Thread: Berlin sucks!

Berlin is great! In the full sense of the word!

- Because, with 892 km², Berlin is nine times bigger than Paris
- Berlin has more water bridges than Venice (564 vs 444) Total bridges: 1662
- More than 30 % of Berlins territory are parks, rivers, lakes and forests
- Berlin´s streets have 425.000 trees



This all sounds great. But lets take a look at Berlin´s condition:
- 25 % of Berlin´s citizens receive social welfare
- The annual income per head of 16.000 € is far below the German average

And Berlin´s finances are a desaster. Berlin generates only 51 % of its finances itself.
This is Berlin´s income 2011 (without loans) in million € and percent:

Code:

Taxes:                                       9693 (51%)
Financial equalization (permanent bailouts): 2892 (15%)
Federal grants:                              2402 (12%)
Solidarity Pact (east-west equalization):    1527 (8%)
Other (like fees and privatization):         2718 (14)

Berlin is the biggest receiver of the financial equalization.
It received 2884 million Euro in 2010, the next big receiver was Saxony with 843 million Euro.
The biggest payer was Bavaria wih 3491 million Euro, after it Hesse with 1738 million Euro, followed by Baden-Wuerttemberg (1694 m €) and Hamburg (62 m €). All other states are receivers (from 89 - 2884 m €)


Compared to Berlin, Greece is a financial paradise.
Berlin sucks!
Wowereit sucks! Again: In the full sense of the word!

Originally Posted by Bleipriester

Berlin is great! In the full sense of the word!

- Because, with 892 km², Berlin is nine times bigger than Paris

It's still only half the size of London in area, though.

It's also only half the size of London in terms of population, even though it is the EU's SECOND most populous city.

Berlin's tiny.

The annual income per head of 16.000 € is far below the German average

Where do you have that from?

Most cities are fiscal black holes.

Breaking news:

Pirates have boarded the Berlin senate.

Originally Posted by Sucre

The annual income per head of 16.000 € is far below the German average

Where do you have that from?

I took those numbers from the last Focus magazine (cover article).

Originally Posted by mabus

Breaking news:

Pirates have boarded the Berlin senate.

Berlin is bankrupt but it is certainly one of the most interesting places to be in Europe AND it is among the very few interesting places to be that are very affordable.

Poverty sucks ... I'm sure Berlin is a great city.

Originally Posted by michael h

Poverty sucks ... I'm sure Berlin is a great city.

It is, but Berlin also has to make some serious efforts to develop its economic base. The economic heart of Germany is elsewhere, and the city can´t live from money transfers forever :

A Victim of Its Own Success: Berlin Drowns in Tourist Hordes and Rising Rents - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

^^ Seems like a normal process. A city rises from its isolated position back to a place of importance. As a matter of fact Kreuzberg and co are rather central locations with old building structures. Did anyone believe these places are going to remain dirt cheap as they were?

I don't know enough of the apartment market of Berlin but I have read once that the city still has a considerable rate of empty buildings. It would be interesting if that is the case only for some very periphery poor neighbourhoods or also within the more central districts. In any case it explains why relatively little is built.

In Vienna on the other side, which has experienced a revival following the fall of the iron curtain as well (but one of a very different and not as extreme sort), almost all residential buildings are fully occupied. The city proper is still growing at a considerable pace, which is why a lot of construction is going on. The good thing there is that subsidized apartments are mixed in with middle price and even high price ones.