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The Perfect City
Hi. My name is Anna Lena. I'm on a quest for finding the perfect city. Kinda like Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade searching for the Holy Grail, just the urban female version.
via en.wikipedia.org
I'm a country girl, born and raised, and like many of us "Landeier" I've taken to the big city as soon as school was finished. I spent my 20's in various parts of this world, wandering, studying and working. Most of the destinations I've travelled to have been urban areas. Now I'm facing the next decade of my life and I've found out that I'd like to settle for a while. The only question is - where? In a city, that's for sure. I liked a lot of the places I've been at, but something has always been missing.
I now live and work in Berlin which is considered by many to be one of the most exciting cities in Europe these days, maybe even the world. Berlin is creative, it's cheap, known for its outstanding club culture, the bohemian lifestyle, it has lots of history on basically every street corner and its arms are wide open for people from around the globe. The perfect city? For many people it is.
Yet - I'm not entirely happy. Berlin's just not for me. It took me a while to find out that it wasn't. But once I realized that Germany's capital will be but a temporary solution, I decided to shop around for alternatives.
Like the Holy grail that posseses miraculous powers, the city I want to live in shall be nothing short of perfect.
It's as simple as that. What's not so simple is finding exactly that place. It will hardly just walk by on a Sunday afternoon while having coffee with your friends. So if the mountain won't come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain.
That's why I decided to swap appartments for a week with a friend, booked a flight to Copenhagen (where he lives), arranged a desk to work at and took off. The plan was to change the scenerie and prototype the perfect city.
Now my one week trip has come to an end and it's reflection time. I haven't found the Holy Grail nor the perfect city yet, but I've made a map of my road so far and I wrote it down to share it with you. After all, Indiana Jones also has several parts. Just building up some suspense here.
STEP 1: THE QUEST
In the past ten years my only steady companion was my suitcase. We were so close I actually gave him a name. He's called, yes, you might have guessed, Indy. When Indy broke from all that traveling, I got Indy II. Indy and I hardly spent more than a year in one place.
While I wouldn't want to miss those experiences in fantastic cities and all the great people I have met, this nomadic lifestyle has also left me quite uprooted. Some people say "home is where the heart is". For me it was more like "home is where the toothbrush is". So I've had my fair share of urban exposure, and I came to believe that there are three ways to get really well acquainted with a place and decide whether or not it is a potential perfect city.
Take your time
- Finding your perfect city most likely won't happen over night. My advice: travel a lot, look at many places, try to stay at least a week or two. The longer the better.
Get to know the people
- You'll find nice people everywhere, but in a perfect city you'll want people that mean something to you, that inspire you, support you, people you can relate to, talk to and work with.
Prototype
- Live a little. Step out of vacation mode, rent a desk for work, get an appartment (or swap), go grocery shopping, get yourself a bike to get around. Check out the neighbourhood you stay in, talk to locals, engage with the community. Just live your life like you'd normally do at home :)
STEP 2: THE VARIABLES
There are lots of criteria upon which your choice of the perfect city can be made. Indexes for most livable cities give you a pretty good overview when it comes to the basic needs of civilization and urban living. I've added a couple of parameters that I find important and that I am basing my choices upon. This is a multiple choice test, feel free to put a cross on what you like best. Several answers possible.
Common Criteria
- safety
- education
- hygiene
- health care
- culture
- environment
- recreation
- political-economic stability
- public transportation
- close to the sea
- close to the mountains
- continental, temperate, dry, alpine, polar (hey, there's people who like that :), tropical...
- European Altbau charme
- Northern American suburbia
- high rise metropolis
- ...
- language
- politics
- social environment
- business environment
- creativity and arts
- openness
- living costs
- ...
- small
- medium
- large
- mega
STEP 3: YOUR PRIORITIES
Different stages of life call for different cities. When I was 29 I lived in Munich for a short while. Mildly put, I didn't like it. But it was easy to see how others could. It's a gorgeous place by all means and has frequently ranked in the top five of all kinds of "most liveable city" indexes. Yet again, it was just not my city.Why? Not the right time, not the right place. Here's some guiding principles on finding out if you're in the right spot.
Find out which stage of life you're in
- Studying? Starting a business? New job? Starting a family? Sabbatical? Try to categorize what stage you're in and if your city offers what you need
- I've listed lots of variables already. Have a look and prioritize which ones are most important to you. Is the size more important than the climate? Would you choose aesthetics over living costs? And add more criteria if you have some in mind.
- We're not alone in this world. That's good news (for those of us who aren't Obi-Wan Kenobi or hermits). Consider how important family is to you, friends, colleagues... and if you feel close enough to them (geographically)
STEP 4: ON A PERSONAL NOTE
Even if you consider all of the above suggestions and reflections you still might not find your perfect city.
Personally I've found that, in the long run, I need to get a sense of being able to grow in the city, both personally and professionally. The perfect city provides a framework for my actions and is fertile soil to plant my future on. The perfect city is so cool that I wanna get married to it - that is, if I don't marry Indiana Jones first. It's a life-long relationship, and ideally you will lose your heart to that very special place on earth.
via flickr
Posted
by Anna Lena Schiller
