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Comment by nsomaru | Hacker News Reader

I'm actually a Durbanite living in Westville but I can't recommend Durban having lived in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Mumbai and Berlin. Spend too much time in Durban and I end up feeling like I'm intellectually frustrated. A lot of it might have to do with my race group and the fact that it is a minority nationally with a high concentration in KZN. You probably know what I'm saying ;) There's implicit racism in Durban which is very difficult to live with if you are not expat or white ("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!

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Yeah for sure... I get exactly what you're saying. I surf so this is the main reason I'm here for now.. I am working remotely though and will be moving back to Asia later this year, before the vaalies pull in.

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

Get Slack and check out ZA Tech slack: https://zatech.github.io/

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.

Having lived in Durban my high-school years… I can't recommend it. I hated every second of it. I found the place to be utterly corrupt and demoralizing. It takes a toll on you to have to rely on private drivers and gated communities only to feel remotely safe. It's like living in a prison. Seeing the decline of the country via Jacob Zuma's rise, and the breakdown of infrastructure while I lived there was another level of depressing.

The traffic is horrendous too.

While I can see where you’re coming from with the other points, private drivers are not really a thing (you do need a car though).

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.

According to a quick Google Maps check right now, my commute every day to school was ~20min by default, but probably closer to 40min in morning traffic. From the Bluff to Glenwood.

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.

I agree with you and have often noted that it’s like you’re driving from one prison to another.

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 ;)

I live on the South Coast. I deal with R1400/m (±$100) for 220gb data (LTE) to be able to work. Our Neighbourhood's Telkom copper got stolen 8 times this year. Shitty, I know.

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.

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