Yippee for the Yuppies
July 21, 2011
I saw this on my travels in Prenzlauer Berg, yuppie capital of Berlin and it made me feel a bit sad.
Ok so, it is said that the presence of yuppies is increasing rents. However, Berlin being one of the poorest capital cities in Europe, isn’t it the case that qualified individuals bringing money and potentially jobs (I guess many entrepreneurs fall into the ‘yuppie’ category, don’t they?) is a good thing?
Or am I just a biased yuppie?
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I certainly wouldn’t call you a yuppie!
I guess I wouldn’t really have a problem if I was. Labels: Who needs ‘em?
Hello, I just found your blog through Workingberlinmum. Yes, I think it’s good if the ‘yuppies’ are bringing money and work into the city, but I am hearing of more and more places which are shutting down because of increasing rents. If Berlin loses most of it’s small independent shops and cafes then I think it would be really sad. I just read that East of Eden (the 2nd hand bookshop) has closed, and my local Hugendubel (yes, yes, ok, it’s not exactly a cornershop!) is closing down in March because of the increasing rent (and also because book sales are down thanks to online places like Amazon). There was talk that Thalia might take it over, but sadly it’s still books, and the only things that sell well enough to pay that rent are chain store clothes. And that’s where Berlin will end up looking exactly like every other city in the world. And that seems like a real shame, doesn’t it?
Hey Fiona, thanks for reading! I totally agree with you! However, I don’t think we can point the finger and say it’s only the yuppies that are causing rent increases. We will be paying 20% extra rent from September because of the Mietspiegel, which basically says for what my landlord can whack a couple of extra Euro per square metre onto the rent! (cheeky!) We’re very spoiled in Berlin and have been for a long time- we live in a capital city and it’s only a matter of time before the market it totally overpriced like in every other capital. It’s the expendible income that hast to increase alongside that (and we all know that in Berlin, the city of the unemployed, that’s going to be a massive mission)