I have first landed in Bangalore in 1997 after I landed a job on campus. I never hoped to get a job a here. I was hoping to go to Chennai as it met most of my needs.
First when I landed here it was terrible to search for a house. Luckily an agent who was busy in his daughters wedding didn?t bother to ask for his commission. From then on I traveled abroad and back to Bangalore 5 times and initially the city was decently quiet but after Y2K it changed rapidly for the worst. I thought I would move out of Bangalore and would land in Hyderabad or Chennai soon. But that never happened. Now I am settled here.
::The plus points are::
1) IT and ITES industry is booming. ITPL, Electronic city.
2) If you had invested in real-estate pre-Y2K, You got major returns.
3) No Naxalism.
4) Green Parks.
5) No sweat, good whether in summer.
6) Variety in restaurants (Not for daily use)
7) Good quality brands in clothing available in lots of places.
8) Wide acceptance of credit/debit cards & black money (Unfortunately I am an employee).
9) The poojari?s in temples are not money minded unlike in some other cities I know.
10) Good-looking chicks that do flaunt what they have.
::The Minus points are::
1) Nobody wants to expand the city due to poor mass transport/roads.
2) 10 Months advance, water extra, high rent, small rooms, very tiny steps on stairs, no parking in most houses unless you pay even higher rents with even higher advance.
3) If you had not invested in real-estate pre-Y2K, You are screwed big time. (If your salary is near or greater than 10L you are screwing those whose salary is not 10L)
4) Right wing activists, I am not sure if they are real kannadigas. As I have kannadiga friends who are the most polite and friendly.
5) You can easily find things you desire but not what you need. Ex: I live a street where we have 4 bakery shops in 300 meters and only one vegetable/fruit stall which sell at different prices to different class of people. To buy a TV, Refrigerator or music system you can only go to PAI/Viveks or some shops on MG road/Brigade road which sells high-end items. But I know in vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada or hyderabad I can go to one street where I can bargain for the best price by pitting one against the other dealer who are located next to each other. There will be at least 10 dealers with a reasonable variety in their product mix that suits most middle class in these cities. You have more pubs and bars than places where a family can sit in a non-smoking zone.
6) Roads. Recently I went to Hyderabad and traveled by car extensively for three days at various times of the day and that?s when it struck me how much Bangalore is behind. The traffic jams and road conditions in Bangalore are not pardonable. You need front end over hauling every year if you own a two-wheeler and you go at 10-20KMH if you own a car.
7) Men who have nothing to do all day are gathering at every possible corner, shop, stand and give ’looks’ to every woman, girl, grandma. I can’t comprehend this obsession. This is a problem for ladies as it makes it impossible for them to visit the local store or walk down the street alone. (Not every one can be a Malashree, If you know what I mean.)
8) Rising crime rate. This problem is common to all cities. But Bangalore being a Silicon Valley of India should be ahead of controlling it with better technology and surveillance.
9) The mollah racked in by the Karanataka govt from Banaglore’s companies in terms of tax, sale tax, and other taxes is not being invested into Bangalore even as single digit percentage of total tax collected.
10) No proper connection to other major cities. I am talking about railways and road transport. Al routes are not straight lines. They go in extreme curves. To kerala and other major andhra destinations.
11) Pollution. No need to elaborate.
12) State govt, except during SMK?s tenure.
13) No Parking facilities. No planned construction. Highly corrupt & inefficient CMC?s (ranking no 1), BDA, RTO, BESCOM. BSNL. All cities in India are corrupt but Bangalore is more corrupt due to point no 9. I heard certain CMC?s have erected streetlights, laid roads on paper and balance sheets.
14) Chronic cold, sleep shortage due to dryness, allergies due to dust and pollen.
15) Very bad movie theaters (except for the costly PVR and other multiplexes that came up recently). You could never get a weekend movie ticket except if it is a kannada movie or you booked well in advance. There is no good quality places for the masses like tank bund, NTR gardens in hyderabad, marina beach in chennai. Lalbagh of Bangalore is full of rowdies wanting to molest every female worth her age and no decent family guy can go there. It?s safer at home or on Commercial Street.
16) Chicks smoking and drinking.
For a common man the minus points outweigh the positives. For most IT related guys and myself the positives out weighed the minus points (at least for now).