I (a Czech) moved from highly desirable Prague to Ostrava, a postindustrial city I was born in.
Remote work was a huge boon, because our family income is independent on our location and housing costs in Ostrava are literally half the costs in Prague. We have a nice newly built house not far from public transport (6 tram lines stop on a major intersection in a 15-minute walking distance), with a garden, pretty calm and several minutes of walking from two huge supermarkets that are open till 9 and 10 pm, respectively. Even a small apartment at the outskirts Prague (two rooms) would be about as expensive.
But it came at a cost, yes. The restaurant scene is a shadow of Prague's, and a lot of personal connections had to be weakened, if not severed.
People seem to be forgetting that everything is a tradeoff. If a city like Munich or Prague is highly attractive for students, workers and connosieurs of urban life, there will be a huge demand for housing there, and few regions in the developed world have escaped the enormous NIMBYfication of construction regulations, so the supply will be lacking.
Or you can have a really nice place for living, but not in a major and growing urban area.
What about Dresden or Meissen? Nowhere near as expensive as Munich, but still urban enough to have some doctors and other opportunities.
Yes, you will have a lot more AfD voters around, but everything is a trade-off. Living in a mostly B90/Grüne-voting neighbourhood may be the most costly privilege in entire Germany, and is it really worth the added cost? I surely wouldn't like to be held hostage to my neighbour's political preferences.
Remote work was a huge boon, because our family income is independent on our location and housing costs in Ostrava are literally half the costs in Prague. We have a nice newly built house not far from public transport (6 tram lines stop on a major intersection in a 15-minute walking distance), with a garden, pretty calm and several minutes of walking from two huge supermarkets that are open till 9 and 10 pm, respectively. Even a small apartment at the outskirts Prague (two rooms) would be about as expensive.
But it came at a cost, yes. The restaurant scene is a shadow of Prague's, and a lot of personal connections had to be weakened, if not severed.
People seem to be forgetting that everything is a tradeoff. If a city like Munich or Prague is highly attractive for students, workers and connosieurs of urban life, there will be a huge demand for housing there, and few regions in the developed world have escaped the enormous NIMBYfication of construction regulations, so the supply will be lacking.
Or you can have a really nice place for living, but not in a major and growing urban area.
What about Dresden or Meissen? Nowhere near as expensive as Munich, but still urban enough to have some doctors and other opportunities.
Yes, you will have a lot more AfD voters around, but everything is a trade-off. Living in a mostly B90/Grüne-voting neighbourhood may be the most costly privilege in entire Germany, and is it really worth the added cost? I surely wouldn't like to be held hostage to my neighbour's political preferences.