Tehran, second worst city to live in the world

[Niloufar]

Azizjan, I fully acknowledge that it's impossible to make the really big bucks without mixing with the dirty bunch, but I know people who make a decent honest living in Iran and can keep their head up. A restaurant, clothing store, music school, cell-phone shop and things like that don't really require you to be a hardcore KHAYE-MAAL! The corruption in government offices is definitely there and you gotta pay your fair share of bribes, but that's the business norm in most of East Europe, Middle East and the rest of Asia. It's the unwritten tax law Here in Canada the government chokes you on taxes and feels no shame about it. Over there, you pay here and there but end up keeping most of your money without having to answer for it to any tax collecting motherfucker.

Again, the answer to fixing Iran's problems is not leaving the country and belittling it. You'll find more or less the same quantity of challenges living anywhere in the world.

Soroush, totally understand ur nostalgic feeling, but u need to go back there after a long time, and then to have a fair judgment, actually try to work/live there!
u know how much I love Iran and memories we carry from the city/country(even though as "nasle enghelab"), but it has changed so much from 5-10 yrs ago..we have changed a lot too..hey I actually tried to live/work there, but after 3 months of facing reality "2 pa dashtam, ba 2 paye dige umadam!".. I'll never this line from my frustrated aunt's husband, when he realized I wanna live/work there, he was like: "man delam barash misoozeh..javuneh, tajrobeye maro nadareh..dare vaghtesho talaf mikone alan..inja ayandeh nadareh, be hamin rahati"!!lol and I reached that conclusion after 3 months of applying for job and going for interviews!!
but at the same time, nothing feels as good as walking in Tehran streets, talk to ppl, eye-witness the changes, get saddened by its ppl's miseries, and laugh at its unusual details.

Akhe kojaye donya, u get to 30 this posted on a door of a store and not crack you up?!! everything is sooo different there than anywhere else in the world..here are few of the pics I took there 6 months ago:

 

[masoudA]

Take IR out of the equation - and there is no place on earth like Tehran. Yes there is pollution and there is traffic - but all that pales in comparsion to the spirit and mentality that resides in all of Iran - besides, purely based on topography, there are very few cities on earth which can be compared to the glorious setting of Tehran.

Bachehe Tehroon

 

[deerouz]

I think there is no reason to be either too black or two white about Tehran. IMHO as a born and raised Tehrani, Tehran is a naturally beautiful place and I am not saying this out of Nostalgia. On the foot of one of the highest mountains in the region, so close to superb hiking and skiing opportunities etc. I still love most of the neighborhoods whether in North or South (which, btw, has significantly improved over the past two decades) It definitely HAD the potential of becoming the most beautiful capital of the world if it had not expand so large.

At the same time, I think Tehran is nowhere close to any major city in North America when it comes to opportunities for a peaceful lifestyle. It is not because I have been living in Canada for a long time. I noticed the differences as soon as I left Iran and it has not improved much since then.

Life in Tehran is stressful. Much more than Toronto and New York etc. It is not just that traffic is everywhere (and not just on the highways), but also the attitude of the people stuck in the traffic adds to their stress. Tehran's traffic is not comparable to Toronto's. In Toronto if you manage to avoid major highways in rush hours and a couple of main intersections you'll be fine. In Tehran I have spent long time in traffic in Farmaniyeh, gheytariyeh, Elahiyeh, even in Darroos! God damn it, Darroos used to be a peaceful place for walking. Now you can't even drive through it without getting stuck in traffic somewhere.

The design of the city and buildings has become horrible. Two-story houses have almost but disappeared from everywhere even the suburbs, replaced with ugly four-five stories that adds a great deal to the population in neighborhoods. In North America you can flee from the crowd to the suburbs, but not in Tehran. Even the suburbs are crowded!

Add to this the lack of green area, parks, bike lanes etc. The parks they build in Tehran are indeed fancy: Lots of sculptures and water fountains and fancy things, but have little place for kids to run around and have fun. I am not even getting into the social problems there either. I think we can agree that Tehran is not safer than Toronto anymore. bureaucracy etc? don't even go there. and you notice that I didn't even mention political oppression and komiteh and social restrictions etc.

I don't think Tehran deserves a second place from last on that list, but the city does not offer a living standard anywhere close to the major cities in North America.

 

[InDaMoneyz]

nostalgia is right, I have seen somalis who have packed and gone back to somalia from Toronto or New york !!! recently saw a documentary about such immigrant families from such 3rd world countries who decided to go back.
Obviously its not to have a better life.

Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately most of us who were born in the west, grew up here or have been here for a long time can no longer identify with an average tehrani. In fact I know my beliefs and standards are a lot closer to that of an average person from buffalo than an average tehrani! Hell I think I probably even have more incommon with those two characters messi and behrooz from across the pond than someone from even shomale tehran ! so what else is left? yeah I'll go for a visit but after a week im ready to get the hell out.

Also no one has made look tehran or iran look bad other than its people and the people who run it. Just take a look at our planet of the appes president and the 14th century rishoo clerics who run our country and the standards they impose! Im sure they all do just a fine job making Iran and all of us like wackos !

Last but not least in this case when assessing the livability of tehran, do not forget that it must be looked at from the eye of an outsider or neutral and not a tehrani, think what a turk, canadian or chinese thinks about the list. for most part they will think it is reasonable.

Most reasonable people couldnt care less if tehran was the most beautifull and richest city in the world with the highest living standard, all it would take is for one stoning to take place for them not wanting to have anything to do with it.

 

[Bache Tehroon]

I think there is no reason to be either too black or two white about Tehran. IMHO as a born and raised Tehrani, Tehran is a naturally beautiful place and I am not saying this out of Nostalgia. On the foot of one of the highest mountains in the region, so close to superb hiking and skiing opportunities etc. I still love most of the neighborhoods whether in North or South (which, btw, has significantly improved over the past two decades) It definitely HAD the potential of becoming the most beautiful capital of the world if it had not expand so large.

At the same time, I think Tehran is nowhere close to any major city in North America when it comes to opportunities for a peaceful lifestyle. It is not because I have been living in Canada for a long time. I noticed the differences as soon as I left Iran and it has not improved much since then.

Life in Tehran is stressful. Much more than Toronto and New York etc. It is not just that traffic is everywhere (and not just on the highways), but also the attitude of the people stuck in the traffic adds to their stress. Tehran's traffic is not comparable to Toronto's. In Toronto if you manage to avoid major highways in rush hours and a couple of main intersections you'll be fine. In Tehran I have spent long time in traffic in Farmaniyeh, gheytariyeh, Elahiyeh, even in Darroos! God damn it, Darroos used to be a peaceful place for walking. Now you can't even drive through it without getting stuck in traffic somewhere.

The design of the city and buildings has become horrible. Two-story houses have almost but disappeared from everywhere even the suburbs, replaced with ugly four-five stories that adds a great deal to the population in neighborhoods. In North America you can flee from the crowd to the suburbs, but not in Tehran. Even the suburbs are crowded!

Add to this the lack of green area, parks, bike lanes etc. The parks they build in Tehran are indeed fancy: Lots of sculptures and water fountains and fancy things, but have little place for kids to run around and have fun. I am not even getting into the social problems there either. I think we can agree that Tehran is not safer than Toronto anymore. bureaucracy etc? don't even go there. and you notice that I didn't even mention political oppression and komiteh and social restrictions etc.

I don't think Tehran deserves a second place from last on that list, but the city does not offer a living standard anywhere close to the major cities in North America.

And I agree with that.

We're talking about how "livable" a city is (that's what the rankings are no?!).

Tehran is very very livable. There wouldn't be 12 million people in it if it wasn't. Iran is a big country and people are free to live anywhere they want. If Tehran was as bad as some people claim, everyone would be fleeing Tehran.

I just don't like how people use every opportunity to take a dump on Iran and Tehran while they go out of their way to justify the shortcomings of life in western countries.

 

[Farsi Zaban]

Deeruz, from your post it sounds like you have a slight aversion to crowded places. That's fine, a lot of people are like that. I personally don't really dig suburban life in the north america. I guess the privacy is nice, but at the same time I don't really enjoy having neighbors who are cold, distant and unapproachable. I hate plowing snow, raking leaves, watering my lawn and all the silly yard work. I hate that if I want to grab a sandwich the closest place is 25 minutes away by foot, nearest gym 45 minutes. Safety and security are nice. Fire station is right down the street, but how often do you need the fire station? Law enforcement is more responsive but only if there is serious crime. It nice to know if I'm murdered someone will follow up on who might have killed me. It all goes back to your living preferences.

 

[Bache Tehroon]

Deeruz, from your post it sounds like you have a slight aversion to crowded places. That's fine, a lot of people are like that. I personally don't really dig suburban life in the north america. I guess the privacy is nice, but at the same time I don't really enjoy having neighbors who are cold, distant and unapproachable. I hate plowing snow, raking leaves, watering my lawn and all the silly yard work. I hate that if I want to grab a sandwich the closest place is 25 minutes away by foot, nearest gym 45 minutes. Safety and security are nice. Fire station is right down the street, but how often do you need the fire station? Law enforcement is more responsive but only if there is serious crime. It nice to know if I'm murdered someone will follow up on who might have killed me. It all goes back to your living preferences.

aversion to crowded places is shared by many people, but it's almost comical when the zoo called "Manhattan" or "LA downtown" are almost constantly glorified into something from heaven while Tehran's Toopkhooneh or Bazaar area is portrayed as too crowded or stressful!

I'm a suburbs guy myself. I don't enjoy busy intersections or thousands of pedestrians swarming the walkways and I understand Tehran lacks the peace and quite that I can enjoy in the suburbs of Toronto, but that's just me.

 

[deerouz]

Deeruz, from your post it sounds like you have a slight aversion to crowded places. That's fine, a lot of people are like that. I personally don't really dig suburban life in the north america. I guess the privacy is nice, but at the same time I don't really enjoy having neighbors who are cold, distant and unapproachable. I hate plowing snow, raking leaves, watering my lawn and all the silly yard work. I hate that if I want to grab a sandwich the closest place is 25 minutes away by foot, nearest gym 45 minutes. Safety and security are nice. Fire station is right down the street, but how often do you need the fire station? Law enforcement is more responsive but only if there is serious crime. It nice to know if I'm murdered someone will follow up on who might have killed me. It all goes back to your living preferences.

FZ jan,
I don't mind crowded places if facilities and necessities of life are available. For example I can imagine (mostly from Seinfeld show ) that in Manhatan there is an acceptable transit system that I can use to get around, Gym and restaurants and other facilities on every block, Fire stations and movie theaters etc. I'll live quite happily in a place like that.

The problem with most Tehran neighborhoods is that they have become like downtowns but with facilities as scarce as suburbs. In Tehran you still have to drive 30-45 minutes to get to the nearest gym. Even walking to the nearest grocery store could be a 2-3 kilometers walk or more depending on where you live. To say that the transit system is inefficient is an understatement (except on certain routes or subway). Say you live in the heart of Darroos - a sufficiently upscale neighborhood- where is your closest grocery store, restaurant, park etc? The crowd and the traffic is comparable to a downtown neighborhood but facilities are nonexistent.

 

[Bache Tehroon]

Deerouzjan, what do you mean by grocery store? Isn't there a well stocked Baghghali at the end of every street in Tehran? I personally prefer those over big department stores/grocery giants.

 

[deerouz]

Deerouzjan, what do you mean by grocery store? Isn't there a well stocked Baghghali at the end of every street in Tehran? I personally prefer those every big department stores/grocery giants.

BT jan, maybe in more traditional neighborhoods in the southern and central Tehran. But not that many in Northern part of the city, which has become the most crowded part. I recall only a few baghalis in Darrous area from Meydoon Ehteshamiyeh almost all the way up to Dowlat street, and still it takes a mile or so walking from some parts of Darrous. In Pasdaran/Saltanatabad area as soon as you get a few blocks away from the main street there are not many stores. How many are in kooche-pas-kooche of Kamraniyeh and Gheytariyeh?

The problem is that these upscale neighborhoods used to be like suburbs - low population and lack of traffic allowed you to drive to the main streets for all you needed. Not so much anymore. Thanks to all the high rises in these neighborhoods, these areas are more crowded than Naziabad and Iran St. and Toopkhooneh. Last time I was there I visited a friend living in south Shahbaz st (17 Shahrivar) and that part of the city looked more livable than Gheytariyeh/Farmaniyeh area!!!!

 

[Niloufar]

The problem with most Tehran neighborhoods is that they have become like downtowns but with facilities as scarce as suburbs. In Tehran you still have to drive 30-45 minutes to get to the nearest gym. Even walking to the nearest grocery store could be a 2-3 kilometers walk or more depending on where you live. To say that the transit system is inefficient is an understatement (except on certain routes or subway). Say you live in the heart of Darroos - a sufficiently upscale neighborhood- where is your closest grocery store, restaurant, park etc? The crowd and the traffic is comparable to a downtown neighborhood but facilities are nonexistent.

so true about over-crowded northern part of city and lack of sufficient facilities. But Tehran's transit system, is quite efficient with extensive coverage. They were going to start Niavaroon station few months ago, which helps a lot, considering it goes all the way to Bazaar, southern part of city,etc. Tehran's bus system has improved a lot too, with more of them being Express buses, with few stops. and along the way there are tons of (still affordable) cabs available. In modern city like Toronto, we dont have all these facilities available!

And about grocery stores in residential areas, I think it only makes sense to be like that..Just like kooche-pas koocheh of Richmondhill area in Toronto have no grocery stores, and are few km walk to get to the main street, its still like that in Nrthern Tehran.

 

[Mahdi]

I hate suburbs..

just to add my 2 cents...

Vienna 2nd..nice..

Btw. just as we know that there are more than 140 cities in the world, we should also know that Tehran is not the 2nd worst city to live in(Kabul, Baghdad, Freetown, Ciudad Juarez should all be worse..from top of my head)

 

[Bache Tehroon]

All I know is in the 4th livable city in the world getting to your favorite department store on a weekend is nothing but a headache. Booking for driving examination is a headache. Getting to many parts of the city without a car is almost impossible. Subway(Metro) system is laughable. Driving your guest from the airport to your house is very comparable to driving home from Behesht-Zahra in Tehran. Unless you live in the downtown core, walking to any destination is pretty much out of the question.

 

[alila]

I wonder where London stands in that list?

No obvious town planning,old metro system with old trains and lots of signal failure ,awful weather like 250 days of rain and grey dull sky,expensive house rent(£1200 p/m for an average 1 bedroom flat),awful airport,average Internet speed of 2mb/s

 

[Bache Tehroon]

I wonder where London stands in that list?

No obvious town planning,old metro system with old trains and lots of signal failure ,awful weather like 250 days of rain and grey dull sky,expensive house rent(£1200 p/m for an average 1 bedroom flat),awful airport,average Internet speed of 2mb/s

London ranked 53rd.

 

[InDaMoneyz]

All I know is in the 4th livable city in the world getting to your favorite department store on a weekend is nothing but a headache. Booking for driving examination is a headache. Getting to many parts of the city without a car is almost impossible. Subway(Metro) system is laughable. Driving your guest from the airport to your house is very comparable to driving home from Behesht-Zahra in Tehran. Unless you live in the downtown core, walking to any destination is pretty much out of the question.

What the hell !? lol....

booking for driving examination! getting around in the worlds largest city sft / per capita without a car ? driving guest from airport to your house!? LOLLLLLLLL

did you just get of the boat !? if you are doing all the above perhaps is best if you just go back to tehran! no wonder ! LOL....


ofcourse its hard to get around - toronto is 4 times bigger than tehran genius! also toronot takes in more immigrants per year than an other city in the world - some 150k a year - no wonder you cant get driving test time!...you should done that when you were 16 and passed it first time around son!

 

[Bache Tehroon]

What the hell !? lol....

booking for driving examination! getting around in the worlds largest city sft / per capita without a car ? driving guest from airport to your house!? LOLLLLLLLL

did you just get of the boat !? if you are doing all the above perhaps is best if you just go back to tehran! no wonder ! LOL....


ofcourse its hard to get around - toronto is 4 times bigger than tehran genius! also toronot takes in more immigrants per year than an other city in the world - some 150k a year - no wonder you cant get driving test time!...you should done that when you were 16 and passed it first time around son!

Riazjan, you are a good dude. Some people might laugh at you but don't take it personally. We are all happy that Canada is such a wonderful country, even people like you can make it there. i myself think about you everytime I try to find justification for the taxes I pay.

 

[InDaMoneyz]

Riazjan, you are a good dude. Some people might laugh at you but don't take it personally. We are all happy that Canada is such a wonderful country, even people like you can make it there. i myself think about you everytime I try to find justification for the taxes I pay.

okaaayyyy....! well we are not talking about taxes, no one likes to pay taxes and still you pay a lot less than euros do. but in this case the reasons you presented were just ridiculous !

driving test time is long? who cares! not important - specialy when you are no longer a teenager!
public transportation is not as comprehensive ? its the largest city in the world! you think it would make any economic sense or even possible to provide top notch public transportation in every possible area!? you gonna pay for that? I wont, I get a CAR like every normal torontonian. Do you also think public transportation can keep up with cities growth rate in the suburbs every year? furthermore even if there was top notch public transportation do you think it would make your life easier ? you know howlong it will take you to get from east end to west end using public transit? try close to 2 hours !!?? please, dont know how old you are but you gotta start thinking a little more intelligently buddy. (ironicaly toronto is said to have one of the best public transit systems in the world). you need any guidance about toronto and how get things done let me know. I know toronto, sanfran and miami very well.

if you want some real problems with toronto: property taxes, income taxes, long waits to see specialists or to receive treatment if not critical illness, horrible gridlocks, shitty and slow management of accidents, slow driving limits, timing and restrictions around serving and selling of booz at stores and bars, shitty sports teams, letting in too many rich hezbis and their pro IRI families.....but these are still not as bad as most cities and the positives of the city easily outweighs all the negatives to make it the most diverse, prosperous, accepting, polite, secure, caring city in the world.

Sanfran and new york are better than toronto and vancouver in most categories, but they are also much more expensive.

 

[Bache Tehroon]

driving test time is long? who cares! not important - specialy when you are no longer a teenager!

The driving test comment was an example of government-office tasks being cumbersome even in top cities.

public transportation is not as comprehensive ? its the largest city in the world! you think it would make any economic sense or even possible to provide top notch public transportation in every possible area!?

LOL! Maybe not in every possible area, but I highly doubt you can argue the chicken-trail subway line underneath Toronto being an embarrassment to the town. I live here dude. You don't need to tell me what's good and what's bad here

ironicaly toronto is said to have one of the best public transit systems in the world

Source?! (just so I can laugh)

you need any guidance about toronto and how get things done let me know.

Would love to spend a day discovering the unknowns of the city I have spent more than half of my life in. How's next weekend?

if you want some real problems with toronto: property taxes, income taxes, long waits to see specialists or to receive treatment if not critical illness, horrible gridlocks, shitty and slow management of accidents, slow driving limits, timing and restrictions around serving and selling of booz at stores and bars, shitty sports teams, letting in too many rich hezbis and their pro IRI families

Yup. That and a few other things. The stuff most big cities suffer from.

but these are still not as bad as most cities and the positives of the city easily outweighs all the negatives to make it the most diverse, prosperous, accepting, polite, secure, caring city in the world.

Not really. Only so much diversity can be counted as a positive. After a certain point, it's just a neutral characteristic. Prosperity is highly debatable. Toronto attracts foreign money brought by immigrants. Without the real-estate market (which is said to be a bubble about to burst) Toronto is far from a prosperous city. Manufacturing is a moot point and the average income earned by middle-class workers is far lower than cities like Boston, NYC, LA and San Fran. Start-up high-tech businesses have almost no chance and monopolies rule the economy. It's all in Real Estate and a bit of retail. That's not prosperity. That's a fake and fragile bubble ready to blow at any time.


Overall I agree that Toronto is a more livable city than most cities in the world (and definitely more livable than Tehran), but it's not the heaven portrayed to be, nor is Tehran the "hell" claimed by some.

 

[reza+]

sorry, i have not read all the comments but i've been to few places in my life .... lived for a very long time in london too ... i agree with a lot of what BT says
i can tell u teh is definitely not a bad place ... i;ve lived here for about a year and although i absolutely hate the traffic, it is "OK"
I mean its not the cleanest/most prosperous city (for everyone) in the world but there's certainly a lot to do/see in teh ... it's relatively safe (i mean i/my family go out & maybe stay in a park till 1/2 am... no problem at all) ... loads of nice parks in teh .... beautiful mountains .... right now great weather (tho it was unacceptably hot - for me - for the last 3 months) ....

now the reason why i say it's not clean is partly coz people just don't care nuf about their own environment... u see rubbish/empty bottles all over the place... they just drop/throw them anywhere ... there 's huge amount of waste in tehran...

in terms of transport... well imagine paying 40 (cents) to travel from the south all the way to tajrish ... in one of these fast services... it's a pretty good service & the price is amazing but, of course, coz there r so many people it's just not nuf

In terms of biz opportunities, this is a huge place with a gigantic economy of its own... if u r a biz man u cud very well here ... better than london/NY/SF/Tor for some biz sectors ... i mean life is a daily struggle for a lot of people but, at the same time, a lot of people are doing pretty well here coz they work hard (and yes some do have the right connections) but a really successful restaurant owner who maybe earns around $50-100K/week or a property developer do not rely on influential contacts ... so to be successful here, u need to have certain skills/hard working and with a good capital ... u cud argue there r even successful hi-tech companies who r not necessarily connected with the gov ...eg s/w house who provide services/support to private banks and so on ...

one of the biggest prob here is lack of respect for basic laws of living in a big city/society (i mean social not political)... ie people always cheat/break the rules to achieve their goals... they want the system to do everything for them ...basically there's a lack of responsibility in all sections of the society

personally... i do NOT like to live here forever mainly coz of the traffic (just too many people/cars/lack of respecting basic laws) but teh wd b one of the best cities in the world IF it had a population of maybe around 5M or less ... just imagine if there better management here ... all that water coming down from the mountains could be used to build a huge artificial lake (and park) in downtown tehran for people to relax/enjoy themselves.. instead it's all wasted (as far as i know)

the other thing is the politics of the country.... i always wonder if i/my kids should live here forever ...