What is quality of life like in Tehran?

[Andreas_Dressler]

Would Tehran be an enjoyable city to live in for a short while? Is it easy to connect with locals, make friends?

[Yasaman_Safarkhanlou]

Tehran is a very beautiful city and its people are very friendly, especially the younger generation. Most of them know a little bit of English and frogieners are all welcomed by the people.
Tehran has a very rich culture and you can find almost everything in it. From all those palaces and historical places to Bazaar and shopping centers, make Tehran one of the most lovely places to visit and live, either for a short time or long.
As Tehran is a poplulated city, it is not hard to communicate with people and find very nice friends here. All you should do for this purpose is go and talk to them!
I wish you have a good trip to Tehran and find lots of great friends here.

[Lelila_Montazerghaem]

Hi
Tehran is enthusiastic city if you have enough money to select an accommodation in a good place of city and spend money on recreational activity and delicious foods. There are good and acceptable safety here. Besides, there are a lot of dramatic places, include the fantastic old and ancient buildings, parks and some modern centers.
peoples are very kind and hospitable, specially when it comes to foreigners.
However, there are some drawbacks associated in living here, one of which is air pollution. The other one is heavy congested streets.
Overall, I can regard Tehran as a good place for short stay.

[parham]

Short answer is yes. But if you want more detail just keep these in mind:

1. Life quality varies depending on which area of Tehran you choose to stay.
   Tehran is a huge city and there is a wide range of choices available. So as a matter of fact, you probably end up finding what suits you best very quickly.

2. Cold people can live anywhere, thus you might face some of them here in Tehran as well.
   But the overall mindset here is "you are a guest, and you're truly welcomed". People are very friendly to foreigners, specially to Europeans and Americans, and they'll mostly try their best to keep you having fun and enjoy your trip. Also it might sound a bit weird at first, but you might even face people who care about you like if they're your auntie! Don't feel strange about them! hahaha!

3. Enjoyment is a very general term for your question, so you might get different views based on totally different definitions of it!
   I'd say Definitely Yes! It can be an enjoyable city to live in even for a long while! Good news is, no matter what the purpose of your trip could be, you'll most likely end up finding a way to make it enjoyable as you desire.

Also keep these in mind if it's the first time you're coming here:

• Alcoholic drinks are illegal, but you can find whatever you like very easily!
• Most people nowadays are good at English, but your communication quality can also be affected by the area you're choosing to stay!
• Car renting is not a popular transporting service here, but Taxis are cheap and affordable, plus Tehran has a reasonably good public transportation (Subways, Bus stations, Taxis, etc).
• A heck of a ton cultural experience variation here! Tehran is like a cultural hub for all the other cities in Iran. So you might find people from everywhere and get a grasp of other cities!

Let us know If there's anything you feel you'd like to know other than that

[jay8]

Iran is a vast and beautiful country but unfortunately the quality of life is not that high.let me be different and put aside my rose colored glasses.let me tell you the truth.since you are from Germany, prepare to be shocked by the huge traffic,polluted air and horrible public transportation system.as a tourist you will not enjoy using the public transportation ,it's always crowded and mostly the signs are written in Persian.
Iranian people are facing a huge economical problem due to the wrong political decisions made by our politicians.our country is not in a good place and every young person wants to immigrate to Europe or north America.unemployment rate is so high,young people are facing a lot of pressure by the Islamic totalitarian government. so keep in mind that you are not walking in a safe country. when the unemployment goes high the crime rates always increase.
So it's best to find a local guide and travel with that person.it's better to choose a guy and not a girl.cause the police might arrest you for walking with a girl who is not your wife.it's just the stupid rules of this country which we the people didn't agree to it.
but don't let these truths change your mind. come and see iran and enjoy.stay a week in tehran and then go to other historical cities like isfehan,kashan,shiraz,kerman,hamedan,kermanshah and so on.finally you are lucky that you are a man because i won't recommend a single woman to come here.it's not a safe country for a woman by herself.if they want to come,they should come with a guy. i know this comment is not rosy like other comments but some one has to say the truth.

[Om_Id]

Enjoyable? What do you mean by enjoyable?

There is no bar, no night club, no public event, no public community, somehow no concert and ...
There are mountains to climb, nature to rest in, historic cities/buildings to visit, cuisines to eat and ...

[parham]

Dear @jay8 , thanks for considering telling things that concerns you about Iran. But there are some simple facts about the image you're trying to build:

• "the quality of life is not that high" where you're according to. I'd take that you're living in downtown areas maybe? I'm not saying life quality is at a very high level here, but the variation is huge! You could take accommodation as an example, a hotel in Parkway area or Africa Blvd (aka Jordan) would be far more qualified than a motel in the Main Rail Station area in South for sure! Same goes for almost everything, even a cinema like Mellat Park's Pardis in Niayesh is way better than an old one in Enghelab Sq!
• "prepare to be shocked by the huge traffic" Either in the early morning (when people are headed to work) or noon (when they're heading back home again!) Yes, Tehran suffers traffic, but yet way better than Seattle to Redmond according to my brother living there for 3 years now, or Kuala Lumpur according to my own trip there!
• "mostly the signs are written in Persian" ... Seriously though, have you ever took a subway here? Or am I not living in Tehran since 1989?! You can even buy a cheap sim card from any operator and have access to 3G and GPS + google maps! And it's very easy to ask people if you've got any problem in situations you don't see a sign. but I can assure anybody almost more than 90% of transportation signs in the streets AND subways are written in both Farsi and English.
• "you are not walking in a safe country" This is totally false! Tehran is still one of the safest cities to take a living. I know there are so many problems relating economic, but that doesn't mean crime rates are growing to affect tourists in any case. So define "safe" first. Because if you take an empty dark avenue to pass through at 2:30 AM alone, it doesn't matter if you're in Tehran or New York, you're rising the chance of getting robbed by 50% anyway!
• "police might arrest you for walking with a girl" ARE YOU SERIOUS?!! I even kissed my girlfriend dozens of times right in the middle of the street before we got married 2 years ago, and still we had never been facing any policemen to ask us why! This only happened "ONE" time in 3 years when we were kissing each other in a park and a policeman came to us and asked us to be more "polite" and skip the illegal acts while we're in public!
• "it's not a safe country for a woman by herself" Not true though, I personally have seen lone girls and women coming here from Germany and Switzerland, all by themselves, and they weren't facing any problems. They actually get a better chance to face a warmer hospitality.