When A City Cannot Support Its Talent

Berlin, Germany's capital, is faced with such severe economic stagnation that it can no longer support its bohemian residents.

1 minute read

May 31, 2005, 9:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Berlin has high unemployment, huge debts and a real-estate market that's been floundering for years. Affordable housing attracts artists, students and other bohemian types. Spacious lofts designed for advertising agencies and consulting firms have been converted into photo studios and practice rooms for bands.

...There's something both likable and miserable about a city that cannot support all the talent it attracts. Germany, a stagnating economy, has raised a lost generation of young professionals -- and nowhere are they as lost as right here in the capital."

[Editor's note: The link below is available to non-subscribers for a period of six days.]

Thanks to Laura Kranz

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 in Wall St. Journal

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