'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant • Hacker News Board

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#181

Post by scalesolved » Sun, May 13, 2018, 4:56 PM UTC

ksec wrote: post #17

mhomde wrote: post #9

I think Berlins "Poor but happy" times are fast coming to an end. Rents have been rising quickly the last few years and tech companies and startups becoming more prevalent. Heck, Neukölln went from being a cheap alternative to being as trendy and expensive as Kreuzberg. Berlin kinda, from what I understand, enjoyed it's special culture much because it wasn't an industrial city and lacked an large international airpor…

Slightly Off Topic: I thought Germany has some form of protection by law so rent and property market don't get to hike the prices to whatever they want. So while the world 's property market is on fire by QE, Berlin hasn't moved a needle at all. So why has rent risen so much?

This is something that Spain also has (and is being phased out). I live in Barcelona, I pay 1000 euros for my two bed apartment, every 3 years the rent has to be renegotiated. My lovely neighbour who is 92 pays under 100 euros for the exact same flat opposite mine, she is on guaranteed rent protection, my neighbours below who are in their early 70s pay around 250 for the same flat.

The fact rent protection is being phased out makes me really sad, speculation will become even more rife (I can understand that extreme rent protection like above may not be workable but something in between is needed imo).

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#182

Post by greggarious » Sun, May 13, 2018, 6:27 PM UTC

dx034 wrote: post #54

mhomde wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I think I meant transatlantic airport, or a "large" airport. Not sure, it used to lack something I heard but not sure exactly what and if it's still true. They're struggling with building a new one so something :)

The lack of direct flights is partly due to the short connection to Frankfurt from where you can connect to most destinations in the world. That's also why some other German cities (Hamburg, Cologne, Hannover) have few transcontinental flights, despite the demand. There has been an increase in direct flights from Berlin recently but towards the US, Heathrow and Frankfurt are on the way and BA/LH can price out competi…

>The lack of direct flights is partly due to the short connection to Frankfurt from where you can connect to most destinations in the world.

That's assuming you don't miss your connection and lose an hour or two getting rebooked, or dealing with lost luggage.

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#183

Post by yannovitch » Sun, May 13, 2018, 8:23 PM UTC

0xsfv wrote: post #177

ahartmetz wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it matters more where I studied. First Heidelberg, then FU Berlin - actually Physics with secondary subject CS. TUM, KIT and RWTH are maybe the best at CS in Germany, but IMO still not good. What are they known for except being good universities for CS?

The fact that you are asking this question makes me believe that you are speaking without having tried to search for an answer on your own. As a CS graduate with secondary subject Mathematics from TUM, I can only speak on behalf of it. You might find https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=194&v=iu6UboRqan... interesting. How do you know that TUM is not good enough? Probably you are referring to its popularity ab…

I think that what he is referring to is the lack of big leadership in one (or many) tech sector .

From the examples he mentions, I know automatically (without searching for it) for example that Scala originated at EPFL, that ETHZ (& EPFL to a lesser extent) produce some of the most advanced things related to drones, that OCaml originated in France and is pushed by INRIA, etc... But there is nothing coming immediately to mind about TUM

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#184

Post by thirduncle » Thu, May 17, 2018, 4:04 PM UTC

collyw wrote: post #158

thirduncle wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you got there way too late.

~ 8 or 9 years ago?

Actually yes, hafta say.

Granted there are few places in the world that are exactly the same as they were 20 or 30 years ago. But then again, certain places -- like San Francisco New York, London, and many, many other cities -- have arguably "tipped" to an extent such that, while the postcard views are pretty much the same -- the overall vibe and intensity is but a glimmer of what it once was.

And sadly, Berlin seems to be one of those places.