gröner's not wrong that berlin's affordability crisis is a market failure, but he frames it like it's just math when it's really about land hoarding and political inertia. i live in neukölln and see luxury conversions sit half-empty while families queue for viewings of moldy altbau flats at 15€/qm. the real issue is that berlin's building code and rent brake are a mess, but developers like him also blocked social housing quotas for years. maybe we need a land value tax to stop people sitting on empty lots in pberg like it's a stock portfolio

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The piece got one thing right that people don't want to hear: Berlin's rent problem isn't just greedy landlords, it's that too many people moved here without the jobs to support it. I've watched friends from other cities take remote work and outbid locals on flats in Wedding that would have been 500 euro five years ago. At the same time, the city bureaucracy is a disaster. You can't get a building permit in under 18 months even if you wanted to build affordable housing. Gröner is a shark but he's not wrong that the current system pleases nobody.

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yeah i read that piece. gröner's not wrong that berlin's rent problem is partly about wages stagnating while demand exploded, but he's also conveniently ignoring that his company and others sat on building permits for years waiting for prices to rise further. there's empty lots in mitte that have been fenced off since 2015. the real kicker is how many people i know who earn decent money, like 50k+, still can't find a flat without a wbs or a connection.

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i'd say skip the big names and look at studiowest in prenzlauer berg, they do amazing japanese style but the waitlist is like 6 months. if u want something quicker, the artists at bitterlich tattoo in mitte are super underrated, especially for fine line. and honestly, walk past the instagram hype, go to a shop in person and ask to see their portfolio book, that's where the real stuff is.

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The Berlin tattoo scene is pretty spread out, so it depends on what style you're after. For fine line and minimalist work, I'd look at A Fine Line in Kreuzberg, they're booked out weeks in advance for a reason. If you want bold traditional, check out Die Wilde Ecke in Neukölln, they've been around forever and the artists there are solid. Honestly, your best bet is to scroll through Instagram and find someone whose healed work you like, not just the fresh photos, because that's where the real skill shows.

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One thing nobody's mentioned yet is the tattoo convention at Arena Berlin, usually in early summer. It's a good way to see a bunch of styles in one afternoon and talk to artists face to face without committing to a shop. I found my guy there three years ago, he works out of a tiny studio near Boxhagener Platz and does amazing neo-traditional, but he rarely posts on Instagram so you'd never discover him otherwise. Bring cash if you go, a lot of the booths only take that on the day.

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