>>Michael Pollak wrote:
>>
>>>I had no idea Slavoj thought modern life was so bleak.
>>
>>He's living in Essen, which explains a lot.
>>
>>Doug
>
>Is housing especially cheap? Are municipal services especially good?
>
>Brad DeLong, who lives where housing is not cheap and municipal
>services are not good, but double lattes made from shade-grown
>organic fair-trade coffee are really plentiful...
Zizek's in Lenin because he got money from the German government to run a two-year project called "Antimonies of Postmodern Reason," (which he told me was essentially meaningless, though good enough for a DM1m grant) based at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut in Essen.
Don't know about the cost of housing, but costs generally seemed pretty low, though I guess that's mainly because of the dollar's strength. Prices for food and such had roughly the same number as they do in NYC, but since they're in DM, that means half the cost of here. Public transport seemed brisk and relatively cheap (S-bahn: DM2 in town; train from Dusseldorf airport to Essen: DM13.50). Streets were clean. Number of beggars was quite low.
But god, what a dull and ugly city!
Doug