Fundamental question: Acquire land as a reserve?

My answer referred to your statement, [m]an müsste für jede Kleinigkeit [...] ins Auto steigen. I still maintain, no, you don't have to do that. That would be a self-chosen fate in this situation.

Well, you can certainly get some things done by bicycle, but the two access roads are quite narrow and there are no pedestrian or bike paths. And I'm not sure if you even have to ride partly directly on the roadway on Werderscher Damm and the street Am Wasser, which rules that out for us. It will look better in the future at the northern end, where a new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists is being built parallel to the railway bridge, at least that's what I gather from a newspaper article, but unfortunately no links are allowed here. That can only mean this bridge. Then you'd be quickly at Werder station. How it looks at night in the dark, however, I do not know.

Still, I stand by it: there is a huge difference whether you walk three minutes to the supermarket, or first have to drive several kilometers when you have forgotten something...

Does anyone reading this live in similar areas in Germany and can report what it's like when you move from the city to outside the city? Not that one eventually says: "How nice it is here - but unfortunately totally impractical..."

Matthias

Does anyone among the readers live in similar areas in Germany and can report what it’s like to move from the city to just outside the city? Not that someday you say: "How nice it is here – but unfortunately totally impractical..."

I can tell you about our neighbors. They moved from Düsseldorf to the Lower Rhine with a new building (commute to work about 35 km). After two years, the house is being sold again and they are moving back to Düsseldorf because the commuting "gets on their nerves"... The transport connections are perfect – if you only look at the motorways, public transport to Düsseldorf is practically non-existent – but the daily traffic jams negate everything.

Well, in my targeted area, you can quickly walk to the train station with a Regional Express every half hour. That puts a lot into perspective.

But exactly your description reflects my concerns: You can't simulate something like that; you really have to make your own real experiences. On the other hand, it's still very close to Potsdam and Berlin...

Matthias

A follow-up question from me now, because I am still working on the topic and pondering it:

Could it be that there is no solution to my problem at all? When I look at the standard land values in the Berlin surrounding area, they are consistently higher in the interesting areas than where I currently live in a Berlin outer district. For everyone who joined in later: I built a house on my parents’ property 20 years ago and am located here between a village center and a large housing estate from the 1970s. Unfortunately, something like this exists all over Berlin, which is due to the division situation at that time. So actually my house is much too upscale for the area and doesn’t really fit in here. The street noise is getting increasingly unbearable, and I also notice on the bus or while shopping that I don’t really fit in here either. In other words: someday I want to move away from here and only my parents are still keeping me here.

Professionally, I belong to the educated bourgeois upper class, and that is currently not reflected in my living situation, at least not in the place of residence. This is clearly a petite bourgeois milieu.

Locations in Berlin where I might feel comfortable would be Grunewald or Dahlem, but I will never be able to afford that. The same applies to Potsdam. One would have had to buy there 20 years ago. Unfortunately, my intellectual horizon did not extend beyond my parents’ property back then. But if I now search in the surrounding area and always make sure that a regional train station is within walking distance, I end up in areas that also do not appeal to me, because the standard there, almost 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, is not what I desire.

So the question is: how could I optimize my search? I depend on being able to get to downtown Berlin quickly because that is where all my clients are located. But I don’t want to give up the living form “house with a large garden.” And preferably in a bourgeois neighborhood. I fear that won’t work... or will it?

Matthias

Now a follow-up question from me, because I am still working on the topic and pondering it:

Could it be that there is no solution to my problem at all? When I look at the standard land values in the Berlin outskirts, they are consistently higher in the interesting areas than where I currently live in a Berlin outer district. For everyone who joined in later: I built a house on my parents' property 20 years ago, and I am located between a village center and a large housing estate from the 1970s. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is everywhere in Berlin; it is due to the division situation at that time. So basically, my house is far too upscale for the area and does not really fit here. The street noise is becoming increasingly unbearable, and I keep noticing on the bus or while shopping that I don't really belong here either. In other words: at some point I want to leave here, and only my parents keep me here.

Professionally, I belong to the educated bourgeois upper class, and this is not currently reflected in my living situation, at least not in the place I live. This is clearly a petty bourgeois environment.

Areas in Berlin where I might feel comfortable would be Grunewald or Dahlem, but I will never be able to afford that. The same applies to Potsdam. You would have had to buy there 20 years ago. Unfortunately, my intellectual horizon did not extend beyond my parents' property back then. But now if I look in the surrounding area, always making sure there is a regional train station within walking distance, I end up in areas that also don't appeal to me because the standard there is still not what I desire, almost 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

So the question is: How could I optimize my search? I need to be in downtown Berlin quickly because all my clients are there. But I don't want to give up the housing form "house with a large garden." And preferably in a bourgeois neighborhood. I'm afraid that won't work... Or will it?

Matthias

Your problem can really be found in every city. An old core that is partly renewed (renovation/demolition new build). New clientele being pushed in or out somewhere thanks to low interest rates. If you really move somewhere, you have no guarantee that you will still be happy in 20 years.

Woltersdorf had a S-Bahn connection back then and was very idyllic when I was there...