Oh god, this answer has gotten longer than expected.

How is it? All in all, it’s good here. I’m confident that it would be difficult to find a significantly better country to live in. But it’s not perfect either and many people fear that it will go downhill from here.

Many parts of industry and research are struggling while a lot of money is pumped into the military. Our infrastructure is mostly still good, but, for example, we’re having trouble keeping up with a lot of old bridges nearing the end of their lifespan. The population is getting pretty old as well and healthcare costs are increasing. They are shutting down our local hospital to save costs and shifting the patients to a big new clinic, which is currently being constructed in the next bigger town. Rents and house prices in the big cities are enormous. In the countryside, internet and public transportation is lacking. Many people are dissatisfied with politics, which led to huge gains for the far-right AfD party, especially in the former GDR. They blame immigrants and the EU and the green party. What has always been an issue is bureaucracy. Complex, unflexible regulations and matching civil servants grind many things to a halt. Part of the problem is a refusal to adjust to new, digital processes.

On the positive side: Food is relatively cheap. Some prices have been coming down again since Covid; butter is down to 99ct/250g, pasta to 49ct/500g. Medical or educational debt is unheard of. The mother of the family next door, a Brasilian woman married to a German, just had brain surgery before christmas. l suppose the additional cost for her family was around 70€ (10€ for every day in the hospital). I studied Aerspace Engineering, about 200€ per semester. I have never witnessed any violent crime, nor has any close friend or family member for as long as I have been alive and as far as I know. Same goes for theft. The worst thing I can think of is a class mate back in school who told me he was attacked with a glass bottle and robbed at night at the train station. I’m sure I live in a bubble, but the people I have contact with are honest and have what they need. I recently lost a 50€ bill at one of the social clubs in which I’m active. Instead of pocketing it, someone picked it up and put it on a counter. Then someone else took it and went through the rooms to find the rightful owner. And while the price of the “Deutschland Ticket” is steadily increasing, it is something I really enjoy. It exists since Covid and allows you to use all (non high speed rail) public transportation in the entire country, for now 63€ per month.

Immigration: For a long time, immigration to Germany was not only tolerated, but actively promoted in Greece or Turkey. In the last decade people fled from Northern Africa to Germany, and in the last few years I noticed a lot of Ukrainians for obvious reasons. This of course changes society. No matter what you think of that, our aging population is a problem, and young migrants are a potential solution. Of course there are also criminal people among them, but I don’t know the statistics for migrant/long-time-German crime, and I don’t notice crime here anyway. If you want to experience crime for yourself, go to Frankfurt central station.

Regarding my town: I live in a small town of about 30000 in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It’s not that exciting here, but we have a bunch of schools, an outdoor and indoor swimming pool, at least 5 supermarkets plus a few drug stores, all kinds of doctors, a library, churches and mosques, a skate park and soccer fields, a lot of social clubs and a beautiful old town center. The old town was built around a small mountain. At the top lie the ruins of the old castle, and in the summer after sunset, it becomes an outdoor movie theater. That’s part of some bigger festivities each summer. The newest addition to the town is a funny tower built on a mountain of trash, our former landfill. Great for watching the sunset or sunrise, although nightly visits are not officially allowed. We have a stretch of no-speedlimit Autobahn starting here and a train station. The Autobahn takes you to the next bigger city in about 20 minutes, there you can find more fun stuff like night clubs, a normal cinema, an Ikea and a lasertag arena. 40 minutes of train ride brings you to the state capital for even more shopping and night clubs, or to the international Stuttgart airport.

What do I do? I dance at our sports club, I go shooting once or twice a week at our sport shooting club, I like learning languages. We also have what we call a youth research center. I teach electronic circuit design to a group of pupils, others teach software development or mechanical design. I also work on a robotics project together with some university students, and we can use the workshop and tools for our own projects as well. Doesn’t cost anything to the students, everything sponsored by local companies, foundations and the government. This youth research center is btw sandwiched between housing for migrants and asylum seekers. I’m there twice a week, and I haven’t seen or heard about any problem during the last ten+ years. The only thing noticable is lots of playing kids and really good smelling food being cooked.