I’m starting to plan for the long-term with the idea to move out of the US, eventually. Having watched a lot of urbanist content, I get the impression that Amsterdam is the ideal city. However, I think other European cities get overshadowed. Specifically, Scandinavian/Nordic cities. How do Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki compare to Amsterdam and other Dutch cities? Can I get around with just walking and cycling? What’s the public transit infrastructure in those cities like?
Additionally, I’m of Cuban descent, so will I face any racial discrimination? I’m pretty sure that Scandinavia as a whole isn’t racist, but I don’t doubt that I will have isolated encounters.
I’m Dutch and only know Scandinavian cities from video unfortunately, but i want to comment and say i personally like Amsterdam aside from the very pretty city center that looks like a festival grounds half of the year. Other cities and towns here that might be worth considering too (some economic activities are very tied to a certain area). Don’t worry about racism in the streets, if you don’t speak Dutch you always have the I’m just a tourist card in your back pocket. You might be discriminated by some small companies that prefer Dutch speaking colleagues though, in certain workfields this is a bigger problem than in others. Public transport is great, if you can afford to move here you can afford PT as well. Owning a car would be a much bigger problem if you want to live inside ‘The Ring’ because parking is crazy expensive and it you’ll have to wait a few years before you can get a residence permit (there is a queue basically). Many people in Amsterdam do not have a car, depending on what kind of work you do you might not need one either. My advice would be to travel to the places that you like, maybe you’ll instantly feel where you would like to settle long-term.