Life in Frankfurt - opinions on what is like

After just over a year since moving to FFM I cant decide wether its bloody awful or its great...I think i'm stuck somewhere in between...what does everyone else think?

I have been living in FFM for 3 and a half years and feel exactly the same!

I am not sure there are some things I love and others that really get on my nerves. Before I moved to FFM I spent one year in Bremen as part of my uni course. I had a fantastic time and met loads of great people and it was a nice community where you could go into a bar on your own and always meet someone you know. That is what I miss in Frankfurt and there are so many people coming in and out that as soon as you've made any friends they're moving on. I work in Bad Homburg so maybe I miss out on the after work drinking and going out scene a bit.

On the other hand there are so many things I like and friends that I could never imagine leaving.

It is a funny feeling, isn't it?

Hi,

I moved to Frankfurt in November 90 after 11 years working in London ... I sure as hell wouldn't want to go back, the quality of life here is , in my opinion , much better once you've settled in.

The only thing I miss are trips to the seaside

regards // Ian

would consider looking at wiesbaden..which is within commuting distance..alot more attractive possibly than frankfurt.. very much a concrete jungle.

stay away from eros centre.

au revoir.

Someone mention Wiesbaden, hmm... I go to Wiesbaden about every 2 weeks, although its nice, only 30 minutes from Frankfurt, I would not live there, just a little too quiet for me ! Lovely countryside, safe, etc. but not much to do.

Frankfurt is dead outside the office hours and ugly anyway.
You really should try to find something in Wiesbaden or in the smaller towns arond Frankfurt. Nearly all international banks are in Frankfurt, u might try there. Most of them will have marketing areas.

Frankfurt am Main has the highest rate of crime in Germany. (While Munich has the second lowest.)

Don't know if that will make much difference in your day-to-day life, but I reckon it's something to bear in mind.

ah, top o the mornin' to ya malc, ever the pessimist are we?

frankfurt is a big city, sure, and it is famous for it's junkies hanging out around the train station, but common sense always prevails. i know lots of peeps who live in frankfurt and they like, but not love it. yet they are happy. i only remember this really cool flea market along the river.

good luck willy. life is an adventure. just hang on for the ride! maybe we'll have a TT does Frankurt and visit ya!

There's a passage in Frank Skinner's autobiography (worth a read, esp. if you grew up in Birmingham, the one in England, not any of the ones in the US) that goes 'you never know how long a long weekend can be until you've spent one in Frankfurt'.

Other than that, no idea about Frankfurt, but it can't be better than Munich, can it?

PS: He's an English comedian, a Brummy too, for those non-Brits amongst us

Hey lads just a few thinks, i would consider the likes of Bergen-Enkheim or Maintal-Bischofsheim. Nice and greenish outside but just a step away. Even Hanau is close for daily commuter and has nice areas.
The thing with crime is a bit weird to explain. First of all the huge train station and Aerport add quite a mass to the stats. But this is even more weird, a big number is caused by illicit workers and people illegally living and working there which is a crime by German laws. The crime rate isn t bigger then anywhere else but as its also the financial head of continental Europe, white-collar crime is also in place, :-)
btw. Hamburg got the number one spot back.

Slan

Hi there fellow Toytowners,

Am planning on moving to Frankfurt soon, since I have been offered an exciting job there. But compared to Berlin - the only thing I know about Frankfurt is that it is a financial city, big airport and more expensive than Berlin!

But most people I have talked to say Frankfurt is a really boring city to live in. Would like to hear some general comments from you guys?

Thomas

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I don't think it is boring at all. It has everything.

It is not the place where you live but the friends and happiness you have there that makes it great

I LOVE FRIENDS AND HAPPINESS.

Worst place I ever lived. EVER. I would say its the Detroit or Gary, IN. of Germany. However, as they say; To Each His Own.

Lived here for 2 years, for me it has a bit of everything - Good nightlife/social aspects, reasonable shopping experience, plenty of decent surrounding areas to explore and good walks etc along the river

I think it is a great city

I lived there for a year (now in Hamburg) and it's great there! The people are very cool and easy to get along with and you have great variety regarding the landscape, 1. the busy downtown and all, 2. a little drive and you are in the middle of beautiful forests, fields, castles etc.

Hmm, I''ll go out on a limb here. Frankfurt is full of bankers and we generally work a whole lot making gazillions of Euros (OK, I haven't managed that yet) but anyway it's not really a party metropole compared to a Berlin, Munich, or Hamburg. Lots of guys with slicked back hair and fancy suits and when we get done with our long working days we go home.

The club scene is still reasonable and there are really good techno clubs for the younger set but they're a bit away from downtown. To me, Frankfurt just lacks that certain "buzz" or vibrancy you find in some bigger towns. There is no real clearly sort of defined party zone with a high concentration of clubs and restaurants like you find in some cities. On the positive side there are good jobs and the town is very easy to get around.

Man, now that's just cold!

Everyone bashed Frankfurt before I moved here but I must say I was pleasantly surprised (it could have something to do with the fact that before I moved to Frankfurt I was living in small city Bavaria...). I think most people who don't live here, just pass through "downtown", where all the business and highrises are, but don't realise there are really neat quarters to the city-with even more of a social "going out" feel to them - Bornheim, Sachsenhausen are examples. Its on the river, which is really nice to me, and super easy to get around WITHOUT a car. (Seriously, don't use a car here.. there's really no point - so small and compact, full of one way streets, and no parking..).
Yes its more expensive and much more boring than Berlin.. but there are all types of people and places to go.

Having said that, Berlin is so far the only city I've been to that I've found comparable to my Heimat Vancouver BC, for appeal.

Bornheim, that's where I lived, I loved it!

After living in Milan, Dublin and Seattle, I personally find that Frankfurt has plenty to offer (forest nearby, plenty of green in the city, good public transport, affordable real estate compared to other European cities...).

Anyway, if everybody had the same taste for places to live in, we would have 6 billion people in the same city. That would not be good either

I agree with L8Knight and am getting out of here next year! It is BORING and one of the things I hate most are all the junkies/drunks/undesirables hanging around train stations such as Konstablewache. As someone said, it is probably boring because most folk work inside the banks and then leave FF after hours. In the daytime all I seem to see walking around are pensioners and tramps. I have met one or two lovely people here (my students) but the minuses, for me anyway, far outweigh the pluses. I don't like Germany much either; have been here over 2 years, so possibly am one of the more jaded people on this thread:) Hamburg, where I lived for a while, is better but very bad for teaching work and colder and damper than here.

god you guys think there are junkies here? you've obviously never been to vancouver (BC). I've seen the odd "undesireable" (hardly, in my opinion), and i find them quite polite and nice compared to the agressive, follow you around and yell at you types i'm used to (east hastings anyone?).


I read that article too and I just wanted to point out that although frankfurt has apparantly the highest crime rate, they were including airport crime into the statistic, which means most of the criminals (for want of a better word) dont even live or stay in frankfurt.

"It's a great place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit there.'

It's the Edinborough to Scotland's Glasgow, the Boston (or Chicago) to America's New York, the Singapore to Asia's Hong Kong. [Discuss]

It gets a bum rap by hipster doofuses because it was bombed flat by British bomber Command in 1945 and rebuilt fast and cheap to house refugee Berlin financial institution with reconstruction shaped by being the center of the American zone. The fact is that the Bundesbank (now the ECB) sets the tone for the inhabitants regardless of wealth (real or imagined). So it doesn't have the "poor but sexy" vibe of Berlin.

Therefore, it does not have as much charm as cities who were either out of range (Munich, Prague) or those chickened out of WWII (Paris).

It may be a small town at the end of a long runway ... but in the final analysis it's perpetually underrated. Every Blackadder needs its Baldrick.

-- 5-year resident

At the end of the day, it is what you put in that you get out. If you go to Berlin or FFM and look at the negatives, then thats what you will see. But if you go, study German and try to get into it, then you can have a good time. There will always be discomfort when you live in an overseas city, but you have to adjust because the city isnt going to change for you.

What?!?!?!
I would die in Frankfurt before living in Detroit! Talk about depressing (esp. now!). Frankfurt proper may not be a beautiful city, but the surrounding areas more than make up for it. I never quite understood the fascination with Berlin. I think Berlin is cool if you're young, hip, and single, but once you get out of or out grow the "scene" there's really not much there. Depends on your type. My husband would probably move back to Berlin in a heartbeat since he is still into the cocktail-Kiez culture. Having grown up in NYC and only lived in big cities, I've resigned myself to greener grass.

Culture? A fabulous Symphony, a world-class Opera, and two great Theatres (one of them English-speaking) - CHECK
Food? Great restaurants from virtually all cuisines - as long, of course, that you know where to look for them - CHECK
Local wine? Some of Germany's best hooch is made right on our doorstep - CHECK
Fun? Clubs, Bars and Fests galore - CHECK
Museums / Art? A whole hatful of globally-recognised Museums and Art Galleries - CHECK
"Rus in Urbe"? Excellent conservation-based Zoo and a terrific Botanical Garden - CHECK
Easy access to the great outdoors? You betcha - the Taunus mountains, Rheintal, Lahntal, Maintal - all within easy reach - CHECK
Easy access to the rest of Europe? I should coco - it's probably the most central transport hub in Europe - CHECK

I could go on.

K

Totally w/you... and this from a person who's lived 15 years between New York, San Francisco & LA!! Frankfurt is its own place, definitely, and like any major 'hubs' it has its things, but it also has tons to offer...

I have just moved back to Frankfurt from Sydney....go figure