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Old Posted Mar 1, 2018, 6:33 PM
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niwell niwell is offline
sick transit, gloria
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Roncesvalles, Toronto
Posts: 11,021
Thanks for the comments all!


Quote:
Originally Posted by SpongeG View Post
pretty much all my extended family lives in South Africa. Most of them have had their cars stolen or been robbed while waiting at a traffic light. I haven't been since 2002, but downtown was a place to avoid at that time. I remember going downtown as a kid, it was really beautiful, there was a mall and lots of department stores.

Have you gone anywhere else in SA? Durban was my fave place, its so beautiful and tropical.

It's still very much a risk compared to North America but it sounds like carjacking hit a peak in the early 2000s. Similarly downtown was much worse. Some of the buildings the old department stores were in are beginning to be renovated although I imagine they will be used for office space or residences. Still a positive move.

https://goo.gl/maps/Tn6eSGddL382

On the next block these ones were falling apart and now being renovated by the company that is redoing Maboneng: https://goo.gl/maps/xnFjJLGTBat

Interestingly enough I learned from my landlord acquaintance that on a per quare foot basis the extremely crowded but tired looking mall at the base of the Carlton Centre (tallest tower in the city) is actually the most expensive. Beating out Sandton real estate even, although most spaces are very tiny so end up being cheap in absolute terms:

https://goo.gl/maps/vDXk4VYW1YJ2



Quote:
Originally Posted by SpongeG View Post
Have you gone anywhere else in SA? Durban was my fave place, its so beautiful and tropical.
I've been to Cape Town and some driving in the country northwest of Joburg into Northwest Province. Next time I'm there I plan to spend some time in Durban and also check out Pretoria which I meant to do but ran out of time . Cape Town was stunningly gorgeous but there's a lot I didn't like about the city (also who knows if it will have water...).
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