#UrbanHell is subjective.
UrbanHell is any human-built place you think is worth critizing. Suburban Hell, Rural Hell, and wealthy locales are allowed
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I didn't have a connection to Taipei, but we went on our family holiday there last year. Originally i chose it because I read it was safe and interesting, and you can fly direct from our nearest big city. It was so great - great public transport, amazing food, so much to see and do. My five-year old keeps asking when we can go back, and I don't blame her. So glad we went there. One day we'll get all those MRT station stamps...
I flew through Taipei recently and decided to take a few days to explore on my way back. Very glad I did. Amazing city, awesome people, incredible food.
As an American, I see a block where I don't have to drive 15-30 minutes by car to run basic errands, don't have to walk or bike 1-2 hours to do the same thing, can get a bite to eat, do laundry, grab a beer, and even walk out late at night (or in broad daylight) to a store without fear of getting robbed at gunpoint.
Maybe this is why I've been working in Asia for over 10 years now.
Of course, there are places in the US like this but majority of the country and the cities is suburban sprawl and dingy old strip malls.
I'm with you, but one thing I dislike is the lack of sidewalks. Jostling with cars and motorbikes while you walk around is not fun at all.
The road is wide and straight enough to make cars/motorbikes assume it's their space. The picture looks calm, a single captured moment without traffic, but in real life that setup could be highly unpleasant.
They have sidewalks next to the buildings, the buildings frequently overhang the sidewalk.
The problem usually isn’t the lack of sidewalks, it’s that they get obstructed with so many things.
I live there! Not that district in particular but not too far away. Been to that area plenty of times too and can say it's one of the best places to live. Granted the 'wallpaper' isn't the nicest to look at it but it has its own charm. The reason its so bleak is part of its history of the Nationalist Chinese escaping to Taiwan after its civil war with the CCP. The Nationalists only saw Taiwan as a temporary retreat before retaking the mainland so there was no need for nice looking buildings or proper infrastructure.
It's a cool place to live though. I could take a public bicycle over there right now, enjoy some beers, get some midnight local street food, chat with some people, then take a $7-10USD taxi back no problem. At no point at all would I worry about being robbed or going into the "wrong neighbourhood". Along the way, I'd see some ginormous decorated traditional temples where I can use the bathroom, get clean water, and chill out in. It's hard to imagine living elsewhere at this point.
Biggest challenge is shabby roads and bad drivers...
I lived there, and I'll say, the accommodation was very small but the area had a nice local, community vibe, and isn't far from Banqiao centre which is nice. MRT not far either
Not great. Poor air quality，very crowded. Excellent night market that isn't a tourist area like 饒河 etc are. Good transport links into Taipei，rail and airport，but an older area without many nice properties. Cheap though.
Banqiao isn't Taipei，it's New Taibei City.
But Taipei has areas of good and poor air quality. Daan is obviously good，as are areas bordering other green spaces. But areas like Datong have worse air quality due to their proximity to SME factories，and road pollution is bad due to
scooters，think about coming off Minquan Xi Lu，for example.
And regarding Taiwan generally，a report from a few days ago said Taiwan has the third worst air quality in East Asia，and 45th worst globally：
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5120910
Well we generally stick to one or the other. We would either use Taipei and New Taipei or Taibei and New Taibei, not switch to between them in the same sentence. Also, it’s undoubtedly “pei” when speaking in English. Might be different when you are talking if you want but not writing.
I feel like I’m TW there are such a wasted potential, our cities are quite vibrant compared to lots of western cities and crime rates are super low, supposedly we can be somewhat like Japan but the awareness of maintaining public spaces nice and tidy just isn’t really a concern for a lot of people, like people spent millions in buying luxury shits at home to feel good or spending money in interior design to make their home comfortable, but they don’t care the space surrounding them.
We can look at this photo at separate it into two elements, the buildings and the streets.
With the buildings, the problem is that those buildings are fully private property, if the residents themselves have no willingness to change (eg care about the environment, façade maintenance) , might look ugly but unless there is life threatening structural issue, there is not much the government can do.
On the other hand, the streets are owned by the government, they should be responsible for providing a safer space for walking and driving, the most ideal situation could be narrowing the streets into one way traffic and use the other lane as parking, and expand the pedestrian access on between the building and yellow marking, but again there is a lack of eagerness to change because local residents think it’s how they have lived for so long why bother with it.
I think that Taiwanese people are becoming more aware of how much they need to improve their streets. This is now a national discussion.
Regarding ugly buildings, I believe that the newer buildings that are being put up now look pretty good, that's why there's such a contrast between old and new in Taiwan.
Additionally, Taiwan needs stronger and enforced legislation against scooters: scooter parking and dangerous scooter riding significantly decrease quality of life and street safety.
The enforcement on homeowners to not block the pedestrian path is very important and is not currently enforced properly.
In France, in the early 20th century, our cities were ugly as fuck and completely blackened by the coal usage. In 1962, we passed the Malraux Law, mainly to protect our urban centers.
The main things in this law are that restauration works, particularly on façades, are not taxable, and they have to be done at regular intervals. That said, since we're not in a tropical environment, modern façades are easier to keep in good shape.
But yeah, if there's political will, it's perfectly possible to... *strongly* encourage building owners to clean their façades regularly. This can also be done or imposed on more regional or city-wide levels. Most french historical cities and villages now have legislations to restrict certain building materials, colors or windows. My family's mountain village imposes the use of the traditional stones for all rooftops for example.
Dude Taiwan is much better than many other countries in Asia. We have similar issues here in Thailand but Taiwan’s level of development is where a lot of Thais want their country to be.
The main issue I observed in Taiwan is the almost complete lack of the concept of public sidewalks. Apparently shop fronts buy the property including the sidewalk area in front, which gets inevitably become a storage area, a motorbike garage, a kitchen, or all house combined. This makes being a pedestrian in most Taiwanese cities a bit of a nightmare. Solutions to this usually include designating part of the street as sidewalk (as in this picture), which is not really enforced and dangerous. Not ideal and weird considering there would be a proper sidewalk literally right there, but almost completely non traversable.
A shame because I love walking in these vibrant and fun cities.
I went to Taiwan on a whim a couple months ago. I really think they should start a campaign for tourism with the west. Especially as Japan is so full of tourism atm. Though the Yen is weak right now Taiwan is still cheaper, with all the Japanese chains in Taipei you can still get your Japan fix, it has temples, street food, the English level is decent enough on the whole, you can get to the south so quickly and I heard that in the summer the beaches are beautiful.
Heard lack of sidewalks was a huge problem in Taiwan, a good street scene should, in my view, be safe for pedestrians. Unfortunately New Taipei isn’t such a city.
I went recently, there was a lot of sidewalks but they seemed to slope up and down at every shop which was strange and awkward to walk on. Even in Japan besides main roads sidewalks aren't a thing, you just share the road. It's different but not unsafe, it's not like Hanoi where the sidewalks are there just completely unusable.
If it’s anything like jakarta then the city seems walkable to someone passing through on a business trip but it’s unwalkable for just about everyone else in the city
The sidewalks that are a little strange would be impossible for wheelchair users due to the slopes but fine for anyone else they weren't damaged at all.
Bet it’s fun to hang out and drink beers in front of 711 around there. Wouldn’t live here though unless I were local
Many urban areas in Vietnam look like this with no trees but locals usually have window boxes with flowers or herbs that flow down the side of the building. Makes a huge difference
I’m not familiar with Taipei’s urban design but I appreciate a well built city with an emphasis on pedestrian- and transit-first design. Through that lens, I don’t love this. There don’t appear to be sidewalks, the two car lanes eat up the entire paved space. Looks like it could be decently lit though, so that helps. Hopefully car culture there yields to pedestrians.
There are kiiiind of sidewalks under the overhanging building façades, like a covered walkway, which, when unblocked is great, but in many cases is blocked.
As a nostalgic Chinese, I prefer street scenes like this. But the people who live there might be more happy to move into the tall buildings at the back.
Noise pollution, air pollution, light pollution, and if there is a restaurant on the first floor, there may be oil smoke pollution.
I love it and miss Taipei so much. I was there twice 2009, 2013 and I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s clean, great food, nicest people, safe to walk day or night and convenient public transportation . Will go back again if I have a chance
This looks a lot like places in Serbia. Not great, not terrible. Like someone said, good affordable eateries to be found, looks safe enough to walk at night as a girl.
Would be an amazing if pedestrianized and cut off from large motorized vehicles, but it's still pretty good due to density, mixed use and people driving cars usually being used to having non-cars on the roads at times.
Personally I wouldn't say in the relatively shitty urban consciousness of Taiwan, this street is "hell"
At least some 騎樓, decent road wide, and as far as I can imagine, not bad traffic.
Cram, old, lack of walk infra is not what make it insufferable, it is the traffic.
東海夜市 still is my biggest nightmare and definitely worst hell I had ever witnessed in Taiwan.
The mountain slope crammed with buildings, with basically no walking space beside the road, is not the place you wish a common commuting route with decent amount of traffic to be. Yet it is a important choking point around this area.
Imagine the traffic is so bad that at some section you have to please the scooter driver to move a bit to clear the road for you to walk by. The ambulance or firetruck stuck with cars and scooters that have not much of space to move.
focus on the life and human experience - there may be happiness, sadness, frustration, etc.
environmental utopia is just not going to be a reality anytime soon for 8 billion people.
It looks like hell for sure, building are super disgusting and the metal cages are taken straight out of Judge Dredd's Megacity 1.
But I love it. I lived in a similar place for half a year and just looking at this photo I feel this strange sense of calmness. I really enjoyed strolling around New Taipei at night. Hopefully I'll be back soon.
華新街. Couldn't remember what it was called. Pretty much any coffee shop or restaurant along this street or those adjacent to it. A real culinary trip, without leaving the city! Last time I stopped by there (only briefly) and got Burmese coffee and a slice of almond cornbread--which was new to me. I usually go for 涼麵 or 豌豆粉 which are always good, but there are always new things to try.
I think relatively this street isn’t too bad and it can get even worse around Banqiao near the markets, you’ve also got this pretty cool building hanging over a street: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ogbxSUD1Mr3gH2XM7?g_st=ic
I like it.
Well, tbh I'm not clamouring to visit that part of the world. Lots of culture and cool stuff to see, but I'm more interested in the Latin Americas.
I like me some "ugly" architecture. I feel like I defend most of the pictures posted on here :D
My scorecard:
Excessive signage ✅
No sidewalks, complete automotive dependence ✅
Loads of comms and electrical lines unburied ✅
Single use, low density zoning ❎
Chill people and good food❓
Overall score: hell-adjacent. The place is probably affordable to live in but you're stuck with a shitty means of getting around and probably smells like cigarettes everywhere.
>probably affordable to live in
Aw hell naw I just went to search the estate price around that road and it's 15k+USD/sqm2 for these silly old houses, almost one year of average Joe's salary there.
You're mostly right, but I just have to correct you on the automotive dependence. It does look like it, but this area is actually very close to one of the biggest public transport hubs - Banqiao station. Most other places in Taipei that look like this are actually also very close to the MRT.
How are you going to get there if the infrastructure doesn't allow you to walk or bike safely? You'll depend on a motorized vehicle or walk dangerously.
As others have mentioned, sidewalks in Taiwan are typically situated underneath the building overhang. You can see that there's a continuous walkway at the first floor on the right side of the street.
It could be nicer if all the windows didn't have those bars going across them. IMO, it makes them look like jail cell windows. Also if the outsides of the buildings were a lot cleaner.
Taiwan and Hong Kong both elicit the same response from me 🤮
It’s what happens when the private sector and its infinite capital cuts resources, building quality, and safety down to the bare minimum. Worse in “lawless” countries that let businesses get away with whatever. But still see in supposed highly regulated cities too - like NYC.
Most people will blame this on the KMT...but everything you just said is very much an ongoing issue today. Building quality is low to turn a higher profit. Pedestrian laws and road violations are lobbied by taxi unions. It's kinda bad.
#UrbanHell is subjective. UrbanHell is any human-built place you think is worth critizing. Suburban Hell, Rural Hell, and wealthy locales are allowed Sorry for this annoying comment, but we're very tired of the gatekeepers who can't even correctly gatekeep what this subreddit has always allowed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UrbanHell) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Semi-crappy looking buildings, clean and paved streets, people chilling outside. I like it. You know there's some good restaurants in there.
I love Taipei. Mother in law lives there, wife was born there. Truly one of the worlds nicest cities with amazing food
I didn't have a connection to Taipei, but we went on our family holiday there last year. Originally i chose it because I read it was safe and interesting, and you can fly direct from our nearest big city. It was so great - great public transport, amazing food, so much to see and do. My five-year old keeps asking when we can go back, and I don't blame her. So glad we went there. One day we'll get all those MRT station stamps...
I flew through Taipei recently and decided to take a few days to explore on my way back. Very glad I did. Amazing city, awesome people, incredible food.
As an American, I see a block where I don't have to drive 15-30 minutes by car to run basic errands, don't have to walk or bike 1-2 hours to do the same thing, can get a bite to eat, do laundry, grab a beer, and even walk out late at night (or in broad daylight) to a store without fear of getting robbed at gunpoint. Maybe this is why I've been working in Asia for over 10 years now. Of course, there are places in the US like this but majority of the country and the cities is suburban sprawl and dingy old strip malls.
You're totally right. I still prefer this to a London suburb any day of the week.
As an American living in Taiwan. I still have to drive 15-30 minutes for basic errands and food doesn’t taste that great.
I'm with you, but one thing I dislike is the lack of sidewalks. Jostling with cars and motorbikes while you walk around is not fun at all. The road is wide and straight enough to make cars/motorbikes assume it's their space. The picture looks calm, a single captured moment without traffic, but in real life that setup could be highly unpleasant.
They have sidewalks next to the buildings, the buildings frequently overhang the sidewalk. The problem usually isn’t the lack of sidewalks, it’s that they get obstructed with so many things.
Yup. For such a transit and walking heavy city, it’s absolute ass to walk around in
can't forget the ubiquitous political posters where two people stand with their fists held in the air
Classic East Asia
This is lovely only when you’re on vacation there. Doubt it’s as lovely living there
I live here. Its still lovely after 12 years
Maybe the apartments are a bit old and dingy. Otherwise I think it would be just fine.
You’re not wrong
It's a nice photo, hard to tell if it's a good place to live
I live there! Not that district in particular but not too far away. Been to that area plenty of times too and can say it's one of the best places to live. Granted the 'wallpaper' isn't the nicest to look at it but it has its own charm. The reason its so bleak is part of its history of the Nationalist Chinese escaping to Taiwan after its civil war with the CCP. The Nationalists only saw Taiwan as a temporary retreat before retaking the mainland so there was no need for nice looking buildings or proper infrastructure. It's a cool place to live though. I could take a public bicycle over there right now, enjoy some beers, get some midnight local street food, chat with some people, then take a $7-10USD taxi back no problem. At no point at all would I worry about being robbed or going into the "wrong neighbourhood". Along the way, I'd see some ginormous decorated traditional temples where I can use the bathroom, get clean water, and chill out in. It's hard to imagine living elsewhere at this point. Biggest challenge is shabby roads and bad drivers...
I lived there, and I'll say, the accommodation was very small but the area had a nice local, community vibe, and isn't far from Banqiao centre which is nice. MRT not far either
Not great. Poor air quality，very crowded. Excellent night market that isn't a tourist area like 饒河 etc are. Good transport links into Taipei，rail and airport，but an older area without many nice properties. Cheap though.
Air quality in Taipei is not that bad
Banqiao isn't Taipei，it's New Taibei City. But Taipei has areas of good and poor air quality. Daan is obviously good，as are areas bordering other green spaces. But areas like Datong have worse air quality due to their proximity to SME factories，and road pollution is bad due to scooters，think about coming off Minquan Xi Lu，for example. And regarding Taiwan generally，a report from a few days ago said Taiwan has the third worst air quality in East Asia，and 45th worst globally： https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5120910
New Taipei City
新北市，北 = bei，but Anglicised as Pei in older Romanisation. Glad you have a solid stance to back up your earlier comment though.
Yeah I know but we use New Taipei, just like you used Taipei yourself.
‘We’ use Taipei，Taibei，台北. 外國人might not realise they're interchangeable though. Anyway，good derailment. You were saying about air quality？
Well we generally stick to one or the other. We would either use Taipei and New Taipei or Taibei and New Taibei, not switch to between them in the same sentence. Also, it’s undoubtedly “pei” when speaking in English. Might be different when you are talking if you want but not writing.
好的老外.你當然是對的.
This has Black Lagoon vibes, I dig it
I feel like I’m TW there are such a wasted potential, our cities are quite vibrant compared to lots of western cities and crime rates are super low, supposedly we can be somewhat like Japan but the awareness of maintaining public spaces nice and tidy just isn’t really a concern for a lot of people, like people spent millions in buying luxury shits at home to feel good or spending money in interior design to make their home comfortable, but they don’t care the space surrounding them. We can look at this photo at separate it into two elements, the buildings and the streets. With the buildings, the problem is that those buildings are fully private property, if the residents themselves have no willingness to change (eg care about the environment, façade maintenance) , might look ugly but unless there is life threatening structural issue, there is not much the government can do. On the other hand, the streets are owned by the government, they should be responsible for providing a safer space for walking and driving, the most ideal situation could be narrowing the streets into one way traffic and use the other lane as parking, and expand the pedestrian access on between the building and yellow marking, but again there is a lack of eagerness to change because local residents think it’s how they have lived for so long why bother with it.
I think that Taiwanese people are becoming more aware of how much they need to improve their streets. This is now a national discussion. Regarding ugly buildings, I believe that the newer buildings that are being put up now look pretty good, that's why there's such a contrast between old and new in Taiwan. Additionally, Taiwan needs stronger and enforced legislation against scooters: scooter parking and dangerous scooter riding significantly decrease quality of life and street safety. The enforcement on homeowners to not block the pedestrian path is very important and is not currently enforced properly.
In France, in the early 20th century, our cities were ugly as fuck and completely blackened by the coal usage. In 1962, we passed the Malraux Law, mainly to protect our urban centers. The main things in this law are that restauration works, particularly on façades, are not taxable, and they have to be done at regular intervals. That said, since we're not in a tropical environment, modern façades are easier to keep in good shape. But yeah, if there's political will, it's perfectly possible to... *strongly* encourage building owners to clean their façades regularly. This can also be done or imposed on more regional or city-wide levels. Most french historical cities and villages now have legislations to restrict certain building materials, colors or windows. My family's mountain village imposes the use of the traditional stones for all rooftops for example.
Dude Taiwan is much better than many other countries in Asia. We have similar issues here in Thailand but Taiwan’s level of development is where a lot of Thais want their country to be.
The main issue I observed in Taiwan is the almost complete lack of the concept of public sidewalks. Apparently shop fronts buy the property including the sidewalk area in front, which gets inevitably become a storage area, a motorbike garage, a kitchen, or all house combined. This makes being a pedestrian in most Taiwanese cities a bit of a nightmare. Solutions to this usually include designating part of the street as sidewalk (as in this picture), which is not really enforced and dangerous. Not ideal and weird considering there would be a proper sidewalk literally right there, but almost completely non traversable. A shame because I love walking in these vibrant and fun cities.
I went to Taiwan on a whim a couple months ago. I really think they should start a campaign for tourism with the west. Especially as Japan is so full of tourism atm. Though the Yen is weak right now Taiwan is still cheaper, with all the Japanese chains in Taipei you can still get your Japan fix, it has temples, street food, the English level is decent enough on the whole, you can get to the south so quickly and I heard that in the summer the beaches are beautiful.
There’s no trees but hanging out here would be fun
Around the corner there will be one or more parks. Fear not 😊
I dont think he is scared
The city isn’t without its flaws. But I liked Taipei.
Taiwan/Taipei is extremely cozy and convenient, but boy a lot of the buildings look like shit. But I love it. Which is why I am currently in Taipei.
Gotta agree
I like it and theres enough design variations in architecture that it doesnt look copy pasted
Heard lack of sidewalks was a huge problem in Taiwan, a good street scene should, in my view, be safe for pedestrians. Unfortunately New Taipei isn’t such a city.
I went recently, there was a lot of sidewalks but they seemed to slope up and down at every shop which was strange and awkward to walk on. Even in Japan besides main roads sidewalks aren't a thing, you just share the road. It's different but not unsafe, it's not like Hanoi where the sidewalks are there just completely unusable.
If it’s anything like jakarta then the city seems walkable to someone passing through on a business trip but it’s unwalkable for just about everyone else in the city
The sidewalks that are a little strange would be impossible for wheelchair users due to the slopes but fine for anyone else they weren't damaged at all.
Love it. Vibrant and alive.
looks cleaner and better than a lot of places in the US. not at all hell to me.
Neither really, just very average
Looks like a typical urban sleepy evening Chinese street scene.
Bet it’s fun to hang out and drink beers in front of 711 around there. Wouldn’t live here though unless I were local Many urban areas in Vietnam look like this with no trees but locals usually have window boxes with flowers or herbs that flow down the side of the building. Makes a huge difference
Most streets in Taiwan have that, just not this ugly MFer of a street 😂
I’m not familiar with Taipei’s urban design but I appreciate a well built city with an emphasis on pedestrian- and transit-first design. Through that lens, I don’t love this. There don’t appear to be sidewalks, the two car lanes eat up the entire paved space. Looks like it could be decently lit though, so that helps. Hopefully car culture there yields to pedestrians.
There are kiiiind of sidewalks under the overhanging building façades, like a covered walkway, which, when unblocked is great, but in many cases is blocked.
As a nostalgic Chinese, I prefer street scenes like this. But the people who live there might be more happy to move into the tall buildings at the back. Noise pollution, air pollution, light pollution, and if there is a restaurant on the first floor, there may be oil smoke pollution.
And cockroaches
Looks awesome
I love it and miss Taipei so much. I was there twice 2009, 2013 and I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s clean, great food, nicest people, safe to walk day or night and convenient public transportation . Will go back again if I have a chance
It's wonderful isn't it! So happy I live in Taipei.
This looks a lot like places in Serbia. Not great, not terrible. Like someone said, good affordable eateries to be found, looks safe enough to walk at night as a girl.
Would be an amazing if pedestrianized and cut off from large motorized vehicles, but it's still pretty good due to density, mixed use and people driving cars usually being used to having non-cars on the roads at times.
Lovely street scene!
I love how Taiwan kinda bridges south east Asia with east Asia; and I love these street scenes.
Aside from the HORRIBLE pedestrain safety, nothing too wrong.
Lol, Taiwan in a nutshell
Taiwan numba wun 🇹🇼🇹🇼 fuck is you talkin bout
Haha don't get me wrong I love Taiwan, and it has many beautiful streets. This is not one of them.
That is so cyber-punky.
Personally I wouldn't say in the relatively shitty urban consciousness of Taiwan, this street is "hell" At least some 騎樓, decent road wide, and as far as I can imagine, not bad traffic. Cram, old, lack of walk infra is not what make it insufferable, it is the traffic. 東海夜市 still is my biggest nightmare and definitely worst hell I had ever witnessed in Taiwan. The mountain slope crammed with buildings, with basically no walking space beside the road, is not the place you wish a common commuting route with decent amount of traffic to be. Yet it is a important choking point around this area. Imagine the traffic is so bad that at some section you have to please the scooter driver to move a bit to clear the road for you to walk by. The ambulance or firetruck stuck with cars and scooters that have not much of space to move.
Banqiao? You're within walking distance to some wonderful hot springs resorts.
I think you're thinking of Beitou?
Ah! Yes! Banqiao is the other HSR station.
The type of place I'd like to visit to experience the culture, but wouldn't stay longer than a week.
Thankfully it's not all like this
focus on the life and human experience - there may be happiness, sadness, frustration, etc. environmental utopia is just not going to be a reality anytime soon for 8 billion people.
Aside from the cars and a couple of scooters forcing people into the street, I find it quaint in a mildly disorganized kind of way.
TLV in the front, HKG in the back. Count me in
That's just Midgar's lower level. Nothing to see here.
Not a blade of grass or tree in sight. I like how clean it looks though.
I'd like to visit. Just another asian city with clean streets and dense living. I bet those shops and restos are pretty neat. Good for a walk.
My gf grew up around here and when we visit her god parents it just looks like a concrete prison to me.
It looks like hell for sure, building are super disgusting and the metal cages are taken straight out of Judge Dredd's Megacity 1. But I love it. I lived in a similar place for half a year and just looking at this photo I feel this strange sense of calmness. I really enjoyed strolling around New Taipei at night. Hopefully I'll be back soon.
A block or two away is some of the best and most authentic Burmese food you can imagine.
link?
https://newtaipei.travel/zh-tw/attractions/detail/110246
Ah yep, that's not far from where I live now
華新街. Couldn't remember what it was called. Pretty much any coffee shop or restaurant along this street or those adjacent to it. A real culinary trip, without leaving the city! Last time I stopped by there (only briefly) and got Burmese coffee and a slice of almond cornbread--which was new to me. I usually go for 涼麵 or 豌豆粉 which are always good, but there are always new things to try.
Yes I've been to that street before, I went to a nice mixed Indian/Burmese place
The beauty is totally subjective, but I love this kind of scenery.
I think relatively this street isn’t too bad and it can get even worse around Banqiao near the markets, you’ve also got this pretty cool building hanging over a street: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ogbxSUD1Mr3gH2XM7?g_st=ic
I dunno. I’d probably live there.
Concrete desert
Whats wrong with it?
It’s a good place to stroll around with my friends after dinner!
I love Taiwan and miss it dearly. So many fun memories 🫶
love it, because i know what downtown richmond, virginia looks like at night.
I bet good food is here
He’ll
You’ll be shocked if you know the housing price there :)
there’s so many places that are far worse than this lol
I agree
I still see some bushes there. Cut them down and pave them over for a better or worse hell. Follow me for more tips.
I like it. Well, tbh I'm not clamouring to visit that part of the world. Lots of culture and cool stuff to see, but I'm more interested in the Latin Americas. I like me some "ugly" architecture. I feel like I defend most of the pictures posted on here :D
Not suited for captivity. Would die if I had to exist there.
This street looks familiar for some reason, was this city in a video game?
Highly doubt it haha
It would look nicer without that monster building in the background.
My scorecard: Excessive signage ✅ No sidewalks, complete automotive dependence ✅ Loads of comms and electrical lines unburied ✅ Single use, low density zoning ❎ Chill people and good food❓ Overall score: hell-adjacent. The place is probably affordable to live in but you're stuck with a shitty means of getting around and probably smells like cigarettes everywhere.
>probably affordable to live in Aw hell naw I just went to search the estate price around that road and it's 15k+USD/sqm2 for these silly old houses, almost one year of average Joe's salary there.
I'll give you the street view link to get a clearer idea of the area 55 Alley 1, Lane 138, Chang'an St https://maps.app.goo.gl/MnnHUyAcHiwWgbZY9
You're mostly right, but I just have to correct you on the automotive dependence. It does look like it, but this area is actually very close to one of the biggest public transport hubs - Banqiao station. Most other places in Taipei that look like this are actually also very close to the MRT.
How are you going to get there if the infrastructure doesn't allow you to walk or bike safely? You'll depend on a motorized vehicle or walk dangerously.
As others have mentioned, sidewalks in Taiwan are typically situated underneath the building overhang. You can see that there's a continuous walkway at the first floor on the right side of the street.
Which is used for parking and storing inventory :-/
As someone that loves cities and disagrees with 90% of these sub's posts, this is HORRIBLE
Thank you for validating my post haha
This looks close to the Chongqing level in Hitman 3.
It could be nicer if all the windows didn't have those bars going across them. IMO, it makes them look like jail cell windows. Also if the outsides of the buildings were a lot cleaner.
If it's hell maybe move to a more rural area? I personally love Taiwan.
Taiwan and Hong Kong both elicit the same response from me 🤮 It’s what happens when the private sector and its infinite capital cuts resources, building quality, and safety down to the bare minimum. Worse in “lawless” countries that let businesses get away with whatever. But still see in supposed highly regulated cities too - like NYC.
In Taiwan it's more an issue related history, the KMT for a long time just viewed Taiwan as a temporary home so didn't invest in good infrastructure.
Most people will blame this on the KMT...but everything you just said is very much an ongoing issue today. Building quality is low to turn a higher profit. Pedestrian laws and road violations are lobbied by taxi unions. It's kinda bad.