Gothenburg

I moved to Gothenburg from Stockholm. And I like Gothenburg better.

Stockkholm feels like an archipelago of settlements connected by highways, subways and pendeltåg. In the middle of the city, we have touristy areas in Gamla Stan, commercial areas in Norrmalm and Södermalm. And really fancy areas in Östermalm. Beyond these quarters, the city feels more like non-contiguous dots of inhabited areas separated by woods. Some of these dots are bustling urban areas in their own right, such as Solna and other centers of communes in Greater Stockholm Area. But at the same time, a lot of them feel like villages.

Gothenburg as a city is held together more closely. The downtown area of Gothenburg is more walkable than that of Stockholm. I live in Hisingen and I love the lively messiness around here.

Yet it's not just the lively messiness. A few bus stops away from the down-to-earth supermarkets, shopping malls, and a Taiwanese-owned hotpot restaurant, lies a campus of Gothenburg University and Chalmers, a science park and a bunch of tech companies.

I don't know what to make of this contradiction yet. What I can say is this city is dope.