Basically the problem of whole east europe (although we like to call ourselves central europe) - too much crap left over communist rule and twisted mentality (ie everybody for themselves, screw the rest). Extremely rich individuals openly influencing politics, laughing at the cameras and enjoying being in spotlight.
Prague is a beautiful city to visit, be it for a weekend or a week. But living there long term sucks - most of the Prague apart from historical centre is properly fugly, as soviet-style architecture is still all over the place, cramped high rise residential areas with high criminality, little nature around (major mountains are > 500km away, sea even further), Czech love to constantly complain and moan about almost everything (it really gets to you after some time). Gap between rich (ie IT workers, managers) and rest of population is big and widening, people constantly hate politics but vote an a-hole after a-hole for last 20 years. So rich often discuss how to shield themselves financially from the rest of country, politics and economy as much as possible - not an indication of paradise. Half of the country is xenophobic and/or racist (although ie Roma question is a complex one).
I've worked there for couple of years, to be successful in IT was trivial due to constant lack of senior people, from what I heard its even worse now due to massive off/near shoring of multinationals. When looking back, moving away was one of the best decisions of my life and major step up in quality of life.
Of course there are positive aspects, just like everywhere. Professionals (I can judge IT) are smart and work hard, beer is the best there is (for me) and as mentioned its a great starting point for career. There are people who consider it the best place for them. Interestingly, none I know in this category lived abroad for longer to properly compare.
No nature in Prague? Where did you move that's better? There is lots of nature within Prague: Petrin, Prokop Udoli, Divoka Sarka, Stromovka, Krcsky les, Kunraticky les, Hostivar, Milicovsky les,... Mountains (Krkonose... but you can ski there) are like 120km away. And there is lots of other nature areas within 100km, hills, valleys, rock formations, castles, dams.
Yeah, true but some of us have higher expectations. Krkonose is the best you can get there, I would call them hills. Beautiful hills, but nothing close to mountains like Tatras/Alps, nor the experience of being there, or doing some more serious adventures. Around Prague its desperately flat, good maybe for road bike.
But that's me, I love these high altitude places, and based on amount of Czech you can meet anywhere in the Alps even people there love them. The thing is, high mountains are the last place of true wilderness, rest has been conquered and cultivated long time ago and is usually just a substitute for things that were.
I've met people in Prague that didn't get this, they were asking what the heck am I doing in those stupid mountains. Everybody is different, the only thing important is to be happy with where you are. I've found my place (Switzerland, in 45 minutes drive I am right under Mont Blanc).
I agree with the most of the above. Although the city is beautiful and has many green areas, renting in these areas is out of reach without heavy research and one is more likely to end up in the sad and gray districts. Attractive areas are basically inhabited by tourists and rich kids from Scandinavia and Anglophone countries, having some fun, trying to find a partner (and end up dissappointed - stop watching so much porn, kids!), then moving back after a year or two.
The nature of the outsourcing/nearshoring industry sets the top limit for the salaries at ~90k CZK annually and imply problems with finding senior professionals.
Trust me, when it comes to complaining about trivial things, you can't beat the Dutch. They live in this incredibly well run country but still complain about everything all the time. It's crazy. Oh, wait...
Ex-communist probably. Romanians also like to complain. I think it's what people do when they feel powerless. They don't see what else to do other than complaining. Problem is you tend to complain even when you could do something about it.
Definitely a side effect of communism, you can see how different it was if you read older literature, newspapers etc. The comparison can be made between Eastern and Western Germans.
Post-communist rather. Romanians also complain a lot, the grass is always greener in the neighbour's lot, if they do associate they'll most likely screw it up as every person pulls in a different direction (for themselves).
It's quite saddening to read CZ has similar issues. We've been in CZ in 2007 and Prague in 2017. I liked Prague a lot in 2007, not so much after ten years.
Prague is a beautiful city to visit, be it for a weekend or a week. But living there long term sucks - most of the Prague apart from historical centre is properly fugly, as soviet-style architecture is still all over the place, cramped high rise residential areas with high criminality, little nature around (major mountains are > 500km away, sea even further), Czech love to constantly complain and moan about almost everything (it really gets to you after some time). Gap between rich (ie IT workers, managers) and rest of population is big and widening, people constantly hate politics but vote an a-hole after a-hole for last 20 years. So rich often discuss how to shield themselves financially from the rest of country, politics and economy as much as possible - not an indication of paradise. Half of the country is xenophobic and/or racist (although ie Roma question is a complex one).
I've worked there for couple of years, to be successful in IT was trivial due to constant lack of senior people, from what I heard its even worse now due to massive off/near shoring of multinationals. When looking back, moving away was one of the best decisions of my life and major step up in quality of life.
Of course there are positive aspects, just like everywhere. Professionals (I can judge IT) are smart and work hard, beer is the best there is (for me) and as mentioned its a great starting point for career. There are people who consider it the best place for them. Interestingly, none I know in this category lived abroad for longer to properly compare.