Berlin, dream of the youth

Hi Everyone

My flight to Mongolia leave from Berlin.
Since my departure was cancelled at the last minute, I decided to use my train ticket and to spend a few days there.

23 years ago Berlin was divided in two, and was certainly not an highlight of Germany. However, it is a city full of history, and not only 20th century history. Capital city since the early 1700, one of the center of the Enlightenment, all that was prisoner of the ideological war which divided the city for 50 years.

Since 20 years more and more tourists visit this city. The cultural life is at its top, but one more aspect makes this city perfect: rent and life in general is cheap!
Most students would leave in a shared-flat in the ex East-Berlin in a big room (25 m²) that they would pay 250-300€. You can leave for 500€/month, exactly what would pay a undeclared job in the tourist industry which is still growing.

This low-cost attract students, but also artists who can use a very dynamic scene to express themselves, and many start-up founders. At first it was mostly copy of US start-ups using the difference of language and the power of the world 3rd economy to get traction, but original initiatives emerge also.

But this might not last long! First we can note that if an "easy" life favor dynamic people who want to manage several project at once, the drawback is the non-incentive to make necessary efforts to get out of this life. Why would an economically rational actor hurry to finish his studies? Or why would he move to another city to find a permanent job when you can work 20 hours in a bar and have enough? Also the economically rational actor is moving to Berlin from cities all over Germany but also Europe. 1% of the population is French, what push rent up and upset natives who feel they sometimes cannot afford to leave there anymore.


So Berlin is certainly one of the hypest city in Europe right now. Will it be victim of its success?