When was the best time to live in 'your city' ?

[Paitoo]

As someone who grew up in multiple cities N-S-E-W of India, I have often wondered what was the best time to live in them. I currently reside in Bangalore, which almost everyone agrees was best before 2000. It is a titanic mess now. I have lived in Mumbai too, and I feel the best period was the 1960s. The city was not bursting at its seams, there was a hippy vibe to it, liberal in every sense (still pretty much is). Kolkata's golden age was probably pre-Independence, and Delhi probably in Mughal era LOL. I have never found any post independence period of Delhi to be good, though I have a soft corner for 80s as I did my schooling there that time.

What was the best time for cities like Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Multan etc? I was glancing through some pics of old Karachi and Peshawar on this forum and that's what got me thinking. I am someone who is very tied to the city I live in. I explore every nook and corner and learn about its history and live like the locals. What do Pakistanis have to say about their own?

 

[xeuss]

Always loved Mumbai!

There's something about it that you cannot find anywhere else....organized chaos maybe?

 

[Paitoo]

Ham city main kabhi nahi rahay

In India I feel villages and small towns haven't changed much at all. Whenever I go there I feel transported back in time. Of course there is the internet, mobile and social media penetration, but everything feels the same.

Always loved Mumbai!

There's something about it that you cannot find anywhere else....organized chaos maybe?

Mumbai is my favorite city in the world. Lived there the longest among all my metro stints (14 years). I would move back if some rich relative had left me a house there.

 

[JohnyD]

Having lived in London, Amsterdam, Paris and Mumbai which is my home town, i think Mumbai was and is the best city to live in..thankfully i own houses in mumbai so cost of living is not a concern, the city has everything from national park to vast sea shores, local trains, best, metro, mono, ferry service, zoo, slums, 7 star hotels, IT parks, IIT, RBI, BSE, Ambanis, Tatas, Birlas, Godrej, Ruias, Bollywood, Film City, Unseco Heritage Ajanta and Eleoganta Caves, Victorian VT station, high court, mantralaya, International airport, Naval base, Mazgaon dock, JNPT, Gateway of India, amusement park, red light areas, chor bazaar, lamington road, fashion street, mount mary, siddhivinayak, haji ali darga, cricket stadium, Xaviers, St andrews, Sophia college, SNDT, VJTI, cooper, nayar, hinduja, bombay, kokilaben, beach candy hospitals and many more ....this city never sleeps and i think it is one of the safest metro for women...

 

[INS_Vikrant]

Mumbai apart from monsoon months july-september is the best city to live in India. Seriously city's Municipal Corporation has budget that's even bigger than some states but they don't spend it modernizing colonial era drainage system.

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

Always loved Mumbai!

There's something about it that you cannot find anywhere else....organized chaos maybe?

Isn't mumbai a sanghi hell hole?

 

[newb3e]

karachi early 90s was amazing then dha launched and khi went down the drain!

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

karachi early 90s was amazing then dha launched and khi went down the drain!

My friend got his car kidnapped at gun point back in 80s in Karachi. He left the city after that incident.

 

[Ajamal]

Festival time. People go crazy in festivals. Be it Diwali, Holi, Ganesh Visarjan, Navarati, Uttarayan. Festivals are celibrated like anywhere. My city is well known for food. It is the fastest growing city yet not much pollution, hundreds of gardens, lots of celebrations, very little crime, No unemployment, rich people who know how to enjoy.

 

[TNT]

Peshawar have always been wonderful pre 2001 before war came next door. Peshawar was amazingly peaceful. Though many elders say Peshawar was a heaven pre 1980. People used to travel easily to kabul and even USSR. College trips used to head to kabul and other Afghanistan cities. It was a true border city with huge diversity and dynamic culture.

 

[Maula Jatt]

I lived in NYC and Lahore, currently live in suburbs of a mid tier city so it doesn't matter, I am just chilling

NYC as long as rents are under control is an awesome city in almost every way (except for homelessness, in 90s I heard crime was a big thing but not now)

Lahore is/was and hopefully will always be great but late 90s, 2000s was something else
Basant festival was celebrated with more zeal than even Eid (maybe bakar Eid was better), I can't express how cool basant was we used to have BBQ, I remember singing and bhangra, we used to blast out basant cassettes and ofcourse staying on rooftop all day,boy's used the festival as an opportunity to find girl friends (not the western kind lol, not sexual kinda thing) doing"patangbaazi", our family members used to fly out from Europe just for basant,

Most famous basant song, everyone from the city would Remember it

Lahore without basant is nothing man , now it's banned and they use drones to catch you

Also sometimes decorations to celebrate spring time

In summer time people used to head towards "nehar" for swimming

And I remember boating clubs were a thing too back in the day, I don't know now

Food was always good

Concert's we're a thing too, Ali Zafar, abrar ul haq, Ali Azmat all the musicians were basically from Lahore so concerts and music festivals were a big thing

I especially love abrar ul Haq, this was famous during that time

But than war of terror started peaking in late 2000s and it's just not the same thing anymore, I'll be honest

I think there's a societal PTSD and post WOT city, culture, festival, society vibes are different

I don't know about rest of the country but it certainly changed Lahore, it's still beautiful if anything bit more devaloped than before with metro bus and train, flyovers , posh housing societies etc but overall things are different

 

[lastofthepatriots]

My friend got his car kidnapped at gun point back in 80s in Karachi. He left the city after that incident.

That’s terrible. Did the kidnappers ask for money or did they end up killing the car?

 

[Bengal71]

As someone who grew up in multiple cities N-S-E-W of India, I have often wondered what was the best time to live in them. I currently reside in Bangalore, which almost everyone agrees was best before 2000. It is a titanic mess now. I have lived in Mumbai too, and I feel the best period was the 1960s. The city was not bursting at its seams, there was a hippy vibe to it, liberal in every sense (still pretty much is). Kolkata's golden age was probably pre-Independence, and Delhi probably in Mughal era LOL. I have never found any post independence period of Delhi to be good, though I have a soft corner for 80s as I did my schooling there that time.

What was the best time for cities like Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Multan etc? I was glancing through some pics of old Karachi and Peshawar on this forum and that's what got me thinking. I am someone who is very tied to the city I live in. I explore every nook and corner and learn about its history and live like the locals. What do Pakistanis have to say about their own?

For me it was the mid 90s, I was in early teens then (in Dhaka).

If many people answer your question, you might notice a trend that most of them are citing a time that coincides with their youth. The ones who are 14/15 years old today in whichever city, 20 years later they will say the best time was 2022.

 

[MH.Yang]

my hometown?

It's the most fun from 23:00 to 2:00 the next day. At this time, the streets are cool and there are many delicious food.

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

That’s terrible. Did the kidnappers ask for money or did they end up killing the car?

They took the car and left him unharmed.