There are many opinions regarding what goes on in this street. But thought I would just give it a bit of positive PR from a woman's point of view.
Having visited the new Viaduckt Market and buying some lovely pies and cheese, we decided to stop off on the way home. We'd been to the Fest the week before and I had spotted some clothes shops I wanted to check out.
So off we trot and I find my first shop. The prices were good.....black kinda shiny going out trousers on sale at 14.90......bargain.....then came the top, the dress and a leather dress . So the whole lot well under 200 chf. There were a couple of stores that had some lovely dresses and I know some of you have been looking for cocktail dresses......gorgeous ones to be found here for 150chf.
Not a sign of anyone touting for business, the sun shining and I have a bag full of new frocks to wow the other half with. Oh and the leather dress which was the same price as a normal dress I looked at in H&M. Now the boots my other half bought me, killer heels and absolutely gorgeous. Can't wait for the colder weather when they will be my 'going out' boots.
So go on, give it a try, during daylight hours its a totally different place and well worth a visit to save yourself a fortune on a new wardrobe. Its not tacky merchandise, or all about sex shops. I for one will be heading back down there with a little more money to stock up.
Cut the leather dress to mini, put your killer heels and here you go ready for the night on Langstrasse.
I saw a nice documentary on tv about that street. It actually sounds a nice place to be with all the expats and life around. And apparently the girls don't disturb the people in the street. They stay in the brothel.
mrhrmm, and the drug dealers stay in their apartments, and the police patrols that come by every 3 min is just because those damn swiss police have nothing better to do and are looking for "expats" to pick on.
Had thought that after I posted.......leather dress and killer heels didn't promote the 'nice' side very well. Oh well if ever I get desperate I suppose and the other half kicks me out .
My apologies. I work around the corner from Langstrasse and I'm just sick of junkies next to me in the bus, alkis on every corner, stupid hipsters thinking they're so, well... hip because they live in Kreis 4, and most of all washing puke away from the entrance to my office every weekend...........don't believe the hype!
the drug-dealers are no problem for normal people, as they do not molest non-interested people. And police does not have enough personnel to patrol so often. The reserves allow for one inspection every 90 minutes, by 4 to 6 persons. One group advancing from one side, the other group from the other side, and changing the road at every 3rd or 4th interjuncion. Their main thing is not so much to catch the mice, but to show presence and keep things in check.
True, it is one of the lower price area in zurich, but does have an excellent variety of restaurants and really good authentic food. Location wise it is still quite central, so its only a matter of time before it will turn into the next hotspot like Kreis 5. It might take a while but it will come, land is too scarce in Zurich and the "doggy" areas can become the center of the action...saying that, until that comes, living there can be quite special and you will need to tolerate the characteristics of the area.
Note: Langstrasse is known to be split into two based on which side of the (train) tracks you are...I know it sounds cliche...but being on the wrong side of the tracks on langstrasse is not everyone's cup of tea.
Alkis are also around in the Niederdorf, around Bellevue/Stadelhofen, and elsewhere. Junkies according to police also are a problem on the S5 to Eglisau - Rafz, and some other specific S-Bahn lines.
I admit that this is not a very nice thought, but what about your company either moving away a kilometer to the Prime Tower (or farther), or your company and the other folks in that house talking with specialists (architects, security-experts) about improvements in the entry sector of the house ? Does your company really need a place in inner Zurich or would a location in "outer" Oerlikon, or in Seebach, Glattbrugg, Rümlang etc possibly do ?
Back to the "3 min". If so, this means that you see a place where they in reality have a permanent presence, on a rotating basis, which is done in case of hot-spots
If you were in trouble or just needed the police right away, I would rather be on Langstrasse, then in Seefeld...at Langstrasse, you have a chance of seeing one (or up to 6) on the street...never saw many patrolling in seefeld, and would not know the response time in Seefeld...(though I am sure they are speedy for serious inquires no matter where you are in Zurich...)
The Western side of the Langstrasse, together with Helvetiastrasse and the Stauffacher area for decades was and is far more "inner city" than the Kreis 5, which just started to become more innercity in recent years. But exactly this was the idea of the man who started to make Aussersihl part of Zürich Downtown, Mr Alfred von Escher (yes, the man standing on Bahnhofplatz ! )
Response Times do not depend on the location of the command stations but on the locations of the patrol cars in action. This means that if calling police on Seefeldstrasse, your request possibly gets handed to the command in Oerlikon and the patrol-car arriving will be from Schwamendingen , as just being in your area. The one near HB actually is the Central Command of the Stadtpolizei.
Sure, but look at the history of the police-forces in the world. Only modern police made the modern cities of today possible. Police statistics in the U.K. in 1972 proved that "small" cities of some 50'000 people in reality had a clearly higher crime rate than London (Gloucester leading the pack), and this was the reason why already the Teddy Heath government started a program to improve policing in those relatively small cities. When City Police Minister Mrs Maurer when taking over the Police forces requested data in order to define her priorities, the ugly surprise was that middle-of-the-road quarters had a horrible increase-rate in crime, and so she changed the whole patrolling system in Zurich. They also stopped to switch off the lights in roads, as all data showed that to have lighting up throughout the city clearly reduced crime (burglaries to be mentioned).
Far more of a problem is that the police forces have an educational problem. It is simply impossible to push all of their personnel through the courses required, and as two "Tschugger" I know sadly told me "you have to be realistic, some of our colleagues simply are too stupid". The one in a quarter-station gave me an example. When he once returned from an assignment, the "chief" immediately asked him to go to a particular address, and when he replied that there were 3 colleagues sitting around in the waiting room, he was told "but you are the only one intelligent enough". And when he returned "am I really soooo intelligent ? " the chief replied "you do not know hoooow intelligent you are"
I certainly did make the right choices........and imho didn't see that much the prostitutes would be seen dead in.....it was all far too long . Unless they have changed how they tout their wares am unlikely to see one in a floor length cocktail dress.
Did venture into one dubious looking shop but it was far too expensive for a hausfrau like me!