But the truth is that every city and country has its plusses and minuses…
So what about the minuses of Milan?
I’d love to say “none,” but the truth is that when I first started living here, the air pollution really bothered me. Around that time, a friend told me that their grandmother had said that Milan was the dirtiest city in the world. There I was, hoping to create a glittering future in my new home, and I already felt defeated at the starting line.
The city later put in emissions standards and put an effort into developing green buses. Thanks to air pollution countermeasures like these, it seems like it’s gotten much better. So in terms of Milan’s downsides, I think safety stands out the most. When people who have gone to the Middle East or developing countries for work come back to visit occasionally, even they comment that it’s less safe here than in the places they’ve left. Which means that I apparently live in a pretty scary place.
The high-end residential districts and poorer sections are right next to each other, with places offering support for the homeless located right next to luxury hotels. The two extremes are mixed together. It’s one of the things that’s interesting about the city, but it’s unclear how to make Milan safer, or whether it will get better or worse in the future. There are parts of the Milan suburbs so dangerous they call them “the Bronx,” but I wonder if the city itself will become the Bronx sooner or later…
Someone I know built a gorgeous house out in a different Milanese suburb. She decorated the walls with expensive paintings she had inherited from her parents, and because she’s also a musician, she created high ceilings for the great acoustics—making the spacious house seem like a combination of an art gallery and a concert hall. The home’s size coupled with its beauty takes my breath away. But every time I visit, I notice that there are more locks and bars on the windows. Her home is at the very end of a row of single-family homes, which may make it look a bit isolated.
The last time I went to visit, I saw this handwritten note on her front door:
All of the paintings and artwork displayed in this house are registered with the Ministry of Culture. If you steal and attempt to sell them you will instantly be caught! So there is no point in stealing them! The TV is an ancient model and there is nothing else of value in the house, so don’t come in here to rob it!
I burst out laughing. Come on… would thieves trying to come in the house and steal really take the time to read this note, hesitate, discuss with their fellow thieves whether to go in as planned, reflect on the matter, and then reconsider their strategy?
