I don't think about whether the vote could have been different, the fact is that the majority of the voters seem to love having parking spaces and priority for their cars vs letting people walk and bike to places. It could easily be that they vote for less bike-friendly areas in all of Berlin but then block local initiatives since then their own children are affected.
Even so, for the last many years when CDU was not in power in Berlin's local government, the SPD and Greens only pushed forward certain initiatives very slowly. SPD can't even be called bike-friendly frankly.
restaurant staff actually get LESS than minimum wage, because tips are supposed to offset the loss. Of course they're going to want more money; they probably NEED it.
This is not the case in all states. There are many states which mandate the same minimum wage for all employees, regardless of where they are employed. In that case, it makes even less sense to tip some service workers and not others.
This is the sort of thing what Berlin voted for, ne?
The latest changes are really making me think of leaving Berlin...
Hi everyone, I have been living in Berlin for a few years now, and have loved the city. However, the latest changes, both political and economic, lead to a quality of life decrease that I can't ignore.
For example, new bike lanes are out of the question, and even almost-finished ones are to be converted back to parking spaces. I usually ride my bike through the city, and this leads to a real decrease in safety and quality of life for me.
Another example from the same cause is the A100 extension, by which the number of apartments will go down again, important culture areas will be razed, to make room for cars to drive into the city.
A different cause but maybe still a political decision from many years ago is to not build enough apartments, to the point where it feels impossible and discouraging to look for a new apartment, let alone one in an area with more of what Berlin has to offer, i.e. cultural events, restaurants, cafés etc.
Public transport is horrible outside the Ring, many busses are either late or don't arrive, and many go to 20-minute intervals outside of working hours.
Anyone else feel this way?