What are your thoughts on Makati city, if you've been there?

[Iloko]

Can one say that it is relatively comparable to many major American cities in terms of its overall development, infrastructure, and availabilities? I've lived in both Chicago and Makati and can honestly say without a doubt that Makati has everything one could ever need just as what one would find in many American cities such as Chicago. Not really too sure if it's quite at the level of Chicago though, but I'd say that it's fairly close and offers a lot of the same comforts.

[Timawa]

Metro Manila is a beautiful and cosmopolitan city and it provides everything I need, for example, American products in supermarkets and relatively high Internet speed. I think the crime rate is low, thank goodness. The disadvantages are heavy traffic jams and drivers' constant disregard for the driving rules. Nevertheless, the good things outweigh the minor disadvantages.

[zhaoyun]

Pretty developed area, a lot of shopping malls, a large expat community, pretty Americanized in many ways.

[Iloko]

Pretty developed area, a lot of shopping malls, a large expat community, pretty Americanized in many ways.
Have you been to Glorietta/Greenbelt mall?--Amazing entertainment complex right?...better than any entertainment/shopping center in Chicago I've seen before IMO.

The museums are much better in Chicago though lol.

[Iloko]

Metro Manila is a beautiful and cosmopolitan city and it provides everything I need, for example, American products in supermarkets and relatively high Internet speed. I think the crime rate is low, thank goodness. The disadvantages are heavy traffic jams and drivers' constant disregard for the driving rules. Nevertheless, the good things outweigh the minor disadvantages.
When was the last time you visited Makati? I kind of wish everywhere in Metro Manila was like Makati.

[zhaoyun]

Have you been to Glorietta/Greenbelt mall?--Amazing entertainment complex right?...better than any entertainment/shopping center in Chicago I've seen before IMO.

The museums are much better in Chicago though lol.

I'm not sure. Went to a couple large ones which were very nice. It's been a while. Gotta go back some time, not sure when.

[Iloko]

I'm not sure. Went to a couple large ones which were very nice. It's been a while. Gotta go back some time, not sure when.
You probably went to Glorietta/Greenbelt I would imagine. The one where there are multiple malls/structures all interconnected into one entertainment center, where you end up having to do endless amounts of walking just to reach another store/establishment in another area of the mall.

They're also putting up condos like crazy in the area; I wouldn't mind purchasing one of those sleek babies sometime in the future. :)

Population of Makati is around 500,000-600,000 I believe. I think Chicago is a much large city, though while Makati is smaller it still manages to be cosmopolitan.

...I don't know why the Philippine government allows such an abnormal amount of slums/squatters to pervade Metropolitan Manila btw... these Philippine politicians are corrupt muthafuckaz, and the culture in general is in a way immune towards people residing in these conditional manners...Not good for the PH tourist industry unless foreigners want to visit primarily to see what the slums are like.

[zhaoyun]

You probably went to Glorietta/Greenbelt I would imagine. The one where there are multiple malls/structures all interconnected into one entertainment center, where you end up having to do endless amounts of walking just to reach another store/establishment in another area of the mall.

They're also putting up condos like crazy in the area; I wouldn't mind purchasing one of those sleek babies sometime in the future. :)

Population of Makati is around 500,000-600,000 I believe. I think Chicago is a much large city, though while Makati is smaller it still manages to be cosmopolitan.

...I don't know why the Philippine government allows such an abnormal amount of slums/squatters to pervade Metropolitan Manila btw... these Philippine politicians are corrupt muthafuckaz, and the culture in general is in a way immune towards people residing in this conditional manner...Not good for the PH tourist industry unless foreigners want to visit primarily to see what the slums are like.

Makati is one part of Manila though, which is a far bigger metro than Chicago. I think Manila has like 20 million people if I'm correct.

Has the slum situation improved? I hope Duterte cleans things up and actually builds infrastructure, he's probably the first good president the Philippines ever had.

[Iloko]

Makati is one part of Manila though, which is a far bigger metro than Chicago. I think Manila has like 20 million people if I'm correct.

Has the slum situation improved? I hope Duterte cleans things up and actually builds infrastructure, he's probably the first good president the Philippines ever had.
I heard Duterte wants to build infrastructure and economic zones _outside_ the Metro Manila area for these informal settlers. The slum dwellers mostly came from the provinces anyway. There would be no slums without the government leaders to allow it in the first place; This track record goes back for many decades into its past culture. According to my father's explanation the people living in the province areas of Philippines flock to Manila as a means of boredom and lack of jobs in their home provinces...living in Manila is just much more exciting and much more fun/grand at all costs; living in the provinces is a snoozefest.

What I heard was the initial plan was to send them all back to the provinces from whence they came from. But now that this squatter/slum culture is so ingrained into the society the politicians even allow the informal settlers to stay just for the electoral votes lol. Philippine polticians are just plain dumb.

I read Duterte won't do any demolishing of any slums until there is a relocation spot for the informal settlers or else they won't have any place to live. So if I'm correct I think the plan is to build some apartments or infrastructure for them _outside_ of the Manila area and relocate them there...I'm not so sure if it will succeed though.

[zhaoyun]

I heard Duterte wants to build infrastructure and economic zones _outside_ the Metro Manila area for these informal settlers. The slum dwellers mostly came from the provinces anyway. There would be no slums without the government leaders to allow it in the first place; This track record goes back for many decades into its past culture. According to my father's explanation the people living in the province areas of Philippines flock to Manila as a means of boredom and lack of jobs in their home provinces...living in Manila is just much more exciting and much more fun/grand at all costs; living in the provinces is a snoozefest.

What I heard was the initial plan was to send them all back to the provinces from whence they came from. But now that this squatter/slum culture is so ingrained into the society the politicians even allow the informal settlers to stay just for the electoral votes lol. Philippine polticians are just plain dumb.

I read Duterte won't do any demolishing of any slums until there is a relocation spot for the informal settlers or else they won't have any place to live. So if I'm correct I think the plan is to build some apartments or infrastructure for them _outside_ of the Manila area and relocate them there...I'm not so sure if it will succeed though.

Well, I think he'd probably be more capable than any other person to get those things done. Hopefully the Philippines can start developing like the rest of its neighbors, it has a lot of potential.