Uploaded on 2017-02-07 by Kinga Urbán

1. My top livability criterias (in my current state of life) are: 1 - safety / 2 - climate / 3 - housing / 4 - job opportunities / 5 - (public)transportation 2. Why do I live where I live? I live in Budapest, Hungary. I live with my grandmother. The most important factor in this situation is money because I only have to pay current expenses, and I don't have to pay rental fee (economy). In moving there, there was another very important reason: the closeness of my university campus (education). Now - that my life situation has changed - I am no longer a student, I still live there because it is in the central of the city, everything is "just a couple of minutes" away: my job, my friends, the doctor, the park, restaurants and pubs... I created a map that shows the vicinity of my home. This map is not a hundred percent accurate unfortunately, not every single building is on it. I only marked the places I know about, but I am sure there are more. But it shows really well how lively my neighbourhood is, how well situated, why I still want to live here. So my five reasons of living where I live are: 1 - housing / 2 - environment / 3 - infrastructure / 4 - transportation / 5 - culture or entertainment 3. My top livability criterias are: 1 - safety: the place where I live is really safe, I have never had problems going home alone in the middle of the night. 20/20 2 - climate: thank God, in Hungary there is no place where the climate would make it hard to live. 20/20 3 - housing: I am lucky to live with my grandmother, but otherwise it is hard to find an apartment for a reasonable price. 11/20 4 - job opportunities: since it is the middle of the capital I live in, if you want to work, you can find a job. But if you do not have any connections, it might take a while. 17/20 5 - (public) transportation: Budapest has an excellent public transport system. Although, the vehicles they use are really really old, and that causes problems frequently. In my vicinity, there are 4 metro lines, multiple tram lines and bus lines. I can reach all the major train stations within 20 minutes. 15/20 That means, in my point of view, my neighbourhood deserves 83 points. If I have to score the capital though, the safety is not that good. I would give 14/20. Housing is a little bit better in the suburbs, 15/20. There are still plenty of job opportunities 18/20, but the transportation is obviously not that good everywhere 14/20. That means, Budapest earns 81 points. 4. If I could change something, it would be the transportation (previously I only dealt with public transport, because I do not have a car, so that has bigger importance in my life). It would improve this city if people would use public transport more instead of cars. The quality of the air here is good, pollution only causes problems one or two days a year. But I think it would give this place a calm feeling. Something like when I take a walk on a Saturday morning. I know it is not the same, but people with cars are more aggressive, more impatient. I think less cars would do both our souls and bodies some good. 5. If I ever decide to move, there are 3 places I would consider: Gödöllő It is a small town near Budapest. This is where I grew up. The qualities that can affect my decision: 1. familiarity 2. closeness to Budapest 3. good quality of living 4. closeness to nature 5. good transportation Munich One of the argest cities of Germany. It has some really good qoulities in my point of view: 1. great job opportunites for a lot better salary than in Hungary 2. much higher quality of life 3. not far from Hungary, os it is easy to come home to visit 4. I have friends living there, so I would already have connections 5. my future children would have better educational opportunities Szentkata (Saint Cathrine) A small group of farmhouses, where my great-grandmother owns a house. 1. tranquility, quiet 2. clean streets, clean air, clean life 3. healthy food that I can grow 4. affordable living 5. closeness of my family