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Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

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Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Startups with no money yes but places like Zalando pay ~100k total comp. People working for places like Microsoft or GitHub more like ~150k. https://www.levels.fyi/Salaries/Software-Engineer/Berlin-Ger...

I was pulled through so many hopeless recruitment processes, tests, take home assignments, teasing sessions that I simply have no reason to believe these amounts. No promise will make me sacrifice even an hour more. Like literally - email me already an employment contract with this amount on it.

I mean, I don’t do whiteboard coding interviews either. But Amazons, Zalandos and Wayfairs pay that.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#342
post #108
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a horrible argument, because the same can be said for land ownership. Isn't it unfair that when I move somewhere, I discover that all the land in that area is already owned by someone else. Why should some old history entitle someone to exclusive ownership of any piece of land, and the ability to charge arbitrary rents for it? The fact of the matter is, first movers have all sorts of unfair advantages over la…

" I move somewhere, I discover that all the land in that area is already owned by someone else. " Why do you think that for a moment you have a right to 'go over there' and posses land currently owned by people over there?

Because of the parent poster's thesis that it's unfair that the first people to move somewhere get advantages.

I am just taking that axiom to it's logical, but absurd conclusion, to argue that the axiom itself is absurd.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#343
post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? Non-Germans have it much harder finding a place here even if their names are western.

Depends on nationality preference of the person selecting the candidate ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Either way Germanic surname will always win over Polish one.

Unless your name is Kevin. Then it’s a no-go.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#344
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NIMBYism, environmental regulations, building codes and lack of money and interest by the state. Berlin had the nice example of a few square kilometers of the Tempelhof airport field being available. Public demanded to make it a park instead of constructing housing. Almost anything with a tree on it is impossible to build on, and even if there is a building permit for the housing, attaching it to public transports li…

No experience with the building codes in Berlin, but a least the N story limit makes sense to me. It would totally destroy the look and feel of many parts of the city of this wasn’t in place. What I think is a bigger problem is the countless vacant lots all over the city. Even centrally there are tons of them, e.g. with only a one story supermarket or parking lots (as mentioned above) or sometimes it’s just overgrown…

Berlin has a lot of real-estate with unclear ownership, due to seizure of property during the nazi time and communism, sometimes multiple times. Add a few levels of inheritance and you get real estate that is unusable because it belongs to a lot of people at once, all in a decade long court battle with each other.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> everybody who's been here longer says "it's not what it used to be" in that the vibe of the city has changed greatly with it's increasing attractiveness to foreign (tech?) workers. Meh. The people who say that have displaced the people who lived there before they moved to Berlin. And the people who lived there before they came also said that when they arrived. The people complaining about this the most aren't "orig…

Cities change, often for the worse. Replacing the people that made a city’s culture notable because they can’t afford it is not good for anyone. Lower Manhattan is a shining example of this. That area is built on the memory of artists who can no longer afford to live there. It’s a weird sort of fossilization and museumification.

> Replacing the people that made a city’s culture notable because they can’t afford it is not good for anyone.

Berlin's attraction in the last 70 years (from the Western perspective) has been that it's cheap, has kind of an frontier spirit, laws and rules are much less strict, and it's being well-funded as an enclave and a thorn in East-Germany's side (it's still losing money, and is a drag on the German economy; capitals in comparable Western countries are typically strong economic motors in their country [1]).

For many young men, Germany's draft (or the alternative civil service) could only be circumvented by moving to Berlin.

With the Reunification, Berlin was on track to become the capital once more. That meant: gigantic amounts of money, jobs and opportunities, and that in return made Berlin extremely attractive. Before that happened, Berlin was actually shrinking.

With the government moved many large corporations in Germany, and brought even more money and jobs. They made Berlin attractive. It wasn't Berlin's night life and cultural scene, those are a consequence of the attractiveness and funding, not the other way round. So it's really not that those who built it are being forced out. It's that those who were attracted to it have to share with other people who want to also live there. Sucks for them, I agree, but there's nothing unfair about it. It will also happen to those moving there today, and they'll complain as well.

[1] https://qz.com/753244/berlin-is-the-only-capital-city-in-eur...

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#346
post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like covid will solve the Berlin housing problem. My building in Schillerkiez is slowly emptying out.

How does that work, I don't suppose residents are dying away? Does unemployment force them to move out?

Move to the countryside probably. Others move back home. The one person I spoke to was moving his family to a house for more green space

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like covid will solve the Berlin housing problem. My building in Schillerkiez is slowly emptying out.

Any specific reason why is emptying out?

Can’t enjoy the cultural offerings of the city if everything is closed and banned.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Startups with no money yes but places like Zalando pay ~100k total comp. People working for places like Microsoft or GitHub more like ~150k. https://www.levels.fyi/Salaries/Software-Engineer/Berlin-Ger...

I was pulled through so many hopeless recruitment processes, tests, take home assignments, teasing sessions that I simply have no reason to believe these amounts. No promise will make me sacrifice even an hour more. Like literally - email me already an employment contract with this amount on it.

https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/software-engineering-sala...

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#349

An example of how bad the government in Berlin is would be the Pankower Tor project: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/froschlurch-muss-umgesied... 34 hectars (>90 acres) of waste land in a prime location can't be bulldozed to build 2000 new apartments because a rare species of toad was found to be living there, which can't be relocated because no state agency is responsible. The court case has been running for over…

Without arguing about the merits of protecting that species of toads, you can’t blame the Berlin government for things that are governed by federal and EU law.

Ultimately the owner/investor either has to find a way to move the toads or apply for an exception. Without an application, the state government can’t act.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#350

An example of how bad the government in Berlin is would be the Pankower Tor project: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/froschlurch-muss-umgesied... 34 hectars (>90 acres) of waste land in a prime location can't be bulldozed to build 2000 new apartments because a rare species of toad was found to be living there, which can't be relocated because no state agency is responsible. The court case has been running for over…

Without arguing about the merits of protecting that species of toads, you can’t blame the Berlin government for things that are governed by federal and EU law. Ultimately the owner/investor either has to find a way to move the toads or apply for an exception. Without an application, the state government can’t act.

well see that's the issue, state won't make an exception and owner can't move the toads
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