'Poor but Sexy' is Berlinerisch for Incompetent

The Rant: Berlin is not poor, just poorly run. This city has almost 190,000 city employees and nobody to clear the sidewalks of either snow or New Year's rubbish. Almost 190,000 city employees also have decent incomes and pay decent taxes and rents. Our Governing Mayor Mr. Wowereit should be ashamed of the state of the city. His spin doctoring, labeling Berlin as 'poor but sexy' is a weak attempt to see his incompetent governing of the city through rose coloured glasses.

The Rave: Berlin is vibrant, even doch sexy, despite all the problems and negative aspects. Berlin has an energy that few cities have. Of the cities I have personally experienced, New York City, Paris, London to an extent, and Berlin have that 'buzz'. Cities such as Munich, Hamburg, Philadelphia, Washington DC, LA, Dallas and Frankfurt do not have it. Even Sydney, as beautiful as it is, doesn't have it.