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Hot town, summer in the city.

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  • 05-08-2015 11:23am
    #1
    Aongus Von Bismarck
    Registered Users Posts: 1,794 ✭✭✭


    I was walking to work this morning here in the financial district of Frankfurt. It’s a beautiful day, and there was a real vibe around the place. It’s that relaxed, calm, yet confident air that makes it such a wonderful city to live in. Strolling past the Palmengarten and seeing some of the thought leaders and visionaries of European Finance relaxing with a paper and a cup of really decent coffee. It’s inspiring.

    I have to contrast this with my recent visits to Dublin. There have been a few visits there in the last few months, for both personal and professional reasons.

    Dublin is a lot shabbier and more ran down than my adopted city. It’s not a bad place, but there really appears to be a lack of civic pride. It’s a dirty place, and a bit of a parochial backwater.

    Much like the legendary Dublin wit, our capital’s reputation for being a vibrant, dynamic city is mostly a myth. I don’t know if it’s the excessive use of granite, but the whole city seems to lurk in the shadow of itself. The only building that could be considered high-rise is a decrepit mess from the 70’s where bitter men with beards head in to sit around talking about Marx and the tyranny of the employer.

    Unfortunately I’ll be spending quite a bit of time in Dublin over the next few months with work commitments. Does anyone else find Dublin rather dirty, shabby and down-at-hell? Or am I being overly critical? Frankfurt is a tough city to be compared against. Perhaps Dublin would be better compared with somewhere like Liverpool or Marseille? Tough old port towns.


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    #2
    Your Superior
    Registered Users Posts: 251 ✭✭Your Superior


    Maybe when Dublin has developments as impressive as the Albert Dock and Liverpool One it could be compared to Liverpool.


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    #3
    Tombi!
    Registered Users Posts: 6,689 ✭✭✭Tombi!


    AH mod: moved ot the Dublin City forum; please read their charter: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056816998


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    #4
    Lux23
    Registered Users Posts: 7,134 ✭✭✭Lux23


    Sorry, next time you visit we will make sure to give the place a proper clean.


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    #5
    Mr_Muffin
    Registered Users Posts: 917 ✭✭✭Mr_Muffin


    The weather does it no favors. Constantly overcast with 2 weeks of sun (if we're lucky) in the summer isn't very pleasing.


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    #6
    Red Kev
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,795 ✭✭✭Red Kev


    Dublin has improved enormously since you left Aonus.


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    #7
    Red Kev
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,795 ✭✭✭Red Kev


    You also neglected to tell us about the drug addicts openly injecting themselves and sex slave prostitutes less than 100 metres away from the financial district of Frankfurt.

    I lived there for a while and I've never seen such human misery in any other European city. Of course if it wasn't for your colleagues in the finance industry the sex trade there would be essentially non-existent.


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    #8
    NoCrackHaving
    Registered Users Posts: 535 ✭✭✭NoCrackHaving


    Coffee wise Dublin more than holds its own against most European cities these days, in fact it's coffee scene is a lot better than Frankfurt's by a country mile. Generally, sterile banking/business/diplomatic cities like Frankfurt/Brussels/Geneva generally have pretty poor coffee/food/bars unless you're into cocaine and prostitutes like a sizable proportion of financial workers are.


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    #9
    testaccount123
    Registered Users Posts: 1,023 ✭✭✭testaccount123


    Frankfurt city centre is what, 70 years old? Perhaps what we need is some kind of mass fascist political movement to kill a few tens of millions of people and tangle the whole continent up in war and to have our city centre completely obliterated and rebuilt with American money. That way we can have nice shiny cities like our German masters.

    On the other hand, maybe not.


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    #10
    Sham Squire
    Registered Users Posts: 499 ✭✭Sham Squire


    This says so much more about your perspective than it does about Frankfurt or Dublin. Thought leaders? Visionaries of Finance? That would make my skin crawl and my stomach sick. I'd recommend you check out some of Eamon Mac Thomais wonderful historic dublin documentaries on YouTube or try actually engaging with the people of Dublin when you're here next. It's a magical place and there's nowhere like it in the world. You need to explore it more or get shown around by someone who can show it to you. Hope you can discover it's unique charm at some point, your life will be the better for it.


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    #11
    Lux23
    Registered Users Posts: 7,134 ✭✭✭Lux23


    I wouldn't mind if you were comparing Dublin to Rome or Paris or even London, but Frankfurt? Really?


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    #12
    percy212
    Registered Users Posts: 1,077 ✭✭✭percy212


    Dublin vs Paris? There is no comparison. Dublin vs Glasgow would be more reasonable.


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    #13
    Birneybau
    Registered Users Posts: 10,229 ✭✭✭✭Birneybau


    Why a mod moved a notable troll's thread to the Dublin City forum...


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    #14
    Adamocovic
    Registered Users Posts: 9,292 ✭✭✭Adamocovic


    I wouldn't normally thread these waters here in the Dublin City threads but seeing Aongus as the poster I had to click it. Once again an eye opening post. Don't you ever change!


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    #15
    Lux23
    Registered Users Posts: 7,134 ✭✭✭Lux23


    I just looked at some of his other posts. What a guy!


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    #16
    FloatingVoter
    Registered Users Posts: 6,133 ✭✭✭FloatingVoter


    A superior form of troll - only Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani flows beneath his britches. I'll stick with Liffey water and a bag of Taytos while I confuse the junkies and ignore the architecture.


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    #17
    ISOP
    Registered Users Posts: 416 ✭✭ISOP


    I think O'Connell street is dreadful myself, full of fast food joints, alcoholics and drug addicts, it doesn't reflect well


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    #18
    Polar101
    Registered Users Posts: 3,755 ✭✭✭Polar101


    ISOP wrote: »
    I think O'Connell street is dreadful myself, full of fast food joints, alcoholics and drug addicts, it doesn't reflect well

    Quite similar to the area around the central station in Frankfurt, in fact.


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    #19
    Vic_08
    Registered Users Posts: 3,041 ✭✭✭Vic_08


    Birneybau wrote: »
    Why a mod moved a notable troll's thread to the Dublin City forum...

    That's Dublin City's problem in a nutshell, cute hoors coming in, dumping their rubbish and scuttling back to where they came from.


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    #20
    aaabbbb
    Registered Users Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭aaabbbb


    Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »
    I was walking to work this morning here in the financial district of Frankfurt. It’s a beautiful day, and there was a real vibe around the place. It’s that relaxed, calm, yet confident air that makes it such a wonderful city to live in. Strolling past the Palmengarten and seeing some of the thought leaders and visionaries of European Finance relaxing with a paper and a cup of really decent coffee. It’s inspiring.

    I have to contrast this with my recent visits to Dublin. There have been a few visits there in the last few months, for both personal and professional reasons.

    Dublin is a lot shabbier and more ran down than my adopted city. It’s not a bad place, but there really appears to be a lack of civic pride. It’s a dirty place, and a bit of a parochial backwater.

    Much like the legendary Dublin wit, our capital’s reputation for being a vibrant, dynamic city is mostly a myth. I don’t know if it’s the excessive use of granite, but the whole city seems to lurk in the shadow of itself. The only building that could be considered high-rise is a decrepit mess from the 70’s where bitter men with beards head in to sit around talking about Marx and the tyranny of the employer.

    Unfortunately I’ll be spending quite a bit of time in Dublin over the next few months with work commitments. Does anyone else find Dublin rather dirty, shabby and down-at-hell? Or am I being overly critical? Frankfurt is a tough city to be compared against. Perhaps Dublin would be better compared with somewhere like Liverpool or Marseille? Tough old port towns.


    Area around Frankfurt's main train station is like a scene from the walking dead so that's not true


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    #21
    Confucius say
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 418 ✭✭Confucius say


    Frankfurt ffs. Even Munich is soulless, especially at night, and even Germans think Frankfurt is boring. Dublin is absolutely rife with homeless and junkies, epidemic almost, it's not the prettiest city bar parts of the central southside, but it's got character and fun loving people and lots of life in it. Nice troll Aonus.


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    #22
    Bass Cadet
    Registered Users Posts: 719 ✭✭✭Bass Cadet


    Frankfurt is a boring sh!thole

    I just moved to Dublin after spending six years in San Francisco. Apart from the bin collection and refuse issue, I think Dublin City has come on leaps and bounds since I last visited (7 years ago). General cleanliness, park facilities, playgrounds, cycle routes, etc

    Why would anyone want 'high rises' in their city?? In SF high rises were confined to the socially dead downtown and anywhere else was not allowed to build over four floors in height.

    Originally from Galway and I believe the corporation have denied high rise planning in the past and continue to do so. There are alternatives. How high rise buildings in a city is somehow a aesthetic advantage for any city is beyond me.


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    #23
    NoCrackHaving
    Registered Users Posts: 535 ✭✭✭NoCrackHaving


    Bass Cadet wrote: »
    Frankfurt is a boring sh!thole

    I just moved to Dublin after spending six years in San Francisco. Apart from the bin collection and refuse issue, I think Dublin City has come on leaps and bounds since I last visited (7 years ago). General cleanliness, park facilities, playgrounds, cycle routes, etc

    Why would anyone want 'high rises' in their city?? In SF high rises were confined to the socially dead downtown and anywhere else was not allowed to build over four floors in height.

    Originally from Galway and I believe the corporation have denied high rise planning in the past and continue to do so. There are alternatives. How high rise buildings in a city is somehow a aesthetic advantage for any city is beyond me.

    To prevent low density urban sprawl which is prevalent throughout much of western Europe and North America (in particular). Low density populations mean public transport can't function anywhere near as effectively, cycling becomes unsustainable due to the distance involved, basically low density development belongs in the 1950's. San Francisco...wow a city where accomodation is at such a premium that people commute for 2. hours each way from its hinterland because of the lack of space, where sharing bedrooms with strangers is the norm in rental property? Unless you're mega rich and living on a mansion in Pacific Heights or in the Marina, San Francisco and the Bay Area is an atrociously bad model of urban planning.

    What are your alternatives to high density development to prevent urban sprawl because I've yet to see any?

    Aesthetics are nothing to do with it, it's to do with proximity of populations to work, reducing pressure on developing green belt land, reducing commuting times, lowering carbon emissions etc. While we're n the point though to deny that the skyscrapers of New York, Chicago, Tokyo and Hong Kong aren't truly architecturally fantastic buildings is just ridiculous.


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    #24
    Bass Cadet
    Registered Users Posts: 719 ✭✭✭Bass Cadet


    NoCrackHaving wrote: »
    To prevent low density urban sprawl which is prevalent throughout much of western Europe and North America (in particular). Low density populations mean public transport can't function anywhere near as effectively, cycling becomes unsustainable due to the distance involved, basically low density development belongs in the 1950's. San Francisco...wow a city where accomodation is at such a premium that people commute for 2. hours each way from its hinterland because of the lack of space, where sharing bedrooms with strangers is the norm in rental property? Unless you're mega rich and living on a mansion in Pacific Heights or in the Marina, San Francisco and the Bay Area is an atrociously bad model of urban planning.

    What are your alternatives to high density development to prevent urban sprawl because I've yet to see any?

    Aesthetics are nothing to do with it, it's to do with proximity of populations to work, reducing pressure on developing green belt land, reducing commuting times, lowering carbon emissions etc. While we're n the point though to deny that the skyscrapers of New York, Chicago, Tokyo and Hong Kong aren't truly architecturally fantastic buildings is just ridiculous.

    Relax...and thanks for the town planning lecture. I never said it wasn't a necessity, however the OP seemed to think that high rise buildings are actually somewhat of a good thing to have in a city (as if it somehow 'defines' it)...a necessity yes...but there are alternatives, as in building more within the high rise/downtown area, rather than shooting up ugly apartment blocks in suburban areas.

    Don't lecture me on San Francisco...I know all about the rental issues (paying €1600/month for a studio apartment of 550 sq ft in the city for two years...thanks to Google buses to Palo Alto and the like.

    We're talking about Dublin here, for the record. A lot of terrible buildings and architecture was built in the 70's. Architecture? Some people think Las Vegas has 'great architecture'. I never mentioned architecture apart from aesthetics - in a Dublin context (which I presumed was inferred).

    For the record I'd like to reiterate, Frankfurt is a boring sh!thole


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    #25
    percy212
    Registered Users Posts: 1,077 ✭✭✭percy212


    1600 sounds good to me for SF. Dublin is a kip. SF is being ruined by tech children. Its disgusting to see.
    Bass Cadet wrote: »
    Don't lecture me on San Francisco...I know all about the rental issues (paying €1600/month for a studio apartment of 550 sq ft in the city for two years...


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    #26
    Bass Cadet
    Registered Users Posts: 719 ✭✭✭Bass Cadet


    percy212 wrote: »
    1600 sounds good to me for SF. Dublin is a kip. SF is being ruined by tech children. Its disgusting to see.

    yep...private buses to Palo Alto (45 min south). The tech heads only want to live in San Francisco though. Stanford/silicon Valley - not enough 4am parties. Rental being pushed up as a result and Latino families being evicted from the Mission district...hence the (more serious than usual) riots after the World Series win.

    You'd find it hard to meet an actual San Franciscan within city limits.
    All being pushed out to the east bay. Parts of Berkeley are nice (if you're over 50) and parts of Oakland (Lake Merritt area, Oakland Hills). Apart from that SF is the other place to be.
    Nevermind the underlying social issues of homelessness poverty and crack/heroin in city districts...The Tenderloin is a no go area in the downtown and they really couldn't care less about cleaning it up but hey it's a great tourist destination!

    That said...love San Francisco, just a shame about the tech boom pushing born and raised San Franciscans and the working class out of the city.

    Dublin was much more of a kip before I left...maybe I'm just too green yet but I've seen a Hell of a lot worse in SF, NYC and London...relatively speaking


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    #27
    Kermit.de.frog
    Registered Users Posts: 23,481 ✭✭✭✭Kermit.de.frog


    aaabbbb wrote: »
    Area around Frankfurt's main train station is like a scene from the walking dead so that's not true

    So what? This rubbish is brought up ALL the time by the defenders of the realm. "This part of Paris is this..." blah blah blah.

    There is NO excuse for the proliferation of drug abuse in Dublin City Center. It is bad planning and bad policing that has it the way it is.

    This city is taking serious reputational damage and locals seem blind to this.

    Don't compare to parts of other cities - do something about it.


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    #28
    Mesrine65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,969 ✭✭✭Mesrine65


    Kermit.de.frog wrote: »
    So what? This rubbish is brought up ALL the time by the defenders of the realm. "This part of Paris is this..." blah blah blah.

    There is NO excuse for the proliferation of drug abuse in Dublin City Center. It is bad planning and bad policing that has it the way it is.

    This city is taking serious reputational damage and locals seem blind to this.

    Don't compare to parts of other cities - do something about it.
    What are you doing about your favourite subject to bitch about Kermit?


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    #29
    Kermit.de.frog
    Registered Users Posts: 23,481 ✭✭✭✭Kermit.de.frog


    Mesrine65 wrote: »
    What are you doing about your favourite subject to bitch about Kermit?

    Trying to drill in to people's heads just how unacceptable the state of our city center is. Only the docklands is looked after properly. The rest of the city is basically disregarded, run down and increasingly dangerous. This is what happens when the authorities sit back and allow the city center to decay.

    I'm not going to put on a cape and go out kicking the crap out of junkies and feral rats. But I am going to keep bringing this up in different ways at different levels and hopefully some day (when enough people accept we deserve better) they might actually give a damn about our capital city.


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    #30
    testaccount123
    Registered Users Posts: 1,023 ✭✭✭testaccount123


    Mesrine65 wrote: »
    What are you doing about your favourite subject to bitch about Kermit?

    He's moaning on the internet


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    #31
    Mesrine65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,969 ✭✭✭Mesrine65


    Kermit.de.frog wrote: »
    Trying to drill in to people's heads just how unacceptable the state of our city center is. Only the docklands is looked after properly. The rest of the city is basically disregarded, run down and increasingly dangerous. This is what happens when the authorities sit back and allow the city center to decay.

    I'm not going to put on a cape and go out kicking the crap out of junkies and feral rats. But I am going to keep bringing this up in different ways at different levels and hopefully some day (when enough people accept we deserve better) they might actually give a damn about our capital city.
    How about running as an independent in the next elections & sharing your opinions on a national forum if you feel so passionate about your cause?


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