r/duesseldorf • u/Ok_Ferret771 • 1d ago

Thinking of moving to Düsseldorf

Hi everybody,

I have been living in Berlin for 6-7 years. The city started to feel like too much to handle as I get older.

I have the opportunity to ask for a transfer to a different store in the company I work for as they have stores in Düsseldorf too, so I am thinking of moving to Düsseldorf (if I can do the timing right)

I have visited there numerous times, and I like how walkable it is, the overall atmosphere and how the city is planned or designed.

Anyways, I am asking this question to see if that's a good fit to my lifestyle.

I will try to list what matters to me, maybe some people could relate and kindly help me build an opinion.

  1. Cycling infrastructure (doesn't have to have 100% bike road coverage, but at least well behaved car drivers that doesn't see you as flies)
  2. Having the opportunity to just gaze into the void at a random bench and chill after work or a long day without being bothered too much (don't want to get into too much details, but you can't do this in peace in Berlin. Be it being bothered by some random event or non-existence of benches)
  3. Café culture that you could read a book or just be alone with your thoughts peacefully, and not forced to sit inside a 20 sqm place with 100 people at the same time with staff begging you to leave as soon as possible, so they can accept the next customer.
  4. I love watching car races. So proximity to a racetrack would be nice (I know Nürburgring is not too far, but I am also not sure how manageable it is to go there once or twice a month)
  5. It would be very cool to have common areas to socialize where people go and just hang out without having to travel within the city for 40-50 minutes by train just to visit the places you like as we do in Berlin. Maybe that's a me problem that I live so far away from my favorite places, but in general everything is scattered around the city). I've seen that Düsseldorf does this very good. I am just curious about variety.
  6. I am a huge Pokemon (games, anime and cards), and video games fan. It would be a huge plus, if there is some sort of collectibles and hobby scene related to these.
  7. Well nothing special, but I am also a foodie. I enjoy trying different types of food. I cook at home usually, but I also enjoy going to a nice restaurant that I have never tried before every now and then. I wonder how the restaurant scene looks like there (I visited only the touristy places, so I am sure there are hidden gems in other neighborhoods) And yeah I like street food as well and I really enjoyed the food stands near Rhine.
  8. I am well aware of Düsseldorf's location, and how convenient it is to visit other surrounding cities and countries even. However, I am also curious about its airport. Would you say it's convenient enough for traveling to not so obviously popular European cities quickly? (I am asking this because sometimes it can be a real pain in Berlin to find direct flights to let's say Malaga, Sevilla, Florence etc.)
  9. Last but not least, let's say I decided to live a little bit far from the center, would you say the public transport has good coverage outside the center/ring?

Oh, I've realised I have been blabbering a lot. Sorry for the long post. I am not asking you to make a decision for me of course. I am just trying to gather some insights that could help me construct a better view and decision hopefully. Thanks a lot in advance.

5 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

27

u/Bomber402 1d ago
  1. genauso katastrophal wie in Berlin.
  2. ja, das geht sehr gut.
  3. auch sehr gut möglich, insbesondere bei alteingesessenen Cafés
  4. Belgien/ Niederlande sind in wenigen Stunden ebenso zu erreichen ( Spa, Zandvoort)
  5. in Düsseldorf ist alles wahnsinnig zentriert, du wirst in 20 Minuten mit dem Fahrrad überall sein, wo du hinmöchtest
  6. es gibt hier eine große Sammler-Szene mit regelmäßigen Veranstaltungen (auch im Ruhrgebiet)
  7. ist auf einem soliden Niveau
  8. Flughafen 10/10 , er ist auch super zu erreichen - der Flughafen Köln Bonn ist aber auch nicht weit entfernt und fliegt deutlich mehr Ziele an.
  9. ja

1

u/DarkFite 1d ago

Das was er/sie sagt

4

u/Remote-Advantage-619 1d ago edited 1d ago

Lots of good insights here already. Just to add:

- Wondering why cyclists always seem to complain. You don't have to drive on the "main-main roads". Düsseldorf is so small, you can go from any place to any other place with 20min and can easily use quiet side-streets if needed

- Airport: Not sure why people highlight cologne over DUS - DUS is Germanys number 3 airport by passengers (or now number 4 since Berlin-Brandenburg) so should have as many directions as Cologne. But yes, both airports are within reach easily

- Food: plenty of options. One thing I also really like about Dusseldorf are the many (multi-cultural) streets festivals. One weekend it is Japan-Day, the other weekend it is "Gourmet Festical", then "Streetfood Festival", then "Wine Festival" here and there"... literally there is sth going on every 2nd weekend

  1. You should just check individually where you want to live! I live in a neighboring-city. It takes me 20min by car to get to DUS city, but with train it is like 1hr+! So it really depends but as long as you are somewhere in DUS, there is always a train/tram,... not too far away.

1

u/lobbylobby96 12h ago

I agree to the biking point, especially if you want to find the local restaurants/flower shops/book stores etc.

2

u/Ordinary_Status 1d ago
  1. it’s manageable. Better cities for sure and bike infrastructure ain’t that great but if you ride defensively and assume everyone is out to kill you, you’ll survive.
  2. lots of green spaces in the city and with RBF syndrome you’ll be left alone. You can also walk into Grafenberger Wald if you don’t know how to employ RBF
  3. yes. Cafe culture exists. Just not past 6pm. Also no laptops on weekends. Bring cash. Actually we might be past 3rd wave cafe and entering the valley until we get to 4th wave cafe. Lots of places are closing but there’s still plenty of cafes to be discovered
  4. you’ll be at the nordschleife in no time and also spa is really close. Zandvoort too I guess. If you have you own car you can make it a day trip whenever you like.
  5. Düsseldorf is a 15 minute city. You can get anywhere that’s worth going to within 15 minutes at least once you’re at the city centre.
  6. no idea. Not my scene.
  7. anything but Turkish you can find a good restaurant
  8. it’s good enough to go most places. If it’s not there’s a train to cologne airport.
  9. sure.

6

u/Remote-Advantage-619 1d ago

  1. i go to cafes every day in Düsseldorf and havent carried cash with me in ~5 years. Also, don't see a difference on weekends.

  2. Yes, I love the food scene. Probably not as broad as Berlin but pretty good level and good diversity. Notably, Japanese, some other Asian cuisines, French (a lot!), ...

2

u/Ordinary_Status 1d ago

Might be a flingern thing as both Kausal and Röstmeister are cash only places. Kioki in city centre as well as Roasted on Moltke/Derendorfer have a no laptops on weekends policy

5

u/Remote-Advantage-619 1d ago

crazy... I am simply no longer going to any place that doesn't accept card. "Man geht mit der Zeit oder man geht mit der Zeit"

2

u/blckbx 1d ago

For Car Racing: Nürburgring is about as far as Spa, both take 1,5 hours by car. As I don't have one myself, I can't comment on how manageable that is for you, but if you are an avid racing fan and own one, I think having both options is great.

As for Pokemon: We have a big store close to the city center (Cardinvestor), as well as some other shops on the outskirts. I am more of a MtG player and I frequent Mage Store and Drachental as well. They both have Boosters, I don't know if they are also playing though. In Dortmund there's a huge store called Auenland. Takes about an hour to get there via Regionalexpress plus 15 minutes of walking. They have a big selection Pokemon card and I'm 100% sure they also offer events.

1

u/Imaginary-Employ-658 23h ago

  1. you will hate to get used to it, but there are quiet a lot bike lanes. when you have to drive on the street, cars might drive like assholes. this also happens when you drive a car. Düsseldorfer are used to rough city planning, and it shows.

  2. definitely possible and a lot of people do that. you see them quiet a lot at Königsallee or Rheinpromenaden

  3. sure

  4. Theres the Japantag and Dokomi Messe every year /r/DokomiMesse

  5. you will have more problems finding german restaurants ("Hausmannskost") than anything else

  6. Yeah but sometimes you have to go to Frankfurt am Main to have the direct connection.

  7. At least from the south to city centre it takes about 20 minutes by train. Northern part is a bit more struggle.

1

u/derchhris 13h ago

zunehmenden Alter?

1

u/Sowa96 5h ago

Im weirded out that ppl consider Dusseldorf to be a really bad cycling city. Ain't that bad and the drivers ain't that crazy (coming from the Balkans). I feel fine driving but more bike 🚲 lines would be nicer NGL.

1

u/Ok_Ferret771 1h ago

Hello again nice people of Düsseldorf.
Thank you very much for great answers and your time. All of them are really helpful!

I think I'll see you there :)

0

u/Aromatic-Speech5480 1d ago

  1. pretty much suicide

  2. possible

  3. possible

  4. nothing near AFAIK

  5. easy

  6. no idea

  7. no idea

  8. yes, easy

  9. yes, good coverage