PolishForums.com
POLAND . The Unofficial Guide
 Unanswered | Archives
"Polska" means "Poland" in Polish! Witamy, Guest | PF Members | Gold Members

Polish Forums / Everyday Life /

Moving to the Katowice area soon! Safe neighborhood for an Irish man?


posts: 29

BrasstacksThreads: 1
Posts: 2
Joined: Dec 4, 11 ♂ 		 Dec 4, 11, 12:19    #1
I will be moving to the Katowice area after the first of the year. Can anyone recommend a safe neighborhood for an Irish gentleman? Any tips in general about living there? Thanks Here is my e mail. Venez11@safe-mail.net
irishguy11Threads: 14
Posts: 173
Joined: Sep 3, 11 ♂ 		 Dec 4, 11, 13:01    #2
it might help if you say what you moving there for. what type of work do you have lined up
smurfThreads: 46
Posts: 660
Joined: Sep 8, 09 ♂ 		 Dec 4, 11, 17:43    #3
wahoo, another paddy in Katowice! Witam synek.
AjbThreads: 12
Posts: 340
Joined: Jul 14, 08 ♂ 		 Dec 4, 11, 18:58    #4
It's all about Silesia :) All i can say is welcome! I can't advise you on Katowice as i don't live there!

We should have a Silesia meet up :)
Foreigner4Threads: 22
Posts: 1,984
Joined: Nov 18, 07 ♂ 		 Dec 4, 11, 19:00    #5
Silesia is where it's at.
Katowice area or Katowice proper?
HaniaaThreads: 1
Posts: 3
Joined: Jul 18, 10 ♀ 		 Dec 4, 11, 20:31    #6
I am living in Katowice. When it comes to place where you should rent a flat etc. it depends as well where you gonna to work, so the distance wasn't too big. There are some place where I wouldn't recommend you to live, but I think even if you ae going to look for a flat you can assess on your own, whether the are is friendly or not.
If you have some specific problems/questions let me know, I will try to advice you.
BrasstacksThreads: 1
Posts: 2
Joined: Dec 4, 11 ♂ 		 Dec 5, 11, 13:00    #7
Haniaa..Please do suggest a nice middle class area for me that is safe. I have been using spollokator.pl to find a room,but no one seems to answer my request...in Polish! Any problems bringing my car? I am a semi retired Barrister and I plan to start at ground level, an English Language Service. Any advice in general? Venez11@safe-mail.net James
teflcatThreads: 6
Posts: 1,071
Joined: May 29, 11 ♂ 		 Dec 5, 11, 14:28    #8
Brasstacks:
Any problems bringing my car?

Inadvisable if it's RHD. Overtaking is dangerous enough here with LHD.
OlafThreads: 8
Posts: 1,369
Joined: Oct 29, 09  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		 Dec 5, 11, 14:38    #9
Brasstacks:
a safe neighborhood for an Irish gentleman

Does an Irish gentelman require any special security? ;)
rocaThreads: 7
Posts: 79
Joined: Sep 3, 11 ♂ 		Edited by: roca  Dec 5, 11, 14:45    #10
Brasstacks:
I will be moving to the Katowice area after the first of the year


Katowice is a very ugly city

Brasstacks:
Any problems bringing my car

don't bring a car there... you will have a lot of problems with the parking place and it will get surely vandalized unless you find a garage
gumishuThreads: 17
Posts: 3,943
Joined: Apr 6, 09  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		 Dec 5, 11, 14:51    #11
roca:
don't bring a car there... you will have a lot of problems with the parking place and it will get surely vandalized unless you find a garage


buy an old cheap used car in Poland instead - you can pay not much really but don't expect it to last - and you won't have and old avarage car vandalised unless in some really bad neighbourhoods (but I'm not really familiar with Katowice or ¦l±sk in general)
rocaThreads: 7
Posts: 79
Joined: Sep 3, 11 ♂ 		 Dec 5, 11, 14:52    #12
parking in Poland
BrasstacksThreads: 1
Posts: 2
Joined: Dec 4, 11 ♂ 		 Dec 5, 11, 17:09    #13
HA HA!! I think anyone who cannot speak the native language is a set up for a knave!
OlafThreads: 8
Posts: 1,369
Joined: Oct 29, 09  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		 Dec 8, 11, 09:53    #14
Maybe in your home town, buddy, but not here.
irishguy11Threads: 14
Posts: 173
Joined: Sep 3, 11 ♂ 		 Dec 13, 11, 19:25    #15
Hi, you cannot register a RHD car in Poland. It would be better if you buy a used car in Germany and drive it accross. The neighbourhood around the Silesia shopping centre is a nice area. All the apartements are new built and you have the shopping centre on your doorstep, its only a 4 min drive to Katowice centre. If you are looking for a drinking place, you could do worst than Spencers.
HarryThreads: 62
Posts: 8,508
Joined: May 2, 07 ♂ [Suspended] 		 Dec 13, 11, 19:30    #16
irishguy11:
Hi, you cannot register a RHD car in Poland.

Officially you can. But in practice you can not.
CheFinnyThreads: 9
Posts: 57
Joined: Feb 6, 10 ♂ 		 Dec 15, 11, 12:23    #17
just dont move there it is a complete dump
JonnyMThreads: 16
Posts: 4,487
Joined: Mar 9, 11 ♂ 		 Dec 15, 11, 13:37    #18
CheFinny:
just dont move there it is a complete dump

No worse than, say, Sheffield.
HarryThreads: 62
Posts: 8,508
Joined: May 2, 07 ♂ [Suspended] 		 Dec 15, 11, 18:47    #19
JonnyM:
No worse than, say, Sheffield.

My Ukrainian cleaner says that Donetsk is "like Sheffield but without all the good bits". I'll have to ask for her opinion about Katowice.

Personally, any city which used to be named after Stalin and has a huge UFO landed in the middle of it gets a thumbs-up from me.
tow.stalin  Dec 16, 11, 14:41    #20
oh, come on. why so many negative opinon about katowice region?

yes, it's industrial area, but for God's sake, that's was a problem in XIX century...

Brasstacks, i see that ypu are planning to use a car here. it will be better and cheaper to buy something here than fighting to register RHD car.

About nice place to live: there is a plenty of it in the area. you can choose between Dabrowa Górnicza and Gliwice, both around 30 min by car to Katowice centre.

It's easier to say which place ypou shouldn't choose:

Katowice: Załęże, Szopienice and Zawodzie districts. Sourroudings of Warszawska street is also not recommended.
Chorzów: Batory, Stary Chorzów
Będzin, Bytom, Mysłowice: whole cities
Sosnowiec: Niwka, Modrzejów districts

I recommend city of: D±browa Górnicza, Tychy, Mikołów. a little further away from region centre, but you don't need a car, public transport is well developed.

my friend from uk visited me last week. he don't speak polish at all, but he managed to get to me with regular public bus :)
time meansThreads: 9
Posts: 2,306
Joined: Apr 21, 08  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		Edited by: time means  Dec 16, 11, 15:41    #21
JonnyM:
Sheffield


When was the last time you were in Sheffield?

Obviously a long time ago if you think the two compare.
JonnyMThreads: 16
Posts: 4,487
Joined: Mar 9, 11 ♂ 		Edited by: JonnyM  Dec 17, 11, 01:39    #22
time means:
When was the last time you were in Sheffield?

October.
time means:
Obviously a long time ago if you think the two compare.

Stroll down the Wicker and wander in Brightside and you could be in Gorny Slask.

To the OP, both are reasonably safe places. Industrial regions that have long passed their heyday.

Then again, if you removed all the posh 1930s architecture from that area behind Katowice station, you'd have Mexborough. And the bits of Sheffield round Gleadless etc could pass for the arse end of Gdansk, round Przymorze or the wrong part of Wrzeszcz.
time meansThreads: 9
Posts: 2,306
Joined: Apr 21, 08  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		 Dec 17, 11, 14:06    #23
JonnyM:
Stroll down the Wicker and wander in Brightside and you could be in Gorny Slask.


And you could be in any suburb in any city in the world. The centre is nothing like Katowice and what's Mexborough got to do with Sheffield?
SeanusThreads: 22
Posts: 30,158
Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂ 		 Dec 17, 11, 14:09    #24
When were you last in Katowice, tm?
time meansThreads: 9
Posts: 2,306
Joined: Apr 21, 08  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		Edited by: time means  Dec 17, 11, 14:12    #25
2006... my one and only visit which i enjoyed.
SeanusThreads: 22
Posts: 30,158
Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂ 		 Dec 17, 11, 14:13    #26
It's more or less the same now ;) The train station can be unsafe and it's generally less safe than here in Gliwice. Plenty skinheads in Katowice and Silesia in general. However, they tend to leave white Europeans alone if they are behaving themselves.
time meansThreads: 9
Posts: 2,306
Joined: Apr 21, 08  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		Edited by: time means  Dec 17, 11, 14:17    #27
Seanus:
It's more or less the same now



I don't see the resemblance that Johhny sees with Sheffield.

I think i went through Gliwice train station on the way to Krakow from Wroclaw.
SeanusThreads: 22
Posts: 30,158
Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂ 		 Dec 17, 11, 14:19    #28
I can't really comment as I've never been to Sheffield. However, I do seem to recall Michael Palin showing a few parts of it (he is from there, right?) and finding it to be very grey. A bit like Aberdeen and, I'd say, Katowice too. If you are saying both are dreary then that would seem to be the case.
SeanusThreads: 22
Posts: 30,158
Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂ 		Edited by: Seanus  Dec 17, 11, 14:38    #29
I take it you prefer The Blades to The Owls then!? ;)

Katowice has very few green areas compared to here. There is more discontent too but it is still safer than some other cities. Like any other city, it has its bad areas and its fairly good areas.


Home / Everyday Life / Unanswered [this forum] | Similar


Similar discussions:

Question Of Religious Beliefs That Could Differ in Poland  Where (particularly in Wrocław) do I go to get my Polish drivers license?


Random: Poland from a Persian Tourist's Perspective

Only registered and logged-in users may post here. Please log in or register.


31 [Guests - 25 / Members - 6] users on live forums now


Home | Unanswered | Archives | Random | Statistics Time in Poland: 09:01 / May 26

About Us | Contact Us | Rules, Privacy | Poland Advertising
© 2005-12 PolishForums.com