They may have seen the Bombay of before, but now they don't even wish the sight or sound of it. Amdavadis think, their city makes life worth living

Get a life, live in Ahmedabad. The city got a huge thumbs up from its people as a whopping 92 per cent made it plain and apparent that they would rather live in Aapnu Amdavad than Amchi Mumbai of the Mumbaikars! A TNS poll has revealed that the Amdavadi is banking on the Sabarmati river front project to add more quality to his life. He may not be sure if he would use the BRTS, but definitely wants more public spaces on the river front.

Of 200 Amdavadis interviewed, 76 per cent feel that they would like to see more public spaces like gardens and community halls while 24 per cent say they would like to see commercial development such as malls and multiplexes around the riverfront.

More women respondents (95 per cent) have picked Ahmedabad over Mumbai, maybe because of the security it offers. “I would never move to M u m b a i . The killing distances, the m at ch - b ox homes and harried existence there is a complete no-no for me”, says Parita Shah, an advertisement executive living in a row-house in Satellite. The survey shows that 73 per cent of the people did not respond to how frequently they would use their car if the BRTS came in. Not many Amdavadis seemed to know what promise this world class service would hold in terms of reducing congestion and pollution.
A n k i t Shukla, who is into client s e r v i c i n g says, “frankly speaking I just don’t know what the BRTS is all about. I have to do a lot of commuting between offices and am trying to figure out how BRTS would fit into my scheme of things. ”
Asked about existing realty rates, 63 per cent of the respondents felt they realty rates are overstretched. Real estate consultant, Piyush Dedia says, “over the last one and a half years realty rates in the western part and some other areas have appreciated almost twice. Flats which were Rs 12 lakh have jumped to Rs 20 lakh. People have found it hard to digest this drastic jump. But we score over deposit amounts when it comes to rented accomodation. We pay a three month rent here as deposit while other metros its a 10 year cumulated rent.”

Shalini Thengarajan, an HR executive had to look for an accomodation in Bopal area. “I had no plans of shifting to Bopal.