[ido]

Lots of free space! Look at how relatively sparsely populated the area around Berlin is: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Pop_dens...

Germany has a very low fertility rate & even immigration isn't enough to make the population grow more than very slowly so if a lot of people moved westwards and into the cities it means a lot of people moved out of the east and the country side.

Also almost the entire country is fairly flat & with a mild climate.

[throwaway894345]

Is population stagnation a problem across Europe? Why not relax immigration requirements? I’m not an expert, but every time I’ve looked getting into Europe seems ridiculously hard. You basically have to have a company agree to employ you and sponsor your visa application, which (as I understand) entails proving why the company can’t find an E.U. resident to do the same job. Plus the salaries are quite a lot lower than the US (roughly 40% lower after factoring in healthcare, vacation, taxes, retirement, etc for software engineering jobs last I checked).

[ido]

Software just isn't a focus for the German economy, it's more industrial machinery & automotive.

And Germany actually has among the highest amount of immigration in the world so not sure why you think they don't let people in. In my experience it is actually easier to move here than to the US (I'm an immigrant).

The places where it's a problem are those that people leave, like Bulgaria and Romania. There are basically enough "cheap" immigrants available from poorer European countries that the wealthy ones don't need to also additionally increase the rate of immigration from outside Europe.

[throwaway894345]

I was speaking to Europe in general, but good to know about Germany specifically. I was asking about Europe generally because it seems like I’ve heard of a number of European countries struggling with declining populations in recent years, and if it’s a problem throughout the EU, then perhaps the EU would be better off by loosening its immigration requirements.

[ido]

It's mostly a problem in countries that aren't doing well economically and thus their young people leave to other (mostly also European) countries.

You cant make immigration easy only in these countries as once you are in the EU you can then move to any other EU state (there is some wait required, like a year I think). So people will basically use these as a jump off point to the countries they actually want to go to (which do not lack immigrants).

I believe the solution is to invest in the poorer countries to make them attractive enough so that their diaspora wishes to return and young people don't want to leave en masse to begin with.

[throwaway894345]

Right. That makes sense. If it’s not a pan-EU problem then easing immigration restrictions across the EU won’t help. I wonder if they could be more creative, for example, allowing people to work in those countries with negative population growth but not the wealthier countries (e.g., Germany). Maybe after working in a poorer country for 5-10 years you earn the right to work anywhere in the EU.

But yes, investment in poorer countries also seems reasonable.

[stef25]

Berlin winters ... mild?

[Scoundreller]

Bigger concern is the long nights in winter (but long days in summer). But plenty of European cities have overcast issues in winter anyway.

All depends where you're coming from. w.r.t weather, I found winters in Toronto less depressing than Paris because Toronto at least had clear skies.

[ido]

Yes, we've lived here since 2013 and there has been maybe a week of snow per winter (it was above freezing the rest of the year). It is almost unheard of to have icey roads and sidewalks (which was normal every winter when we lived in Austria before that).

[pantalaimon]

That used to be normal in Berlin too 10+ years ago.

The last couple of years barely had any snow though.

[folmar]

Yes they are mild. A winter in Berlin matches late fall in Warsaw.

[SiempreViernes]

Berlin has a winter?

[alkonaut]

A few days. But the sun still rises confusing people in Berlin that are from Northern Europe.

[SiempreViernes]

Ah, you mean it has autumn!