow. There are thousands of foreign students, studying for anything from a few months to years here. The are concentrated around their universities obviously. In traditionally poorer areas like Baluty there are almost none.

Also Lodz has a fantastic variety of restaurants of all kinds of ethnic origins run authentically (Kazak, Azerj, Armenian, West African, Montenegran I can think of right now)

If you think your city is better than Lodz state that. Inaccurately criticising another city is just childish.
kpc21 1 | 763
2 May 2015 #34
I didn't mean air quality (in £ódź it's quite well thanks to its grid of straight streets, which enables good ventilation of the downtown), but rather what the streets look like.

£ódź was neglegted for a very long time much more than other big cities in Poland. Look for example at the houses in the city centre. In "normal" cities, in their centres at both sides of the street there are continuous lines of houses. And only in £ódź there is so many holes, lacking houses in a street. And there is more and more of them, while more and more of the houses which are neglected are set on fire or collapse.

In terms of transport infrastrucutre - unfortunately the city authorities are still thinking like in the XX century, trying to do as much as it's possible for car drivers (like the recent idea of building an overpass in one of the major street intersection - which would only bring more cars into city centre - fortunately blocked by the dwellers) and neglecting the public transport (from year to year the frequency of trams and buses is getting lower and lower, so they are more and more crowed, although many people resign from them and choose cars, there is no heating in trams in winter and so on). On the other hand - they are going to build this train tunnel under the city centre, they are building this new main railway station, there is more and more facilities for cyclists (although they seem to be made rather in the way so that the cyclists will not interrupt drivers on the streets, not only on the main ones, but also in the centre, where the car traffic should be limited, like Narutowicza). For sure, £ódź is a city of contrasts. And, I'm afraid, it will yet long be.
jon357 74 | 22,060
3 May 2015 #35
The grid of streets in £ódź is one of the things that gives the city its unique atmosphere - much nicer in my opinion than, say, Zakopane. Most Poles would disagree with that...

Also it was a planned industrial town (and compared to its contemporary Middlesbrough in the UK a beautiful one). It has a kind of faded elegance and does feel like what it was - the westernmost city in the Russian Empire yet built by Germans.

People do spoil some of the buildings with plastic windows and satellite dishes. This should be banned. Saltire and New Lanark are UNESCO World Heritage Sites due to their architectural unity and importance in the country's industrial heritage - £ódż should be a contender for this however I can't see that happening just yet and by the time anyone looks at it the damage may well have been done.
JollyRomek 7 | 475
3 May 2015 #36
Deported directly back to his home country.

Did that person intend to travel to Denmark via Germany from Poland? If so, either you are making something up or you have been told nonsense. Germany does not deport back directly to the country the person is from but back to the country the person entered Germany from. In this case, the person would have been handed over to the Polish police at the German / Polish border.
kpc21 1 | 763
3 May 2015 #37
People do spoil some of the buildings with plastic windows and satellite dishes.

This is not the worst issue. Satellite dishes on the old houses are problem, I think, in every Polish city.

The worst is that:
- the city centre is dwelled mostly by poor people, there is many social problems there - so who has money wants to live as far from the city centre as it's possible (fortunately the city authorities has recently started seeing this problem)

- the legal issues connected with the property of many tenement houses in the centre are unclear, this is why many of them is neglected and the authorities aren't able to do anything with this

- there are also such house owners, who only wait for the house to collapse and for themselves to be happy not to have to spend money on its maintenance; then they create a car park in the place of the collapsed house, which turns out to be quite a lucrative business

- most of the city dwellers don't like it
jon357 74 | 22,060
3 May 2015 #38
Yes - although the faded elegance of Lodz contributes to its unique atmosphere, it's sad to see the proliferation of dishes on old buildings. Plastic window frames are an even bigger problem. The authorities need to get tough about this and fine/jail building owners who don't maintain the property and who allow wooden window frames to be replaced by plastic ones.

Interestingly one of the London Boroughs has just insisted that an old building which a developer destroyed without prior permission be rebuilt brick by brick. I would like to see this in Lodz.
kpc21 1 | 763
3 May 2015 #39
I know at least one example of a tenement house, where the "city landmark preserver" (a person responsible for preservation landmarks and other old builldings from the municipal office) disagreed to change the 19th-century windows. Unfortunately the owner doesn't have money for their renovation, so they are in poor condition. In winter they have to fill the hole between the window sash and window frame with cotton wool to protect the interior from cold.

Another example - a school, where there was a permission to change the front windows into wooden ones only (the back ones got a permission to be changed into plastic ones). Probably they weren't so valuable as the ones in the previous case.

Interestingly one of the London Boroughs has just insisted that an old building which a developer destroyed without prior permission be rebuilt brick by brick. I would like to see this in Lodz.

There was one such case in £ódź not a long time ago. Although not in the centre, but in Radogoszcz. A villa in Zgierska street.

dzienniklodzki.pl/artykul/3659424,zburzenie-willi-langego-przy-zgierskiej-michal-l-zaczal-odbudowe-zniszczonego-zabytku-wideo,id,t.html

Up to now only one case, but I hope that it will change.

See that it's always possible to dismantle a satellite dish. This is not a problem. With demolishing an old building (or with "mysterious fires" after which a building has to be demolished to prevent it from collapsing) is much worse. Although such building can be rebuilt from scratch, it's no longer an old building.

An interesting and known example in £ódź is a tenement house which was bought some time ago by an electrical energy company, for offices. 58, Piotrkowska street. It was in a very poor condition, so while buying they promised to demolish it and build it again from scratch. They managed to demolish it, but then they got taken over by another energy company, which no longer needed this building. For a few years in front of the demolished house there were boards with pictures of how it is going to like after the rebuilding, but when the people began to see that nothing happens for such a long time, they replaced these boards with gray waves :)

A group of dwellers collected even money and bought a place on a bilboard next to the premises of this company in £ódź (not far away from this demolished building) to publically ask this company what happened with their promise.

Here you can see a picture how it looked originally:
piotrkowska58.pl

Here is how it looks now:
goo.gl/maps/G8GN4

The blue building behind is the current premises of the company.

Another problem which is more severe than satellite dishes is isolating such houses from heat with styrofoam, often hiding some architectural details.
irishlodz 1 | 135
4 May 2015 #40
Deported directly back to his home country.

Technically he was on his way back from Denmark. Whether it was the Germans or Danes that deported him he was never seen again in the class I shared with him, and his room mate had to box his stuff to ship back.

trying to do as much as it's possible for car drivers (like the recent idea of building an overpass in one of the major street intersection - which would only bring more cars into city centre - fortunately blocked by the dwellers)

That bridge is absolutely necessary and feeds directly into the new cross city road tunnel. Will have no impact on city centre traffic. It's not blocked yet AFAIK.

and neglecting the public transport (from year to year the frequency of trams and buses is getting lower and lower, so they are more and more crowed, although many people resign from them and choose cars, there is no heating in trams in winter and so on).

Another load of bull. A recent large order has been placed for new trams with a Bydgoszcz firm. There is a program to completely refurbish and modernise (wheelchair access etc) all the oldest trams.

there is more and more facilities for cyclists (although they seem to be made rather in the way so that the cyclists will not interrupt drivers on the streets, not only on the main ones, but also in the centre,

Is it not good to separate cyclists and traffic? Cyclists are so spoiled in Lodz there is now an anti-cyclist campaign. Piotrkowska has NEVER been quieter or more cyclist dominated.

where the car traffic should be limited, like Narutowicza).

A whole new road through the main rail station will be taking most of the traffic off this street.
XxxYyy - | 7
4 May 2015 #41
Hello,

I'm a student from £ódź and also a "mentor" for exchange students so from my experience I can tell you that £ódź is pretty good place for studies, it's cheap and there are a lot of pubs/clubs, but it's not really international city and that means if you really want to get high quality education, English language programmes are not the best solution. The IFE at the Technical University of £ódź is the only one worth mentioning.

As for £ódź, well, it's very poor city, with many pathological environments, with the famillies where the unemployment is being inherited, all that of course cause rather high crime rate and other social problems. There are also positive aspects of £ódź, it's rather new city so people are less traditional and more open, it's easier to make friends in £ódź then in Cracow or on the east of Poland, it's cheap, there are more and more international companies here so it's possible to find a job even without Polish language skills.

As for racist problem, well, it's as big as in any other Polish city. It means there are not a lot of other race people, so on the street people may stare at you, maybe eventually some hooligans may call you names , but we don't have system racism, it won't happen you won't be hire or you will be paid less, because of your race, maybe even opposit, we still have complexes and we want to show off in front of the foreigners.

Good luck!
AnupamDash 1 | 21
6 May 2015 #42
How about Poznan? is this a safe city for foreigners? How is Poznan university of economics? is that university good to study?
XxxYyy - | 7
6 May 2015 #43
Unfortunatelly I don't know, I've been to Poznań just as a tourist and only with my Polish friends so I don't know how safe it is for foreigners, it's also not very international city so probably it's similar to £ódź, but it's a bit richer city so the crime rate is probably generaly lower and it makes the city more safe for everybody:)

As for the University of Economics, honestly I've never heard about, but I've never taken into consideration studying economy so I'm not the best person to ask about. As a total laic in the issue I've heard just about 2 Universities specialized in teaching economy with famous courses in English, there are: Warsaw School of Economics and Koźmiński University and they are both in Warsaw which is also the most international city in Poland, which could be important for you, but it also a bit more expensive then ther est of Poland, especially eating/drinking out.
JollyRomek 7 | 475
7 May 2015 #44
Deported directly back to his home country.

So basically you do not know. Just because he was never seen again, does not mean he was deported back to his country.

Whether it was the Germans or Danes that deported him

You just do not know otherwise you would know exactly who deported him.

According to EU / Schengen regulations the person will be deported back to the where he entered the country from. So, even if he made it to Denmark, the Danes would have deported him back to Germany and then the Germans would have deported him back to Poland.

That is of course if they can trace the route he took to get to Denmark. In this case I am sure they would have been able to do so as he was under the assumptions to be legal and would said how he travelled.

Will have no impact on city centre traffic. It's not blocked yet AFAIK.

That's because there is no city center traffic anymore due to the blocked roads. All roads lead around the center and they are blocked. Do you drive in Lodz? It took me 45 minutes to get from Pomorska to Miedziana yesterday. That's a 7 minute drive when the roads are clear.

Cyclists are so spoiled in Lodz there is now an anti-cyclist campaign. Piotrkowska has NEVER been quieter or more cyclist dominated.

Since when are cyclists spoiled in Lodz? There is hardly any cyclists path. They have to cycle on the pedestrian path in order not get hit by a car. Do you ever venture out of Piotrkowska and see other parts of Lodz?

We all know how much the Irish like their stories, after all, every single Irish person was in Stuttgart in 1988, but please, try to stick to facts and not to something you heard somewhere and then sell it as facts. Keep that for when you enjoy your Guinness down at Piotrkowska 77.

Don't get personal because another poster has a different opinion, the thread is about £ódź
AnupamDash 1 | 21
9 May 2015 #45
Then, which city in poland would be safe for blacks or asian. Can anyone recommend some cities for studying? I searched and I found a University in poznan & Cracow, which one is good?

Thank you.
jon357 74 | 22,060
9 May 2015 #46
Both are good, as is Lodz. Any big city is fine.

Why not start a separate thread?
AnupamDash 1 | 21
9 Aug 2015 #47
I have finally decided to study in university of lodz. So Can anyone please help me? I'm curious about my studies.
rtslodz
10 Aug 2015 #48
I wish someone would do something to the idiots who repeatedly keep spray painting all over Lodz
the idiots even took their spray cans on holiday and vandalized a new build by the sea side!!!!

that's the idiots from lodz.... RTS.. LODZ....WIDZEW all over a new building miles away from lodz at a sea side holiday spot.
The locals now hate people from lodz for defacing their little village at the sea.

the other day in lodz i walked passed a building to find the dirty little swine bashing in all the new foam insulation for a laugh.

you wonder why the place looks like a gheto... no self respect

the cops and government do nothing to these inbred swine. the should send them to work for free labor painting these buildings as punishment. that will make them think of spray painting again.

You can see how many times building have been patched up where kids spray graffiti ,,, hence it looks even worse.
i counted already the little ***** come out at 2am and spray the buildings every 2 weeks or 3 weeks. so the bastard are actually waiting for the building owners to do the repairs so they can spray them again.
Steveramsfan 2 | 306
10 Aug 2015 #49
Some of the graffiti in £ódź is really good, there are lots of large paintings paid for by the city on the buildings now too.

By Kaliska there is graffiti of the late Pope, it is rather good.

For me £ódź is a really great place to live, the old buildings are being refurbished and the ones completed now look really good.

There are numerous Palaces and Parks and the transport system is very good. I never use my car because the trams and buses are so reliable.

All my friends who went to the University say it was really good and they enjoyed it, I don't know about the English language side of it though.

Over the last 8 years £ódź has changed a lot and is much nicer than my first visit.
We have had to put up with a lot of renovation work for roads, trams and buildings but when it is finished it is all worth it.

For me the best thing in £ódź is there are hardly any tourists but with the transport links A1 and A2 crossing here, you can visit the rest of Poland quite easily.

To the OP, when will you arrive in £ódź?
AnupamDash 1 | 21
11 Aug 2015 #50
Thank you so much @Steveramsfan for your information. Do you think Lodz is safe for foreigners? I don't have to do with the architecture of city, I'll be on Lodz for my study. Please help me!

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Steveramsfan 2 | 306
11 Aug 2015 #51
The main areas of the city, where the university is, is perfectly safe for foreigners.

I have never seen any trouble in my time in £ódź with foreigners.
My friends say that some of the poorer housing areas are not safe for anyone, even Polish people, walking alone at night.

I don't think you will need to visit any of these poor areas during your studies, so you should be fine.
The University has a really big language school for teaching foreigners Polish to help with studies so I think lots of foreign students come here to study.
AnupamDash 1 | 21
12 Aug 2015 #52
Thank you . Tell me something about university of Lodz. I want to know about the education there.
Czeslaw #1
31 Oct 2016 #53
There is widespread racism in Poland. Poland is improving, but slowly. I would highly recommend other ethnicities not come to Poland, or don't complain when you encounter racism.

Poland is better than Russia!
Marsupial - | 879
31 Oct 2016 #54
There is more racism in america by 10000 times. More in australia and a racist party now hold balance of power in senate. Easily more in england. Dont listen to dumb troll with no job and small pecker.
Czeslaw #1
31 Oct 2016 #55
America is 10000 worse but he wasn't asking about America has was asking about Poland.

Why would you bring up another man's pecker? Do you think people who have no job come here to talk with you?

Poland is very racist
Sha300 - | 3
30 Apr 2017 #56
@hyperag
@hyperag
My friend of you will get polish national visa then you need to apply for visa of other European countries for travel however if you get schengen visa them you don't need visa. But as you are going to study so you need only national visa


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