I just realized I never posted the milestone “Five Years of Frankfurt” after doing so (almost) every year I’ve lived here (1, 1.5, 3 and 4). And that, now, I have actually lived here for **six years**.
Six. Years.
That’s a long time.
I originally moved to Frankfurt to work at a small consulting company, and ended up working for a large IT company instead. When I first told people I’d move down south they all told me… “Frankfurt? Are you insane? That’s a horrible city!” Of course, life doesn’t really follow such preconceptions, and I actually found out that Frankfurt isn’t all that bad. Sure, it’s expensive and the traffic is insane. The streets are quite dirty… and the public transportation does really suck. But in some way, Frankfurt has grown on me. It’ll never really be “home”, but hey, home is where the heart is.
There are some good things to be said about Frankfurt, actually. For one thing it’s really small – you can cross town very quickly, and nowhere is really far away. The airport is 12 minutes from the central station by subway (if there are no delays…) It’s also got a pretty cool skyline. Just walk along the river at night, it’s quite a sight. No comparison to, say, Tokyo, but it’s really not bad for a European city.
It’s a pretty convenient city. I live in Sachsenhausen. Easy access to downtown, and pretty much everything I need within walking distance (supermarkets, subway, tram, dry cleaning; I can even walk to the central station and the south station).
I also enjoy the high percentage of foreigners. If I recall correctly, it’s about 16% for entire Frankfurt; some suburbs are higher. One of my best friends here is Turkish, and you will see a lot of African and Asian people. You’ll hear at least three or four languages spoken when you go to the central shopping district during a busy time. I love that.
Would I recommend moving to Frankfurt? It kinda depends on your personality, of course. I doubt I’d want to live in the middle of it with kids. But hey, if you’re young, single, and get a job here… don’t be scared of the town.