[bigman]

Sorry if this offends anyone. I am quite surprised by this, I have visited CHD on many occassions and found it to be a real soul sapping place. Its only saving grace for me is that Kasauli is not too far away.

It reminds me of some of the concrete jungles we have in England (some thankfully like the Bullring area in Birmingham have been pulled down). Too much monotony for my liking. Look at the so called flagship shopping area in sector 17, it is as if you are in a time warp and have landed in some soviet era planned city where only concrete was available for construction.

On the plus side the main roads are nice and wide and pollution is usually not too bad.

[tsk1979]

LOL bigman, if you compare it to towns like Patiala, ofcourse you will not like it, however I suggest you spend a couple of years at places like Noida.
First few months are amazing. You feel so good, then comes the lean period, and finally after a few years, it just gets to you!

[sonirohit]

Originally Posted by bigman

Sorry if this offends anyone. I am quite surprised by this, I have visited CHD on many occassions and found it to be a real soul sapping place. Its only saving grace for me is that Kasauli is not too far away.

It reminds me of some of the concrete jungles we have in England (some thankfully like the Bullring area in Birmingham have been pulled down).

When was the bull ring pulled down? I remember going there in summer of 06 and having forgotten my cards back home.
IMHO - Chd can be compared to a typical city (no London) in UK due to it's similarity of infrastructure, styles etc...

[greatDrive]

I stayed in Chd from 1995-97, It was great at that time. Was really bowled by the planning of the city.
Visited Chd in 2005, It was pain to drive at that time. City have grown many folds. Probably Panchkula & Mohali are better than the Chd now.

[abhibh]

@bigman Actually Sector 17 is compared to Times Square of NY

Originally Posted by greatDrive

I stayed in Chd from 1995-97, It was great at that time. Was really bowled by the planning of the city.
Visited Chd in 2005, It was pain to drive at that time. City have grown many folds. Probably Panchkula & Mohali are better than the Chd now.

Mohali is not better than Chandigarh. Panchkula is good place and in some aspects better than Chandigarh as they are not repeating same mistakes as Chandigarh MC did.

I have came to a conclusion that if anyone doesn't like Chandigarh now it is mainly due to Municipal Corporation over here. Chandigarh was running fine until MC took over the Administration.

Time is not far TSK. Chandigarh will be all corporate now in a few years. No factories just corporate offices situated all over the town.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

First few months are amazing. You feel so good, then comes the lean period, and finally after a few years, it just gets to you!

Is that what Bangalore did to you?

[bigman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

LOL bigman, if you compare it to towns like Patiala, ofcourse you will not like it, however I suggest you spend a couple of years at places like Noida.
First few months are amazing. You feel so good, then comes the lean period, and finally after a few years, it just gets to you!

Sad thing is that I did not even get that amazing feeling for a day and it got to me in one day. I would seriously feel for someone who had to spend a few months living in CHD.

On one trip my cousin (born in UK) wanted to stay a few days in CHD, he had heard the songs about doing "aashiqui in CHD"..."driving to CHD in a Safari" etc etc . I did not say anything and knew that he would be very bored in a few hours. Took him first to the lake, got one of those boat things, did two laps of the island and he was bored....next stop Nek Chands garden....I think it must have been the quickest anyone has been in and out of that place...soon he was nagging me to go home. I said we might as well go to sector 17 get some CD from Music World (or whatever it is called) and have some food. He spent more buying CDs than in Nek Chands garden. This is a kid who is quite cosmopolitan and has spent hours in the Rome Coliseum, Museums in Barca etc etc. The guy was truly bored of CHD in less than 2 hours and from wanting to stay a few days wanted to go home the same day. So we got back in the car and headed for home.

Could not have been my company as we spent a few days messing about in Jalandhar and other such cities just enjoying the atmosphere.

When was the bull ring pulled down? I remember going there in summer of 06 and having forgotten my cards back home.

I am talking about the bull ring shopping area that was built in the 1960's. I think the current one was opened in 2003. The old concrete design would still have been considered modernity in its prime had it been in CHD. Cities elsewhere learn from their mistakes and move on, a shame CHD is trapped in a time warp and no one considers taking the place forward. Just looking at the shops in sector 17, the whole area could be improved easily and the eyesore of concrete structures replaced with new structures to bring the place into the 21st century.

There is nothing wrong with old structures and I spend quite a bit of time visiting old palaces, havelis, forts etc as you can see the craftsmanship that went into building those places. But concrete just does not do it for me.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by tj123

Its sad we could not replicate this successful model in upcoming growing cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad , Pune etc.

upcoming cities? They could have planned the new areas better though. Its a specific problem in existing cities and especially in India. Authorities should think faster and plan differently for our cities. Cant do what others do.

In Bangalore, the old areas are still way better than the new ones. That should tell something about our decaying structures in various areas.

[tsk1979]

yup amitoj, chd is boring, I will not disagree on that

[StarScream]

I love Chandigarh. It is a beutiful place, planned, wide roads, beautiful women, the golf course etc. etc.
The traffic has got bad and for all its planning I hate the architecture of all the govt buildings and the SCO's (shopping-cum-office complexes). But still better than the mess we have for markets in many of our other cities.
Don't know if I'd want to live there though. Chandi lacks the big city life/cosmopolitan outlook (I know I'm going to get flamed for that). Great place to retire, as its been for many years.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

however I suggest you spend a couple of years at places like Noida.
First few months are amazing. You feel so good, then comes the lean period, and finally after a few years, it just gets to you!

you mean Noida gets to you? Why? I love my malls....

Originally Posted by bigman

On one trip my cousin (born in UK) wanted to stay a few days in CHD, he had heard the songs about doing "aashiqui in CHD"..."driving to CHD in a Safari" etc etc . I did not say anything and knew that he would be very bored in a few hours. Took him first to the lake, got one of those boat things, did two laps of the island and he was bored....

Sighhh ... the ultimate geri song! You gotta get into the spirit of things. tank up a bit and then stare at women on their Kinetic Honda's bleary eyed.
The Lake and that Rock Garden are scams! No one who lives in CHD goes there with any regularity. I remember at one time the lake was a dumping ground for dead bodies, thrown by local goons.

Originally Posted by abhibh

@bigman Actually Sector 17 is compared to Times Square of NY

That's funny. I can just imagine the US editor trying to get their head around an alien place and coming up with the Times Square analogy.

[rsjaurr]

I really liked CHD when i was there in 1990 as a 17yr old boy.Back then it was very clean with minimal traffic and not that crowded.

Now it seems CHD has changed for worse and it has become just like another Indian city but it may well still be no.1 of all Indian cities.

[akshay4587]

Well traffic has gone from Bad to worse now.
However there is still something about chandigarh.
if its boring be it,i like it this way.
Last weekend it was raining and I along with few Bhpians were driving around the northern sectors,that is something to experience,the wide roads,the green trees,and Mountains at stone throw,something which i think cant be found in other metropolitans.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

ditto here vasudeva, the moment some good VLSI/EDA companies open shop there, I am firing my resume. I would love to live there given a chance, even if the salary offered was lower!

Influx of IT companies would make it just another Gurgaon or Noida.
I really hope IT doesnt spread its wings in Chandigarh. Let there be a place where one can peacefully retire and live a life without the chaos of metros/NCR.

[tsk1979]

I have no problems with lots of IT companies. For example BLR with its IT companies is still good(though crowded). Its the non IT part of Noida which I despise I think only a Noida resident can understand what I am talking about.

[Mpower]

THe article talks only about architecture. To get a best city rating, you need to look at climate, crime, affordable housing, good schools, high paying jobs, cleanliness, responsible government