The northern parts of Durban (Umhlanga / Ballito) is also nice. Good fibre infrastructure, relatively safe. Well developed. Tropical Climate.
Very English.
There are very few tech meetups and general opportunity for intellectualism/tech in Durban. Shoutout here to OpenDataDurban and Code4SA! I'd love for you to correct me, though. And if you're in Durban, maybe we can get a coffee? hnusername@gmail.com
That being said Durban is really cheap and has the best beaches in the world!
But otherwise, in terms of weather - you can't beat it.
And yes... I think this place is kinda giving me "island syndrome"... That's why I need to get out of this place for a bit. haha
A really great community, also the look for the #tech-for-good channel which is in conjunction with Codebridge SA is a really great resource.
The traffic is horrendous too.
Traffic is also basically non existent if you have lived in any other major city in the world. Like 15-30mins max in peak times and the max commute is 15mins anyways to get from most places to anywhere else.
Granted private drivers aren't always a thing — but certainly driving from safe place to safe place is — whether it's driving yourself, being driven by family, or by a driver.
Re: commute time, was more in context of this thread, where one would be more likely to live in {Glenwood, Umhlanga, Westville, Morningside, Etc.}.
Durban isn’t the best, but there’s a good early morning beach culture and a cheap standard of living. Owning your own free standing property is relatively cheap by international standards and you can get one in a new secure gated estate on a golf course which you have no reason to ever leave if one of the old English/Dutch mansions doesn’t suit you ;)
But on the bright side, waking up with a gorgeous view over a river and the ocean every morning, nice and quiet does a lot of good mentally, especially having lived in one of the largest cities in the world for 5 years prior.
And yes, there's crime. Gotta activate the alarm system at night.