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0 pointspixelpoet6y ago0 comments

It's not really about that, so much as wanting to avoid what happened to the Bay Area. Massive gentrification, something Berlin has already struggled with for about 10 years (almost its defining issue in modern times IMO), is a serious problem if the rest of the city is rather poor, which Berlin actually was in the 2000s compared to the rest of the country ("poor but sexy", as it was sold).

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pteredactyl6y ago

When I hear this, I hear jobs and the most revolutionary green company are not welcome. If that's the case, Berlin is lost.

There is good and bad to gentrification. You don't hear stories of the people who bought their house for 50k in 1980 who then sold it in 2010 for 1.3MM. Or the people thankful they don't have to walk around in fear of gangs for themselves or their children.

TO me the biggest problem is the State. In SF, among many many other things, it's their zoning policies that caused the housing crisis. But they run education and media. So people blame the most revolutionary green company, or others bring wealth to the area, instead of the State.

thatfrenchguy6y ago

You’re making it look like it’s either the ghetto or the yuppies, but there is a clear middle that people don’t want to sacrifice either. Having a bunch of people paid 5 times what you are coming to your area is never fun.

ponyfleisch6y ago

> Having a bunch of people paid 5 times what you are coming to your area is never fun.

It's probably a net positive overall though, especially if the money these people are paid (and spend locally) is coming from other parts of the world/country.

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atq21196y ago

But as the article clearly shows, that revolutionary green company is welcome, in part because they're building on the outskirts of the city.

Location is everything.

imtringued6y ago

> When I hear this, I hear jobs and the most revolutionary green company are not welcome. If that's the case, Berlin is lost.

If there is not enough housing and you keep adding jobs then those jobs will be lost. It's better to "lose" a city than an entire country like USA did.

rkachowski6y ago

You couldn't buy your house in 1980 when the houses are owned by the communist GDR state. A lot of the issues in Berlin result from the conflict between 1) the very cheap property in the east that became available when the wall fell and 2) the huge shift in lifestyle for people that have lived in the area for any length of time. The massive fluctuations in wealth (not to mention currency) are but one point that make people averse to change.

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