Other Geneva Photos :
http://www.geocities.com/asiaglobe/gallery/geneva01.htm
http://www.geocities.com/asiaglobe/gallery/geneva02.htm

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1297.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1296.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1304.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1299.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1305.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1306.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1308.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1312.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1315.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1310.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1314.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1328.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1317.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/geneva/20050424/RIMG1326.jpg

Very nice :)

I just dont understand why that many facades dont seem to be maintained well, especially knowing that Switzerland is a darn rich country....while some Eastern European ala Prague are all shiny, but not nearly as rich as Swiss cities :)

:cheers:

A dark little city but it has lot of charm.

Beautiful....

Very nice :)

I just dont understand why that many facades dont seem to be maintained well, especially knowing that Switzerland is a darn rich country....while some Eastern European ala Prague are all shiny, but not nearly as rich as Swiss cities :)

:cheers:
Switzerland is not Switzerland - Geneva has a lot of financal problems - always had. Generally big Swiss cities have higher taxes and thus less potentially rich tax-payers and lots of costs for infrastructure, social help, culture and education from which the whole canton or even bigger areas profit - but don't pay for. I think the exception are Schwyz and Zug - two rich tax-havens in the metro Zurich that pay the city of Zurich some "cultural aid money". You have to know that not only every canton has an own tax system but also every municipality has a different tax level. In the case of Geneva that means: the city is only about 15 km2 with approx 180'000 pop. The rest of the metro pop (another 500'000) live in nearly 100 municipalities in the cantons of Geneva, Vaud and France... Basel is even worse - same numbers for the city size and and another 600'000 livin in Germany, France and the Swiss cantons of Baselland, Basel-Stadt, Aargau and Solothurn. And they only profit from the central city, but don't pay for that. A big reformation is necessary as they did in Lugano and Luzern that merged the closer suburbs that were anyway part of the city together with the center.

Geneva is not poor because they don't have rich tax payers. Actually they have the most billionaires of any swiss city.
The reason they are poor is mostly mismanagenent, a socialist-communist goverment that forced the canton into the highest unemployement rate of whole switzerland.

The canton of geneva is one of the biggest reciver of money by the intercantonal exchange (per person).

Geneva makes tax exeptions to rich people (like vaud).

I thought that you would say that :lol:

But isn't it ironic that the leftiest canton and cities have the biggest gap between rich and poor?

I think it's more the other way round: the once directly "connected" to a problem elect a socialist government or vote more leftish. The best example is Kreis 4 and 5 in Zurich where the people face actually the biggest "problematics" with drugs, prostitution, poverty, pollution, high forigner population and violence. And they always vote against repression and elect left while in the suburbs where these problems are much more marginal and hardly really touching anyone in dayly life they are very conservative, elect SVP and vote for repression, control, and against foreigners etc... Can it be then that the ones in the city center are just "too stupid" to realize the problems, or is it that they know maybe better what's good for them and how to really solve the problems because the actually LIVE with them?

Okay your argument will be: And who PAYS for that?! - And there you have a point ;)
But in the long run a more equal society is cheaper and safer than one with big disparities - there are example for that all around the world.

You are partially right. But the have sociallist goverment for years.

And I actually thought with the ironic argument about the other end of the scala, the very rich people that live in Geneva that don't have to pay as many taxes as in other cantons (with exeption of vaud).
How does that go hand in hand with a socialist goverment.

As I never would enter a political party or start a political carreer I think that every politician in every system and from any political coloration is getting corrupted and starts dealing with lobbying as soon as he reaches a certain level - and thus his political ideals are crumbling down :)

How is that again: the power in a democracy originates from the people - and never returns to them anymore... or the like :lol:

Does tham mean you won't vote for my party at the Kantonsratwahlen?

I go voting - but if then I would open up my own party: the Monarchistische Partei der Schweiz MPS! People are to slow and backwards in thinking and too stubborn to deal with democracy. What they need is a king they can look up to and blame him if the things go wrong. That's a psychological fact. Clear that the king also has to let referenda and petitions work for a king without the people behind him is a lone player and condamned to lose his crown.