Job Discussion Forums

[muttley]

Could anyone with experience of living and working in Bursa provide me with the upsides and downsides of the city? In general what life is like there, cost of living (apartment + bills). Exercise 'outlet', e.g. availability of gyms, pools and other recreational activities. I presume it may be too hot during summer to cycle.

A pretty generic query, but I'd be appreciate any comments/advice.

Cheers,
m

[Mike_B]

I've been a lurker on here for years and have recently been wanting to make my first post. So I'll address some of your questions.

I am an American living in Bursa. It is a fairly nice city with nice mountain views. I am an old married guy with school age children, so my perspective is different than many others. I think Bursa is alright, but it is certainly not a lively tourist city with a wild nightlife. Istanbul has its own allure that sticks with you. I assume you have some specific reason for asking about Bursa.

Bursa was once the capital of the Ottoman Empire, so there are some historical sites here.

Bursa has a fairly large shopping area that most people find interesting. You will need to haggle some.

Concerning biking, I doubt you will want to ride a bicycle much after you see the traffic and the Turkish drivers. Turkish drivers are fairly intolerant of anyone or anything getting in their path. You will see what I mean. I suppose their may be some less traveled roads on the outskirts of Bursa for some riding, but biking as a means of getting around is unlikely to work well for you.

There is at least one long and busy road with a large center median strip. I have seen a very long sidewalk for walking and/or biking in the median strip. It goes on for at least a few kilometers.

I am not familiar with any gyms, but I haven't looked.

There is a nice indoor pool near where I live and walk in the Nilufer area. I don't know the costs, but it looks like a nice facility.

Public transportation is fairly good here and you can get around without a car. Turkey has great bus transportation and you can catch a ride to anywhere in Turkey from Bursa, so I think it is a decent place to be based with plenty of opportunity to see Turkey's attractions during your off time.

Concerning air quality, I returned to Turkey this year and was pleased at Bursa's air quality this winter. Having come to Turkey in 1989 in the military, I lived in Izmir when the Turkish winter air was extremely dirty. I lived in Balikesir several years later and winter air there was also very dirty. Most people here in Bursa use natural gas for heating, so the air is alright now. People burned coal in Izmir and Balikesir as well as most Turkish cities when I last lived in Turkey and it was dreadful. Perhaps some others will chime in concerning winter air quality in other cities now as I haven't visited any other cities during winter for several years. Perhaps there has been a widespread transition to natural gas throughout Turkey.

I pay 550 YTL (New Turkish Lira) for rent on a 3 bedroom apartment in a nice area of Bursa. Bursa is much cheaper than many areas of Istanbul. I gather from reading on here that most ESL teachers in Turkey are single and need a much smaller place than I have, so your rent could be significantly less.

I haven't taught ESL in Turkey, so I can't address that much. You can probably review older posts to get a feel for ESL in Turkey.

Have you eaten Turkish food? It is super! Bursa's restaurants serve wonderful and affordable dishes.

There is a guy (forum name of Kirkpatrick) who posts here sometimes. I believe he lives and teaches ESL in Bursa. Maybe he will chime in to give you some detailed info on the ESL situation here.

Good luck with your move here!

Edited to add more information about summer weather and monthly bills.

I forgot to mention utility bills. Mine are as follows:
- Electric. My electricity bill runs between 30 - 75 YTL a month for a family of four. You could probably plan on half of that or even a little less if you are single in a smaller place than mine. These numbers would go up some in summer if you use an air conditioner.

- Heating. My heating bill from the gas company runs from 40 YTL in the summer to as high as 280 YTL in the winter. Again, my place is fairly large with three bedrooms, so that bill could be a lot less in winter if you are careful. Also, my wife is Turkish and the Turks seem to get cold easily, so she keeps our place a bit too warm for me.

- Telephone/Internet. Our home phone bill runs about 35 YTL a month. Our internet service runs about 50 YTL a month. You will most likely need a home phone in order to have internet service. Cell phone service can be as cheap as you want (pay as you go) or somewhat expensive. I use mine as a simple tool and I rarely text, so my cell phone runs me about 25 YTL a month.

By the way, your employer may provide you an apartment if you come here to teach ESL. Based on what I've read here, I think they are mostly shared.

Concerning summer weather for biking, Bursa's summers are not to hot on average. Check this link http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/fitness/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/TUXX0039 for monthly temperature averages.