Guess the city cited in this report

[bogwarrior]

Read a report in a paper today, here are some of the extracts (link below).
Does it sound like Dublin (or maybe Cork, Limerick or Galway)

XXXXXXers complain of daily traffic snarls that can gridlock parts of the city, the high cost of road tolls, routinely late trains, hospitals that struggle to cope with more and more patients, worsening air pollution from cars, a rising cost of city living and lack of affordable housing.


Unreliable public transport and road congestion are the top complaints by XXXXXXXers, with 70 per cent of all trips made in cars. Rail represents just four per cent.

XXXXX today is a collection of dislocated suburban villages connected by transport ribbons which, due to lack of investment in recent decades, have become the city's clogged arteries.

Poor urban planning and the dependence on the car is seeing the walk-to-school routine disappear in XXXXX, with 50 per cent of children driven to school.

Well, its actually Syndey - just goes to show the grass is not always greener (though the sun may be sunnier!).

Sydney report

 

[daltonr]

Well, its actually Syndey - just goes to show the grass is not always greener (though the sun may be sunnier!).

Actually it doesn't mean that at all. As bad as Sydney may be it doesn't mean it isn't a whole lot better than Dublin.

When I came to Florida and started looking for an Apartment or house, the locals kept telling me how expensive housing was. There would be stories on the news about the "Housing Bubble". I couldn't understand what they were talking about. A really nice 1 bed Apartment in a gated community, with all sorts of amenities in a great location cost about 140,000 Euro ($170,000).

I pointed a few friends at MyHome.ie and they'd laughed their asses off.
It turned out they were right about property here being expensive, that apartment recently dropped by $20-25K. With the exchange rate change it's going for 109,000 Euro. And that's before haggling.

I wasn't crazy about Australia I must admit. It felt a little too like home.
I thought Sydney was ok, our hotel was near the Monorail, couldn't complain about getting around. I didn't have to deal with Rush Hour which I'm sure is what the report is referring to.

Just because lots of people think far away hills are greener doesn't mean that most of them aren't right.

-Rd

 

[bogwarrior]

Just because lots of people think far away hills are greener doesn't mean that most of them aren't right.

-Rd

Yes, but the picture postcard Sydney isn't strictly true either - and thats what I'm pointing out. A lot of Irish peoples experience of Sydney is spending a year living around the inner-city and eastern suburbs - all great places to live, well serviced by amenities and public transport. But most of the population live in the western,southern and northern suburbs - I spent several years there and the majority of my work colleagues (middleclass professionals) endured the daily commute, much like here. If I go back (had to return to Ireland due to family circumstances) I will more than likely purchase a house in the western suburbs too - as thats where I will be able to afford.

That said, I also lived in Perth, Brisbane and New York previously and people tend to complain about the same things - traffic, price of houses, schools etc

 

[shnaek]

Everyone complains about where they live, and it's their right to do so. But it complaints are not valid basis for comparison. Londoners complain about public transport, but they have had better public transport than us for 100 years. The British also complain about the NHS -also a far better system than we have here.

 

[rabbit]

Londoners complain about public transport, but they have had better public transport than us for 100 years.

In the country areas in Ireland transportation is not all rosy either. Imagine if you lived in 1906 in rural Ireland and you were told that in 100 years time ( i.e. 2006 ) the train to Dublin would take longer than it did in 1906. Despite the massive strides in many things eg electronics, aviation, cars etc it is a pity people are forced to spend so much of their time stuck in traffic or on trains slower than 100 years ago.

 

[ClubMan]

When I came to Florida and started looking for an Apartment or house, the locals kept telling me how expensive housing was. There would be stories on the news about the "Housing Bubble". I couldn't understand what they were talking about. A really nice 1 bed Apartment in a gated community, with all sorts of amenities in a great location cost about 140,000 Euro ($170,000).

How much is hurricane insurance over there?

 

[daltonr]

How much is hurricane insurance over there?

Unless you're right on the water you don't need any additional huricane insurance, your homeowner policy covers you. I don't know how much extra it is for those that need it, I have no interest in living at the Beach.

Homeowner's insurance is considered very expensive (by the locals) in fact they're pretty annoyed about it. The Quieter than expected Huricane season hasn't reduced premiums as quickly as they went up.

There's a special meeting of the legislature in January to deal with the Issue. As an example a House away from the water could cost about $2000 a year to insure that's about 125 Euro a month at current rates.

With a Condo it's different because you're monthly home owner's fee can include all sorts of things like Refuse Collection, Water Sewer and Insurance. With the more expensive fees you sometimes get Utilities, Cable, Phone etc included.
You are still responsible for insuring the inside of the Condo, which might add I guess, about $50 a month.

Altogether (HOA Fees, Property Tax, Insurance) you're probably looking at the better part of $350-$400 a month. Not insignificant, but depending on the facilities available it can work out as reasonable deal.

At least the rising costs like Insurance and tax are reflected in the property prices.
The $170,000 Condo I mentioned above, is now asking $145K. They don't appear to be selling rapidly at the price either.

-Rd