I’ve got the possibility of moving to Naples sometime over the next few years. Talking to people I’ve heard variously that it’s a run-down, crime-ridden dump which should be avoided at all costs, and that it’s a beautiful, friendly place with some of the best food in the world and I should go, go, go.
Surprisingly, there seems to be very little information on the city in the SDMB archives. So let me ask: has anyone been there? What did you think? How is it really?
I’m sorry, I did ask my acquaintance from Naples, and she got back to me, but I forgot to check my email often enough to catch it, so I just found her reply now:
I’ve spent a grand total of about three hours in Naples, returning from Pompeii, and found it nerve-wracking. The streets are very narrow, and very crooked, and space is at a premium, so people conduct business out on the sidewalk. So you have to walk around them, out into the street, but there are cars in the street, going fast, around curves so you don’t see them. Heads up!
On the other hand the train station was way newer and nicer and cleaner than anything we have in the US. Go figure.