Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai-Comparison of 3 cities
IN past few years I stayed at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. This post lists the ups and downs of these three cities-the pros and cons, from my view.
Quick Jump: Bangalore *Chennai* Hyderabad*Hyderabad Bangalore by Bus-Comparison of operators
Bangalore
Garden city and IT capital. Bangalore was not initially designed to grow this big; hence infrastructure limitations are causing a major hindrance to cities growth potential. Facing stiff competition from Hyderabad and Chennai.
-Good things:
1. Multi Language, multi cultural support
2. Cheap Food (No other cities you get Mini meals for Rs 10)(Updated Darshini price:Rs 15-20)
3. Great weather
4. Most number of educational institutions (Ready Man Power)
5. Relatively cleaner better and more frequent Metro Bus Service
6. Daily Bus Pass Rate is cheapest
7. Magazines and movies of all languages available
8. Highest amount of Software export, conducts BangaloreIT.in, annual IT event and still retains IT Capital, Silicon Valley of India tag.
9. Considerable weekend spots and hangout places [Skanda Giri][Nandi Hills][Big Banyan Tree][Mysore]
10.Volvo City buses details)
11. Good number of public gardens in almost all locality. (Though open for few specific hours in morning and evening, these are good places to inhale some fresh air and relax)
Cons
1. Over crowded roads and unbearable Traffic
2. Land cost and house rent-too expensive
3. House advance-10 months rent min (Other cities 1 to 5 months rent)
4. Highest Petrol Cost
5. NO local trains (Both other cities have it)
6. Shortage of Hotel Rooms and high cost
7. No stable government for past few years
8. Cost of transport high and No concept of Share Autos
9. Very strict traffic police, who accept bribe happily
10. Several under construction flyovers
Related: Skanda Giri Hills Bangalore BMTC Volvo City buses Bangalore
Chennai Go to TOP
A typical south Indian city, kept itself away from influences of north India but Chennai businessmen are now forced to learn Hindi to prevent loosing business from IT people. People here are loyal to either DMK or AIADMK. Politically stable and slightly economic compared to other cities. More temples and religious places than other two cities, but not many places of tourist interest as such.
Pros:
1. Cheapest Petrol
2. Only city out of three with Beach and Sea
3. Share Autos available
4. Cheapest Bus fares
5. Metro Trains
6. Accessible via Sea, Air and Rail
7. Out of all 3 cities under considerations, Chennai is the only one in Metropolitan Category (Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkatta are other 3 such cities). This means your company allowances for food and stay etc will be maximum for this city.
8. Preferred of late by major manufacturing Companies (Dell, Motorola, Nokia, BMW etc) for their production units. (More employment opportunities)
9. Stable government and less red tape
10. (NEW) Volvo City buses
Cons
1. Language barrier for North Indians. No Hindi speaking people and signboards
2. City Buses are extremely aged, overcrowded and unclean (Some new buses, including Volvo are introduced recently, but most of the scrap buses still rule the road)
3. Hotel Stay bit expensive dues to 25% luxury tax
4. Hot atmosphere and humidity
5. Meals cost relatively high
6. Least number of weekend spots/picnic places
7. Not enough gardens...Beach is the best and only place for walk...
8. Both Hyderabad and Bangalore have two airports now, while chennai has only one...Not a major shortfall but having second airport helps...
Hyderabad Go to TOP
The city appears to be strong enough to absorb the impact of IT boom and expand itself rapidly. Living here will not be a problem. Similar to Bangalore in operational aspects. Famous for Biriyanies and hasn’t changed much in past one year.
Pros:
1. Widest Roads and minimum traffic jams (except a few regular traffic jam spots)
City with lots of rocks- Maximum driving pleasure for adventure seeking persons as the roads include lots of ups and downs and turns giving a sporty feeling
2. Liberal traffic police-You can see vehicles of all states (Registered in states other than AP) driving comfortably in Hyderabad.
3. Metro Trains
4. Magazines and movies of all languages available
5. Share auto facility available
6. Maximum number of tourist destinations/picnic spots around the city
7. Hyd has been just categorized as A-1 city (Higher HRA and CCA for govt employees in this city)
8. Legendary Biryani...
Cons:
1. //deleted
2. Food is too spicy, not liked by many
3. Land prices soaring due to IT boom.
4. Urdu influenced Hindi accent
5. Max number of bomb blasts (compared to other 2 cities)
6. Extra cess on petrol and cars planned.
Related: Durgam Cheruve*Anantagiri Hills *Golconda Fort
Go to TOP
Also Read: Hyderabad Bangalore by Bus-Comparison of operators* Chennai Mysore self drive experience
Posts
41 comments:
Hi Nidhi,
Some comments from my side
In Bangalore, I have not found a hotel serving mini meals for Rs 10/-.Over crowded buses are there for most of the times for selective regions like ITPL, Electronic City, Koramangala. Other areas still buses are not so.
In Chennai, please elaborate on 'Share Autos' concept. If Chennai has been chosen by major manufacturing companies Bangalore is by Software companies (even after talks of poor infrastructure Bangalore continues to attract more companies and provide employement opportunities).
In Hyderabad, your listing of Helmet compulsory in Cons section is not convincing as well as the "City with lots of rocks- Maximum driving pleasure for adventure seeking persons as the roads include lots of ups and downs and turns giving a sporty feeling" in Pros section. How a bumpy ride in roads excite somebody in morning hours going to office?
Hi Raveesh, I appreciate your comment. My reply:
I was refering to Darshinis of Bangalore which you can find in almost every street where mini meals are available at 10-12Rs. This economic option is not available in other cities (unless you choose to eat at street side 4 wheeled carts)
Regarding overcrowded buses, my statement was an overall judgement.Exceptions are possible.
Share auto is the regular autos shared by multiple passengers. You need not pay the metered amount and driver charges a fixed sum say 5 Rs for travelling between two points. Driver will pickup other passengers going to same place hence you'll be sharing the auto but saving some money
I agree with your comments on Software companies coming to Bangalore. To be honest its a part of business continuity plan for software companies to have offices in multiple cities.
Helmet compulsory is a con from convenience point of view.Agreed that its a safety issue.
When I said rocks I didn't mean roads are full of rocks. I meant the tracks are not straight, but have lots of ups and downs and turns giving a sporty feeling (atleast to me)
Again what I wrote is my opinion, not binding to anyone and obviously differs from individual perspective
A good analysis of Hyderabad driving style and also the you wont find the hyderabadi culture in any of the two cities..and ofcouse the famous hyderabadi biryani....
SKRM
Hi Nidhi..
Nice Observation ..Comparing even small things.....Great Info...
very good analysis! i would say only climate in Bangalore and chennai differs, other ways both the cities go parallel mostly!
I have been to allthe three cities,and worked in the past,working...i find your comparison is very neat & to the point.i like :)
however have a feeling that cost of living in bangalore is high compared to hyderabad.
Helmet mandatory for two wheeler riders in hyd.that shouldbe in pros section.right?
Thanks all for your comments.
@ Logesh: Chennai is at sea level while Bangalore is on a hill...
@ anjelo:
I think I should bow to the majority opinion about Helmet as a Pro...
Hi Nidhi
I have lived for 8 yrs in Hyd, 8 yrs in Chennai and 6 yrs in bangalore ( 5 being my childhood).I think u are right in your views. But i beg to disagree on picnic/hangout spots in chennai. If u want to see places, u can go to marina beach, besant nagar beach ,mahabalipuram which is 1.5 hrs from chennai,then you have Mayajaal in thoraipakkam which has a mulitplex and sports village, u have INOX, Sathyam theatre etc. What's wrong in having temples? Even the other 2 have good temples. Going to temple is also good . There are some historical temples in Chennai like the Kabaleeswara Temple in Mylapore and Parasarathy Temple in Triplicane. There is TTD in Venkatnarayana road. I would say that Chennai is a good and secure place compared to the other 2. I think one's attachment to a place is purely pyschological. I was brought up in Hyd, so i tend to prefer hyd to chennai but still chennai is not a bad place.
Dear Bharadwaj, thanks for dropping your comment.
Again, likes and dislikes are very personal. I like some, you like some.
Theatres, temples and resorts will be there everywhere. They can be used to hang out Yes, but didn't find anything unique that's all.
I've given a mention to Chennai as only city out of three with access to sea.
Security issue I'm not sure, as I didn't come across any problems in all 3 cities till date.
Hi Shri,
Your writings are crisp n clear, I've been lived in all three places u mentioned,
I don't thing Bangalore food is cheapest, No where in B'lore u get food for 10rs, where as in chennai or hyd u may get.
Bangalore is not so pleasant as earlier coz of Traffic n implied pollution, ofcourse traffic polices irritate alot.
Chennai is hot but Beaches supress n give immense pleasure in the evenings, especially Beasant nagar.
fairgame, I was refering to Darshini Hotels where Mini meals are available for Rs 10 onwards (At present they might be charging bit more-15-20 Rs). I couldn't find below 20 meals in Hyd and Chennai.
Beaches, though getting ugly, are quite relaxing...
Thanks
"eNidhi", Good observation & listing of points.
Even comments posted by folks are interseting & ur replies. - Yes, as u said vies differ from person to person. And if one has attchment towards a certain place, one can't accept at comments being made out - Even in devloped contries, like - US, people don't like some cities & people from those cities within their own country :-)
VInay, Thanks for the comments.
A nice analysis of the 3 big cities of the south. But I don't see how Urdu mixed Hindi ( Which is actually called "Dakhani") is a con for Hyderabad.
Thanks
Dillu, some aspects toggle between pro and con based on personal tastes. What I like you may not like and vice versa.
Thanks for info on "Dakhani"
Hello Srinidhi.. that was a really cool post
I am from Bangalore Mirror and wanted to know if I could use this post for the Blog Talk section in our paper.Pls do let me now my email id is nt.balanarayan[at]gmail[dot]com
Balanarayan,
Thanks for the offer.
Nidhi
Hey Srinidhi,
You hav missed out a point which is very important NIGHT LIFE man!!:)
according to my observation
i find tht there is no night life in chennai or banglore.
You dont get anything to eat or drink after 11:30.We hardly find shops selling food.
Where as in hyderabad we get Biryani round the clock :)
And reg traffic, i found that chennai traffic is more disciplined than the traffic in Hyderabad or Blr.
Srujan,
I agree with your observation. In chennai I've seen Neelgiris closing at 8 PM...
Great comparision on 3 happening cities.
I have had the Rs 10-12 mini-lunches you mentioned at Darshinis. These prices were in 2000 (BTM Layout) and continued even till 2004 (Thippasandra near Indira Nagar). These days the prices are higher bcoz of price rises. Just in 2007, prices increased two times.
To give another e.g. of the food price rise in darshinis, a plate idli and coffee used to cost Rs 13 till 2006. Now (Feb 2008), it costs Rs 22 at the same darshinis.
I have been staying outside Bangalore for nearly 2 and a half years now...Need to check again when I visit next month...
Ok, here goes.. what i appreciate in a city, most importantly in a metro, is how the things are ordered in such a way that it does not become a bottleneck for the free living.
What i look forward is, neat and tidy city streets, no traffic/pedestrian interferance,
efficient transportation,and i think that the educational, cultural aspects of the people
living there directly affects the 'orderly' being of a city.
So, keeping in mind my aspects for appreciation, let me compare Chennai and Bangalore. I have been living in these cities for quite a bit of time.
Let me tell you, living in Chennai was the toughest part. First of all, the heat, during the summer, sometimes unbearable, and dust and smoke of the traffic going haywire most irritating. What i meant by traffic going haywire is, most of the time i can see these traffic police people getting into the road and tries to control the uncontrollable, yelling, shouting, and sometimes running after the bikes!! Whatta fun!
Since i was in bangalore previously, we used to spend time, anytime, anyday, in any of the
available gardens for a breath of fresh air. I dearly miss some cool green place where i can sit and sip some ice cream or spend some time with someone. This feeling will drastically increase when you are dreaded, tired, and under the hot sun. No where to go, in Chennai
And talking about about free roaming, it is such a horrible thing in Chennai, as i experianced , since i have to wade through incoming traffic, sometimes i have to get into the road, avoid being hit by a truck, at the same time trying to avoid the wastes that are
dumped to the road sides. Not to mention the road sides invaded by those so called 'mobil shops' and parked vehicles. Litterally, there is no FOOTPATHs. In Bangalore, i could walk hours without sweating and straining and thoughts of being hit by vehicles.
And about transportation, i never missed a bus in Bangalore, all i have to do is, start from the KempGowda bus station, to anywhere, within the city or into any other state. Not to mention about the superb Volvos.
In Chennai i do have difficulties in reading out the boards, which are entirely written in Tamil. I wonder whether they are insisting us to learn Tamil before anyone hits the city. And yes, some of the buses are like crap and time's imminent for selling them as scrap!
And oh yes, i do appreciate the Metro rail service, only wish that the surroundings to be lil more tidy and spruced up, to the metro standards.
And what else?? Yes, the sewage. Almost all the sewages i have seen are not at all covered, and the black polluted liquid stings like anything.Not even a barricade for safety in some places. And this leads us to causage of overpopulation of mosquitos. Man, its kind of they are litterally breeding them all the year round. Terrible. Sewage there, sewage here, oh there's one just near to the house where i stay, another mosquito hatchery.
These irritating things that i hav mentioned here, that i have gone through in Chennai, and still going through, was a never a big deal in Bangalore, i was happy there for the time i was there, otherthan some costly bits and pieces, that was necessary for keeping myself juicy all the day.And yes, the cost of living does matter, and i think that aspect is more compromising in Chennai than in Bangalore.
Praveen,
I agree with your observations.
I realize that I have missed mentioning about Bangalore gardens- will update the post with that.
I think sewage problem exists in some parts of Bangalore also...
Yes Shrinidhi, there might have sewage problems, electrical problems, transportation problems etc etc.. what i pointed out is that Bangalore is more refined in most of the areas than in Chennai. Offcourse we cant compare any Indian city with international metros.
well i think in bangalore the malls are coming up in numbers .
The multiplexes in bangalore screen flims of 6 different langauges at the same time.
its the only city in world where flims of 6 langauges hit the screen at same time under a common roof and gets equal response.
in bangalore outsiders dont feel as if they are away from there home.we can find number of tamilians and andra people who are living like kannadigas.
i think this type of multilinguality and homely treatment cant be found in chennai and hyderabad for outsiders.
well if we spend a bit more money ,travelling in bangalore with volvo buses is luxurious with ac and music played in buses, its cool and the traffic dont account.
well i being a bangalorean.
bangalore is well recognised in western countries compare to others.
bangalore being called the IT capital of east,silicon valley of east.
the competation is huge in all fields in bangalore compared to others.
with engg colleges incresing day by day.with around 40,000 engineers being produced every year its tuf being a tecni in garden city even the chances are huge.
Hi Nikilesh and Nikil,
I agree with both of your comments. Will include them in the post as appropriate when I update it next time.
Thanks
Gud comparison of big cities in India!!!
I have been to H"bad recently after a year of stay in Sydney... and observed that there is a drastic increase in traffic on roads. It takes 1.5-2 hrs to travel a distance of 2-3 kms on a 2 wheeler in H"bad... there's a huge increase in pollution... and some immediate steps needs to be taken by each and every citizen in controling pollution
Hi Neelam,
Thanks for the comment and sharing your experiences.
hey,bangalore and hyderabad are getting only one airport........chennai and mumbai are the first cities to have 2 airports....update it.....chennai new sriperumbudur airport is slated for 2015
tpk,
Blr and Hyd have 2 airports, though only one will be operational...Other one serves as business continuity and can be used in emergency purposes.
Since Mumbai is not covered in this post let me drop that...
Once Chennai's second airport becomes operational I'll include.
Thanks
Very good analysis.
I totally agree with you..esp language barrier in CHN.
Hindi is not a mandatory subject in schools. It is a major drawback.
I have been to B'lore and Hyd, but never got to know more. Thanks for the brief comparison.
Thanks SeeC
hi nidhi
wonderful work . ur observation is simply superb.from my side these three cities make no difference when it comes to traffic in the sense if u look at it the no of vehicles in chennai,hyd and blre r almost same.but hyd looks the best bcos of its wide roads. defenetly it scores more than blre here. i also think blre is so chaotic partly its a smaller town than the other two and abnormal growth as well.
Srinath,
Thanks.
Bangalore is growing much faster than the other two. Few decades ago Jayanagar was considered "too far". Now kengeri is also not considered far...
Chaotic? Seems true to a reasonable extent...
Hey Shrinidhi... nice unbiased analysis of the three big cities of the south.
I have stayed in Chennai for the past three years and here in Bang for two months.
Abt the things I like better in Bang.
1) Ultimate cool weather (Being a resident of Mumbai and studying in Chennai) I have never slept with blankets during summer!!
2) Wide footpaths... understandable development was late and hence more planned.
3) Though its not a problem for me in Chennai.. being a tam but ppl in Bang almost everyone understands Hindi(added advantage!)
4) Lot of decent neighbourhood to stay in and city is far better planned with whitefield being a completely indus area. and is blessed with possible expansion in all directions.
The things I miss:
1) You talked abt the scrap buses, that was true a couple of years ago. But now deluxe buses of much higher quality, in cases better than the proclaimed BEST of Mumbai have hit the roads. And the point is most of the deluxe class buses have normal fares... Cmon which place in the world can u go 12-14 km (IIT to Chennai Central)and 1 hour of travel time in Rs5/- in a bus which has a head rest!!!!!!
It aches to pay Rs 8-10 for 15 mins journey in Bang and I wont talk abt Mumbai cuz the cas is different with local trains.
And believe me the small private vans which I am forced to take becoz of the less availability of BMTC buses suck big time.. they thrust in 40-50 ppl in a small van.. don the traffic police notice it.. Try doin that in Chennai!!!
2) And abt places to hang out, why shoul only malls count as places to hang out... One must say they sure are heavy on the pocket. No mall anywhere in Bang, Hyd or even Chennai can be compared to an evening stroll in Beasant Nagar Beach... Believe me one of the cleanest beaches I have ever seen, You must have a look at the Juhu beach(Mumbai) to appreciate its beauty.
3) Retail prices slysha cheaper than Bang(I aint sure abt this) and way way cheaper than Mumbai (which is unfairly costly) with comparable facilities and a added advantage of a clean Beach.
4) Though it wont seem at the first look... infra is surely better. I have never been thrown of my feet standing in a bus and hit my head on the roof of the bus anywhere else in India except in Bang.. Not even during the times of travelling in the crapiest of the buses in chennai.
Just a correction in one of the comment... I am pretty sure in most of the buses in Chennai its written in Eng... but ironically adn shockingly i hardly find any buses with a speck of english in Bang.. Cmon it hurts to ask the conductor everytime... though not writing in Hindi is understandable cmon Eng is a global language....
And as of my final verdict...
Being a tam, I have a psychological attachment towards Chennai and an instinctive attachment towards Bangalore...
I would kill to live in any of the two great cities!!!!!!
@Virgin
That was a lengthy comment... Thanks for sharing.
Yes, many new buses are inducted recently (I've mentioned it in the post)
Chennai has shared auto concept while Bangalore has vans in some places-both carry more people than their designated capacity.
Well. All three cities are far from being 'Great'. You may probably think its unfair to compare our cities to US or European cities, but if we want to be recognized as 'world class' lets do it. I've seen old photos of Chennai when the river 'Koovam' (its a sewage canal now) was almost comparable to 'Thames'. Dotted with lots of trees, Chennai looked definitely better those days. Bangalore... Hmmm what to say.. in 1996 when I visited Bangalore for the first time, I wondered if such a beautiful city could exist in India!! When I look at Seattle's Redmond area (where Microsoft is located), it almost reminds me of Bangalore! Hyderabad was made cleaner by Naidu, but its losing its charm to the multifold increase in Traffic!
We say Indian economy is developing.. but why are our cities getting uglier? My hope to see clean, green, less chaotic cities now lie with smaller cities such as Mangalore or Mysore or Coimbatore (I preferred Mangalore to Bangalore when I was given a choice). Not if they follow the same pattern of these 3 cities. Hopefully there will be some serious urban planning involved to develop these cities when they expand.
Venky
@Venky,
Well, traffic is an issue in all Indian cities, though Bangalore is notorious for this.
Yes, we're far behind international standards.
Thanks for sharing your experience and opinions.
Lets hope for the best
Good points even i have stayed in 3 places .i find cost of living is cheaper compared to hyd and blore.hyd is some how better than banglore in cost prespective....reg climate alone blore is best....rest all traffic,bus,metro it has negative points...also traffic police are very corruptive in blore.in chennai metros are very convinient and cheaper.as far as food considered hyd is best of all 3...that too ameerpet and sr nagar of ammerpet and bavarchi :-)
@ venkatesh,
I've not visited Bawarchi.
Agree with your observations. That's what I mentioned in the post.
Thanks
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