[MadinMumbai]

Monsoon hit Mumbai last weekend ending the months long wait for most people. The romance of rain though, was short lived as the wait has already started for the monsoon to end. Most commuting Mumbaikars had had enough of monsoon within the first three hours of traffic. The normal chaos in the suburbs, which ensures it takes 45- 60 minutes to cover 8 kms in rush hour, dialled up to stratospheric levels, as in the last last two days the same 8 kms have taken two hours plus.
This brings me to the eternal question- What should be the premium, in income terms, to living in Mumbai? Or, to put it differently, how much income would one be willing to forgo to live in a different city? I was in Chandigarh last week and I marvelled at the ability to get from point A to point B with a degree of ease. It got me thinking - How much money would I be willing to give up to live in a city with an easier commute? Do people add time spent in the commute to their workday? What about the health aggravations, would you put a price to it? My generation, probably, didn't do any such analysis, because frankly, we didn't have a choice. Do the people coming into the workforce today consider this in their calculations?

[Palio_2005]

Hi MadinMumbai. It's damn if you do and damn if you don't. Unfortunately there is no city which can provide opportunity like Mumbai along with the safety and vibrancy. Ahmedabad tried but failed and so did many other cities. So it's not only the question of money.

[MadinMumbai]

Originally Posted by Palio_2005

Hi MadinMumbai. It's damn if you do and damn if you don't. Unfortunately there is no city which can provide opportunity like Mumbai along with the safety and vibrancy. Ahmedabad tried but failed and so did many other cities. So it's not only the question of money.

Is that still the case? Across industries? I would have thought that other cities are catching up, in many cases surpassing Mumbai. Immigration patterns seem to suggest influx into Mumbai has slowed.

[Palio_2005]

Hi. If you see most of the companies have head offices either in Mumbai/Delhi or Bangalore. For financial professional you have to be in Mumbai. In case you are associated with IT it's Bangalore/Mumbai. Delhi is more suited for companies who work with the central government.

I am not saying that fewer people are coming to Mumbai but the tier 2 cities which are far less developed, it may be difficult to attract talent. This is of course my take.

Government usually spends crores each year but it's the same effect. It floods every year and we grin and bear it. Happens in Mumbai/Pune/Bangalore/Delhi... you name it. So unless you go abroad, there isnt an escape

[denzdm]

You have brought up an important point worth discussing and it will be great to hear different thoughts on this.

I have always wondered what makes Mumbai (financial capital of India) the most expensive city to stay in India (and probably in top 100 in the world). Given the pain you highlighted - traffic woes and congested housings.

The primary reason for any place to be inhabited by a civilization can be attributed to great survival means. It was river banks in old age and employment options (which is now a means to better life) in the current age. So, erstwhile Mumbai attracted people because it was a land of mills, a great harbor and an island city with great weather.

As the population grows, finding hands and talent becomes easier. So, before Bangalore could explode the scene, most MNCs established their first offices in Mumbai. This made Mumbai more attractive with opportunities, further attracting job seekers.

If you think of it, its the vicious cycle of more opportunities attracting more people and thus pushing the need to build more houses to accommodate them all.

However, there comes a turning point and it was provided by the high cost of Mumbai real estate, through the roof rentals and state govt incentives (IT parks) which pushed the bigger MNCs to explore alternate cities.

Coming back to your original question as to why Mumbai? It is because the locals (a generation or two generations of earlier migrants from other cities) have made this their home and its very difficult for them to uproot their world and go elsewhere. I am sure any other person outside Mumbai given a choice between Mumbai and other city will prefer the other city (when offered the same salary). Purely because of the moolah they would save from staying in rental houses.

However, I see the younger working generation not bat an eyelid when offered a chance to relocate to Pune, Hyderabad or Bangalore. So, maybe a generation will pass before we see people moving out of Mumbai when offered better opportunities elsewhere or MNCs opening up satellite offices in other major cities like Nagpur (connected to Mumbai by Mahamarg), Coimbatore, Ahmedabad (connected to Mumbai by bullet train), Pune, etc.

[MadinMumbai]

Originally Posted by denzdm

However, I see the younger working generation not bat an eyelid when offered a chance to relocate to Pune, Hyderabad or Bangalore. So, maybe a generation will pass before we see people moving out of Mumbai when offered better opportunities elsewhere or MNCs opening up satellite offices in other major cities like Nagpur (connected to Mumbai by Mahamarg), Coimbatore, Ahmedabad (connected to Mumbai by bullet train), Pune, etc.

That's what I was thinking about. Our generation - I am at retirement age, had limited choices. And we didn't think about commute as a factor in choosing a city to relocate to. But, today's situation is a little more dynamic, diverse options are available even if they come with a marginally lower salary. Therefore the question - if the work day is extended by a couple of hours due to traffic, do you put a price to it?

[Mortis]

The reason we tolerate it is because Bombay is Bombay. There's no other city like it in India even if it's more developed or whatever. The good and bad things come in equal amounts, the only difference is what you want to get out of life and what you will gain or lose if you move to another city.

[Nilesh5417]

I think even those living in Mumbai for their lifetimes are to a certain level, exasperated and irritated with how it's morphed. But what makes it really hard to shift out of Bombay IMO is :
1. It's the seat of power in Maharashtra, massive base for all political happenings.
2. Is still the dominant financial capital.
3. A huge trade hub with a port (Parsis, Gujrati, Marwari, Punjabi, Mallu..you name it and they have their businesses)
4. Massive real estate opportunity (re-developments in Ghatkopar, Borivali, Mills, Dharavi) - labour,.blue collar jobs.
5. An extremely large population that's been settled here for generations - and from all cultures making it truly cosmopolitan! Imagine that 50yrs ago.
6. A city that has everything for every class - roti, kapda, makaan, transport, entertainment etc is covered no matter what your job / income.

And finally given the population and vastness of the city, the need to run so many areas as self-contained mini-cities with all basic needs of life gives a massive opportunity to make a living for the blue collar worker who still migrate by train-loads.

The IT and other corporate employees.may choose to move out but 80% of the population still needs Mumbai and will stay put. Most now just plan a getaway once in a while to catch a breath and escape the madness.

BTW - my first job was in Mumbai and I used to.commute from Borivali to Andheri and then to Mhape. Even on usual bad days, it used to take max 90mins - unpredictable in monsoons. Been a part of human chains to cross roads in monsoon and seen people standing up for complete strangers. That Bombay still had warmth in its society, place to breathe, space in crowded locals and things that other cities didn't have to wow you! It's not that city anymore. I got back from my first stint overseas and then just couldn't feel the same in the city and moved to Pune.

[MadinMumbai]

Originally Posted by Mortis

The reason we tolerate it is because Bombay is Bombay. There's no other city like it in India even if it's more developed or whatever. The good and bad things come in equal amounts, the only difference is what you want to get out of life and what you will gain or lose if you move to another city.

In the 80s, we moved around a lot, living in various small town cantonments. Many of my friends were from Kolkata, or had Cal connections. They'd swear that it was the best place in India by far. They'd refer to the culture, food and old business houses there, and one had to take their word for it, because what did I know, I was living in a two horse town. Nobody, from other parts of the country, made a case for their hometowns with the same passion. The funny thing is - not one of them ended up working or living in Kolkata.
I suspect the Bombay argument is made with a similar sort of passion. It will be interesting to note how many young people, from Mumbai, who live outside Mumbai, come back to live and retire in Mumbai. Mumbai is very different to Bombay of nostalgia.

[fast_n_curious]

Why Mumbai, that question I have asked myself multiple times as I moved from Mumbai in 2010 to Bangalore to Singapore to Munich to Atlanta and the answer was simple = the people and the spirit of the people.

No city is the same and each city has its own charm, but Mumbai has everything a person can ask for and a little bit more. The only city comparable to Mumbai may be New York, but then you don't get the best veg fried rice and manchurian at 11 pm outside Grand Central station.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by MadinMumbai

Most commuting Mumbaikars had had enough of monsoon within the first three hours of traffic. The normal chaos in the suburbs, which ensures it takes 45- 60 minutes to cover 8 kms in rush hour, dialled up to stratospheric levels, as in the last last two days the same 8 kms have taken two hours plus.

In my recent trips to Mumbai (From Pune), I made good use of all public transportation the city has to offer. From local trains to blue & yellow line metro to Monorail. And not to forget the ample Auto and taxi, 90% of whom go by meter. Honestly if your route is near metro / local you will get to your destination as fast as possible. I faced 0 traffic or hindrance while using these forms of transportation. Driving on the other hand can be a different story altogether

[am1m]

Originally Posted by MadinMumbai

How much money would I be willing to give up to live in a city with an easier commute?...Do the people coming into the workforce today consider this in their calculations?

Originally Posted by MadinMumbai

Therefore the question - if the work day is extended by a couple of hours due to traffic, do you put a price to it?

Did that calculation a couple of years ago, post-covid. Calculated that I was willing to take up to a 25% cut in in-hand salary to never have to commute to work again. Put my money where my mouth was and took a cut (turned out not to be 25%, but pretty close) to leave a job that required me to commute to a horrible-traffic stretch in Bangalore (that I already was doing for 3 years pre-covid).

And now, in hindsight, it was the second best decision I have taken for my health (mental and physical) and quality of life, well-being. (The first being quitting smoking more than a decade ago! In many ways similar- the city commute is also bad for health!)

But I was lucky to be in a position to do so. Even if people are willing to forgo a part of the money, their lives may not make it possible to leave cities. Kids have school, loans to be paid, most jobs can't be done remote, and for the jobs that can, most companies are still not very flexible with remote working arrangements. Plus for a lot of people, especially for first generation city dwellers, life in a big city has its attractions and the other hassles are worth it, or at least not a deal-breaker. I know a lot of younger colleagues who love Bangalore for its lively scene and traffic is not an issue for them at all.

There is a reason why cities as an aggregation of people work, some services cannot be offered at a reasonable cost and quality unless there is a certain market. Which is why as broken as our cities get, they will always see a net gain in population. Some people at different stages of their careers and personal lives will leave, but overall, our cities will flourish for some time yet, irrespective of whether the governments do anything to help or not.

[DigitalOne]

Got this from a Mumbai cousin. A young couple re-enact the song "Rim jhim gire saawan" from Manzil, capturing the joy and beauty of Mumbai during monsoons.

https://youtu.be/Fs_Uj-uMkb4

[MadinMumbai]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Honestly if your route is near metro / local you will get to your destination as fast as possible. I faced 0 traffic or hindrance while using these forms of transportation. Driving on the other hand can be a different story altogether

Unfortunately Metro is a work in progress. As, and when, or if, it gets completed it will make a difference. But right now it is more a nuisance, due to construction bottlenecks, than of use to Mumbaikars.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by MadinMumbai

Unfortunately Metro is a work in progress. As, and when, or if, it gets completed it will make a difference. But right now it is more a nuisance, due to construction bottlenecks, than of use to Mumbaikars.

Yes maybe in the south, but the blue, red & yellow lines work like a charm. Last weekend visited the Global Vipassana Pagoda from Andheri East (JB Nagar) using Metro blue, switching lines to yellow and reached Borivali in like 30mins. One short auto & ferry ride later reached the world's largest stone dome

https://youtu.be/jix8Aqdu9ic