For those of you living around Sol, Plaza Mayor, etc., - how do you like it?

We're going to be renting for the first year or so, and I love the idea of living around Opera, Plaza de la Paja, Plaza Mayor. But then, what do I know? I used to live in Prosperidad, and Victor lived up at Avda. de la Illustracion.

Is it expensive? Noisy? Does the plumbing work? Are the neighbors driving you crazy? (Although, how are you going to escape neighbors in Madrid?) Where do you grocery shop?

Thanks!

Although I'm no longer in Madrid, I would like to return there one day. If so, I'd prefer to live in one of the barrios eg Diego de Leon, Chamberi etc rather than the centre.

3 reasons - 1, I enjoy meeting and conversing with other residents rather than tourists. 2 (this may seem frivolous) In most local bars in the barrios you will get a free tapa/aperitivo with your drink. Not so in the touristic centre. 3. Too many pickpockets/dodgy people in the centre.

Good luck with your venture!

MrMark, hate to have to correct ya here but...

1) there are PLENTY of other residents in and around the city center. if you get to know your neighborhood, you need not meet only tourists, even in the center.

2) again, if you get to know the neighborhood and go to the places that do give you a tapa, you need not worry about that either.

3) yes but as long as you are streetwise, no harm done.

hey Coco.

do a SEARCH on "living in the center", a few good threads come up, especially the one entitled "Living in the center at xmas".

also read the other resulting threads that come up in the search results, there is a lot of good stuff there.

as for your specifice questions...

"Is it expensive?" - not in my case as we have an EXCELLENT deal and a very nice landlady.

"Noisy?" - sometimes. living IN the plaza mayor, we have people noise instead of car noise (MUCH BETTER BY THE WAY). far prefer the murmer of people dining down in the plaza to the honking of cars and screaming of drivers trapped in by double parkers

"Does the plumbing work?" - could interpret that another way, good thing i know you are talking about apts.

yes, everything is new and up to par.

"Are the neighbors driving you crazy?" - sometimes. we have no neighbors downstairs and the ones on our right and left are never heard. only somewhat noisy ones are those above us and we are planning our revenge = having a baby!!!

"Where do you grocery shop?" - there are tons of low-cost smaller supermarkets around the center. in fact, i live here in the plaza mayor and have THE 3 best and cheapest ("dia", "lidl" and "gamma") within a 5 minute walk of my apt. "gamma" and "dia" are in front of my apt and "lidl" is in the plaza de tirso de molina, a 5 minute walk from us. also some GREAT markets for fresh meat, chicken, fish, fruits and veggies, etc... like the "mercado de la cebada" just off calle toledo in la latina and "mercado de san miguel" (pricier) right in front of our apt. in the "plaza de san miguel".

if you lived here, you should know that these markets are all around. the huge hypermarkets like carrefour are the ones outside the city.

lately we makeone big order online from http://www.carrefouronline.es per month for the heave stuff and they deliver. then the day to day or week to week stuff is easily picked up locally.

saludos,
jer...

Really only you can answer the question of whether you should live in the center. Everything you mentioned is an issue: cost, noise, plumbing, etc. Also security. Everything can be addressed, but it's like in any big city. You know what it will be like. How do you feel about it?

Are you energized or exhausted by having people and lots of activity around? How easily do you get annoyed? Do you prefer the unknown or the known? Predictability or Stability? Noise or peace and quiet?

You'll get everything you would expect from the center, and everything you would expect from the 'burbs here. You can make it work either way. Follow your heart!

Juliette

Carrefour delivers??? How great is that! I was worrying about borrowing family members' cars for a trip out to Alcampo.

Also good to know about Dia, etc. When my brother and sister in law were living around Huertas, I think they did a lot of shopping at the Corte Ingles. Yikes.

quote:

When my brother and sister in law were living around Huertas, I think they did a lot of shopping at the Corte Ingles.

would be because they wanted to since there is a dia on calle magdalena (5 minute walk from huertas). i think there is probably one even closer to huertas but i can't recall where.

corte ingles has good prices on some things and offers at times but it is not the economical choice shopping all the time.

saludos,
jer...

and you should see the carrefour delivery guys face when he gets to our apt., a 4th floor walkup that is more like 8 floors

i always give him a nice tip though.

you just go to http://www.alimentacion.carrefour.es, create an accoutn and shop online.

by the way, "champion" (calle toledo not far off the plaza mayor) also delivers...

- if your order is 60 euros + you get free delivery.
- if your order is under 60 euros delivery costs like 4 euros.

you can go there, shop and then get on the home delivery cash register line.

saludos,
jer...

Some of you know that Maria and I are looking to move out of central Madrid (Malasana) to the suburbs, where we can find a two or even three bedroom apartment for less than we're paying for a 40 square metre one bedrooomer here.

We'll miss being able to walk to our choice of four or five VO cinemas. We'll miss being able to walk home after nights out in the city with friends. We'll miss being within walking distance of no less than six Metro lines.

But we won't miss the noisy scooters echoing up our narrow street. We won't miss the seemingly endless blasting of horns as drivers in our street get stuck behind unloading trucks. We won't miss the hubbub from rowdy 'bottellons' and the incredibly noisy (sleepless)summer nights. We won't miss the cramped living conditions. And we might actually be able to do something with the rent money that we save.

If you can find a relatively quiet location in central Madrid, and if your budget will stretch to cover the premium rates that you'll pay for rent, then it could be great. Otherwise, we'll see you out in Moncloa, or Casa de Campo, or Pacifico, or Ventas, or...

Just my two centimos worth

Cheers,
Steve

hey Steve.

all i would say is..."choose wisely young savage"

- just moving to a burb will not get rid of the noise necessarily.

if you mean you want to move to the country then yes, it should be pretty silent but if it is a burb, choose it wisely as many can be just as loud as the city. for example, the towns along metro sur are considered burbs (mostoles, alcorcon, fuenlabrada, etc...) and are no quiter than the big city.

also, the places you named (below) are not considered suburbs, they are still madrid and have city hustle and bustle as well.

- moncloa is famed as a partying grounds for teenyboppers galore and is VERY loud on weekends (and weeknights) as well as the botellon capital of the world (competing with tribunal of course).

- casa de campo - yes, quiter but has its bad points too.

- pacifico - not the quiet area you may think it is, not by a long shot. the doorway to vallecas, very loud can get it (yoda ).

- ventas - ena's parents live out there and it is as loud as the center.

the only thing you are (almost) guaranteed in those areas is more space for your eurobuck.

if you want serenity, think a LOT further out. the country or maybe even a smaller village outside of madrid.

saludos,
jer...

I guess I've living in big loud cities long enough that it really doesn't phase me... It's amazing what your brain can learn to tune out. When I go to visit my mom in the country, the total silence at night and the early rising crickets and birds drive me crazy.

But I think one thing to look for if you are bothered by noise is an apartment above the 3rd floor and with a significant portion that is "interior" (not facing the street). The ideal would be to have interior bedrooms and an exterior living room. In our apartment, the windows make a huge difference (they are those newer, double-paned climalit windows). In the summer, we leave the windows open almost all of the time. I don't realize how loud it is until someone calls on the phone and I can't hear them unless I close the windows.

Most of the buildings in the center are built like fortresses. I can't hear my neighbors at all, except in the summer when people have their patio interior windows open.

Ah... we might be older than some, but we're not ready to hang up our shoes and retire to a Spanish village. Not just yet, anyway!

I take your point Jer, and I'm sure that any suburb or area can have its share of noise. We'll be placing special emphasis on finding an apartment on a quiet(er) street, or as Mariposta says, an apartment that is configured suitably to minimize the noise in the bedroom. Even here in Tribunal, some streets seem much noisier than others. Calle Jesus de Valle, for example, where Sunny was, is definitely not as noisy as our street.

I lived on a major arterial road in Brisbane for six years, and don't mind the constant background hum (read roar) of traffic. What I can't stand is the manic horn blowing when drivers leave their cars blocking our narrow one way street, and the sound of staggering drunks (the loudest ones are often guiris, by the way!) yelling and yahooing as they make their way home at 3:00am. Oh, and if we ever happen to get an early night, there's always the 1:30am garbage pickup (eerily punctual to within five minutes!) to shake us from our slumber.

Put it this way... if we go to the trouble of moving all our crap into a new neighbourhood, and the local youth decide to call our front steps the new Bottellon Central, they better watch out for falling objects... and they won't be as lucky as the partygoers under Jeremy's window cause it won't be eggs I'm throwing.

And don't worry, we'll make sure we get a place big enough to throw a house warming party. In fact, I have to go and look at a three bedroom place near Aluche which is in need of renovation.

The proposal is that I will renovate it while we live there, in exchange for reduced rent.

Wish me luck!

Cheers,
Steve

We are currently living in what is I think the quietest apartment I've ever lived in. It's almost as quiet as my sister's house out in the English countryside.

We live within a few blocks of Puerta de Toledo within, what I consider, walking distance of Sol and we have numerous bus lines including the Circular passing nearby. Plus we have a gym right across the street.

We pay around 850 euros a month for a two bedroom with plenty of space and lots of light. This time around we didn't have to come up with a nomina. Just three months rent deposit and that was it.

You can find quiet oases near the center of Madrid without paying an arm and a leg but you need to have patience, luck, and/or connections. Having taught English many times out in the suburbs I can tell you I'd sooner donate a kidney than live out there but maybe for those you prefer that kind of location it's bearable.

Living in the city doesn't have to be a sacrifice in any respect.

- Roland

Roland, I could use a spare kidney. What's your blood type?

Seriously though, it sounds like you've found a good spot there. Usually 'quiet' and 'lots of light' don't go together, eh? It's often a trade off between the two. Internal apartments have less noise and less light, external apartments, well, ...

Cheers,
Steve

I live on Ronda de Segovia just down from Puerta de Toledo. I agree its a quiet area, close to the centre but far out enough to be surprisingly quiet. The only noise I can here are the occasional fire engines and the cries from the Athleti supporters in the Calderon! You also have the Polideportivo along Paseo Imperial. Its only a year old and has a fantastic pool...