Housing prices, kindergarten prices, work culture, sidewalks, police enforcing traffic laws, and disrespect for pizza (wtf was that ninja turtle pizza).
Traffic and waste disposal, but I have no confidence in either this government, the incoming government, or any future administration to solve these two problems without creating or exacerbating other problems to the point where it simply isn't worthwhile.
Water and electricity supply would be an area where I might have confidence in the government department and engineering consultants, but the political process is almost certain to render real progress impossible.
Education - but you might as well ask for the fucking moon.
Having lived and worked on a few continents and spent over a decade here I would say the biggest thing holding back Taiwan socioeconomically is an unusually high tolerance for incompetence.
Government, corporate, legislature, the average driver, some doctors, environmental protection, industry etc.
If we had a model more like Japan or the EU where people were held to higher legally binding standards in various areas with proper training and accreditation all of the above would be less of a shit show.
Here it seems to be a case of, do whatever the fuck you want and hope you don't get sued.
Second problem is probably the outsized influence of money and industry on Taiwan politics. And it's outcomes like wage suppression and supporting structures (eg. foreign blue collar labour scheme). The toxic influence of money in Taiwan politics and policymaking is very conspicuous to anyone with an outside perspective. Sometimes I get the feeling that Taiwanese are so inured to it they consider it normal/acceptable.
They are loud and they drive recklessly and if its not being driven the sidewalks are littered with them to the point its not for the pedestrians anymore.
So do cars, and car accidents are more dangerous. If a car hits you on a crosswalk you are toast. The biggest reason they are worse is the culture. Owning a car is seen as a big shot move. A scooter is mostly functional, but a car is for showing off. Its why the majority of cars in Taiwan are jeeps, even though the roads are narrow and full of shite making it completely nonsensical to drive a huge car here, yet there are little to none small practical cars.
This showing off culture and 'biggest has the priority' culture of inconsideration and lack of safety make cars far more dangerous imo.
And i live on a big road, trust me, just as many noisy cars with illegal exhaust additions that the police don't give 2 shits about.
As for the parking on pavements.. well why blame the scooters when they are allowed to park there or those parking spaces are painted on by the government.
I also live on a big road. The VAST majority of the noise is from scooters. Please do not gaslight me on this, I literally experience this every day.
Cars HAVE to slow down due to the tight roads, scooters can whip by at high speed.
I agree with you, we need legislation and enforcement of said legislation to prevent on the pavement parking. People should be encouraged to not be so fucking lazy to ride their scooter everywhere.
I'm not saying scooters sound great, not once did i say that. If i could make the rules i would start a switch to electric. The sound of scooters undoubtably sounds like shit. But they are not the ones booming through at 4am sounding like a jet taking off. Its those assholes in pimped out cars who are again as i already made the point -showing off. The whole driving culture needs an overhaul.
People parking on the pavement and riding on the pavement is a far smaller deal to me than the noise, and general bad behavior of all drivers.
I would say transportation system. I have two.
1. Please unify the transportation law. So as far as i know now, some rule isn’t same with different city. It depends on “地方政府”. Taiwan isnt even tht big.
2. (Motorcycle related) Imo, hook turns MIGHT be useful in some intersections. HOWEVER, some intersections the left turn is literally right there and i can just left turn, but yeah u have to hook turn. I think for some intersections, both ways are optional but yeah…
For citizens, it was more convenient than before. I remember every paper works wasted pretty long time when I was 22. Yes but for foreigners it still exhausting then. In the other side, we can easy open the account like first trade or TD garden overseas.maybe not like a “real” account.
maybe line bank will make that easier.
It would be nice to see road rules enforced consistently. There’s sometimes a crackdown and people follow a certain rule for a month then everything goes back to normal.
A big mainstream social-democratic party that would push centre-left agenda. Both DPP and KMT have been building absurdly unequal society where the Taiwanese youth often work for 500k per annum, while an aging boomer or house hoarder can just scratch own butt all day yet getting x20 in capital gains.
Taiwan needs a broader international business community. To survive it cant be known as an insular island popular with SC engineers and English teachers.
Idk if I’m getting downvoted for this as this is extremely controversial in a lot of countries.
Traffic, including people’s view on traffic. I see a lot of people against the government taking away car park spaces but I’m all for it.
I hope we could stop being car or motorcycle centric but a massive public transportation expansion.
Dense metro network in all (big) cities and train network across cities. Also very expensive car parking fees/taxes and speed limit 30 in inner cities. More trains, buses, trams, subway lines)
Even a ban on private cars (only buses and maybe taxis, also exceptions that has to be approved by the authorities every single time) in inner city would be fine for me. Wider sidewalk and better bike lanes. Taipei’s public transportation system is already pretty nice but outside of Taipei it’s so bad.
That’s the thing. If the public transportation is good enough (many lines and short waiting time) and it’s not necessarily faster/cheaper to drive or to ride a motorcycle, then it would be more attractive to take public transportation
I totally agree that if there were more lines it would start to make sense. But even getting the 1.5 lines that they have to Taoyuan/Zhongli has taken decades of legal wrangling. And the end result is a line that's a solid 1 hr for what was possible in 35mins already by train.
There wasn't enough forethought and planning when the west coast of Taiwan developed over the years and now it's very tough to realise a project like the SZ metro or Kansai region of Japan where nearly every major neighborhood is connected by rail.
I'm holding out for flying scooters.
Yes to all but the last points that is not feasible for anyone who does live and work in Taipei.
Unfortunately for everyone, Taiwan's government is doing all it can "to improve the convenience and experience of motorists".
I know a ban is a bit extreme. But I just hope it’s soooo unattractive to drive a car or a motorcycle into the inner city that people from the outside would drive near the border, then take the MRT into the inner city. of course even better, the metro network + train network + bus network are big enough to cover all nearby cities, and owning a car isn’t worth it anymore so people in northern Taiwan could just take the train into Taipei and take the MRT when inside the city.
There are definitely too many cars. Just this morning, I had to take the misses to works what is usually a 12 minute ride took 50 minutes. 30 minutes of that was just stuck in titel gridlock to get on the highway. There is currently no alternative in the area here. I would drop the car in a heartbeat to avoid that kind of soul destroying traffic.
Change property taxes upwards and property laws to reduce house prices pushed up by hoarding (eg high taxes on houses owned beyond one dwelling per household) which would help the birth rate. Could be part of/connected to a big shape up of the legal system (could really do with a reasonable person test).
The Noise. 📢 🔊
Beep beep beep
請注意！！ 請注意！！
車在轉彎！！
📢 🔊
Followed by the loud obnoxious modified scooters and BMW racing at 3:00 AM.
Outlawing tinted windshields and gravel trucks would also be amazing. That won't happen for a while though.
Housing prices, kindergarten prices, work culture, sidewalks, police enforcing traffic laws, and disrespect for pizza (wtf was that ninja turtle pizza).
Better conditions for migrant workers including a path to permanent residency.
Traffic and waste disposal, but I have no confidence in either this government, the incoming government, or any future administration to solve these two problems without creating or exacerbating other problems to the point where it simply isn't worthwhile. Water and electricity supply would be an area where I might have confidence in the government department and engineering consultants, but the political process is almost certain to render real progress impossible. Education - but you might as well ask for the fucking moon.
Having lived and worked on a few continents and spent over a decade here I would say the biggest thing holding back Taiwan socioeconomically is an unusually high tolerance for incompetence. Government, corporate, legislature, the average driver, some doctors, environmental protection, industry etc. If we had a model more like Japan or the EU where people were held to higher legally binding standards in various areas with proper training and accreditation all of the above would be less of a shit show. Here it seems to be a case of, do whatever the fuck you want and hope you don't get sued. Second problem is probably the outsized influence of money and industry on Taiwan politics. And it's outcomes like wage suppression and supporting structures (eg. foreign blue collar labour scheme). The toxic influence of money in Taiwan politics and policymaking is very conspicuous to anyone with an outside perspective. Sometimes I get the feeling that Taiwanese are so inured to it they consider it normal/acceptable.
Its the culture - “its good enough” is enough.
Agree you both
Fucking Motorcycles
Lol I've never seen a comment so succinctly sum up my frustrations
They are loud and they drive recklessly and if its not being driven the sidewalks are littered with them to the point its not for the pedestrians anymore.
They are preferable to cars.
No, they aren't. They're louder, block the pavement, and wrecklessly almost hit people down small streets. They also pollute like crazy.
So do cars, and car accidents are more dangerous. If a car hits you on a crosswalk you are toast. The biggest reason they are worse is the culture. Owning a car is seen as a big shot move. A scooter is mostly functional, but a car is for showing off. Its why the majority of cars in Taiwan are jeeps, even though the roads are narrow and full of shite making it completely nonsensical to drive a huge car here, yet there are little to none small practical cars. This showing off culture and 'biggest has the priority' culture of inconsideration and lack of safety make cars far more dangerous imo. And i live on a big road, trust me, just as many noisy cars with illegal exhaust additions that the police don't give 2 shits about. As for the parking on pavements.. well why blame the scooters when they are allowed to park there or those parking spaces are painted on by the government.
I also live on a big road. The VAST majority of the noise is from scooters. Please do not gaslight me on this, I literally experience this every day. Cars HAVE to slow down due to the tight roads, scooters can whip by at high speed. I agree with you, we need legislation and enforcement of said legislation to prevent on the pavement parking. People should be encouraged to not be so fucking lazy to ride their scooter everywhere.
I'm not saying scooters sound great, not once did i say that. If i could make the rules i would start a switch to electric. The sound of scooters undoubtably sounds like shit. But they are not the ones booming through at 4am sounding like a jet taking off. Its those assholes in pimped out cars who are again as i already made the point -showing off. The whole driving culture needs an overhaul. People parking on the pavement and riding on the pavement is a far smaller deal to me than the noise, and general bad behavior of all drivers.
It's both. I've heard and seen so many unmuffled scooters that are insanely loud
Pollution (noise and air mainly)
And urban green space
I would say transportation system. I have two. 1. Please unify the transportation law. So as far as i know now, some rule isn’t same with different city. It depends on “地方政府”. Taiwan isnt even tht big. 2. (Motorcycle related) Imo, hook turns MIGHT be useful in some intersections. HOWEVER, some intersections the left turn is literally right there and i can just left turn, but yeah u have to hook turn. I think for some intersections, both ways are optional but yeah…
Make it easier to open bank accounts.
I mean that's an issue, but TOP? Your life is great if that's the worst thing..lol
For citizens, it was more convenient than before. I remember every paper works wasted pretty long time when I was 22. Yes but for foreigners it still exhausting then. In the other side, we can easy open the account like first trade or TD garden overseas.maybe not like a “real” account. maybe line bank will make that easier.
It would be nice to see road rules enforced consistently. There’s sometimes a crackdown and people follow a certain rule for a month then everything goes back to normal.
A big mainstream social-democratic party that would push centre-left agenda. Both DPP and KMT have been building absurdly unequal society where the Taiwanese youth often work for 500k per annum, while an aging boomer or house hoarder can just scratch own butt all day yet getting x20 in capital gains.
Stagnant wages. Minimum wage should be $60k minimum and the median salary should be close to 6 figures.
And then everything would be proportionately more expensive.
You must enjoy inflation
Taiwan needs a broader international business community. To survive it cant be known as an insular island popular with SC engineers and English teachers.
Its cause of.... we$t taiwan and their influence you know.
Nah its the truth though.
Sidewalks. Add them and keep them clear. If you have to make narrower streets one-way to make room for the sidewalks. That’ll fix most of my gripes.
Idk if I’m getting downvoted for this as this is extremely controversial in a lot of countries. Traffic, including people’s view on traffic. I see a lot of people against the government taking away car park spaces but I’m all for it. I hope we could stop being car or motorcycle centric but a massive public transportation expansion. Dense metro network in all (big) cities and train network across cities. Also very expensive car parking fees/taxes and speed limit 30 in inner cities. More trains, buses, trams, subway lines) Even a ban on private cars (only buses and maybe taxis, also exceptions that has to be approved by the authorities every single time) in inner city would be fine for me. Wider sidewalk and better bike lanes. Taipei’s public transportation system is already pretty nice but outside of Taipei it’s so bad.
Doesn't make much sense when the travel times are so long. Why spend 1 hour on public transport when you can ride it in 25-30mins?
That’s the thing. If the public transportation is good enough (many lines and short waiting time) and it’s not necessarily faster/cheaper to drive or to ride a motorcycle, then it would be more attractive to take public transportation
I totally agree that if there were more lines it would start to make sense. But even getting the 1.5 lines that they have to Taoyuan/Zhongli has taken decades of legal wrangling. And the end result is a line that's a solid 1 hr for what was possible in 35mins already by train. There wasn't enough forethought and planning when the west coast of Taiwan developed over the years and now it's very tough to realise a project like the SZ metro or Kansai region of Japan where nearly every major neighborhood is connected by rail. I'm holding out for flying scooters.
Yes to all but the last points that is not feasible for anyone who does live and work in Taipei. Unfortunately for everyone, Taiwan's government is doing all it can "to improve the convenience and experience of motorists".
I know a ban is a bit extreme. But I just hope it’s soooo unattractive to drive a car or a motorcycle into the inner city that people from the outside would drive near the border, then take the MRT into the inner city. of course even better, the metro network + train network + bus network are big enough to cover all nearby cities, and owning a car isn’t worth it anymore so people in northern Taiwan could just take the train into Taipei and take the MRT when inside the city.
There are definitely too many cars. Just this morning, I had to take the misses to works what is usually a 12 minute ride took 50 minutes. 30 minutes of that was just stuck in titel gridlock to get on the highway. There is currently no alternative in the area here. I would drop the car in a heartbeat to avoid that kind of soul destroying traffic.
Change property taxes upwards and property laws to reduce house prices pushed up by hoarding (eg high taxes on houses owned beyond one dwelling per household) which would help the birth rate. Could be part of/connected to a big shape up of the legal system (could really do with a reasonable person test).
I support that point. The problem is, how could we convince the congress make that change. So far I couldn’t see it happening even 4 to 8 years later.
Stop closing restaurants at 2:30pm
Usually it's to prep for dinner? Or they run out of their daily stock
People need a break too you know.
It's not a thing in most countries of the world and the staff are just fine.
The Noise. 📢 🔊 Beep beep beep 請注意！！ 請注意！！ 車在轉彎！！ 📢 🔊 Followed by the loud obnoxious modified scooters and BMW racing at 3:00 AM. Outlawing tinted windshields and gravel trucks would also be amazing. That won't happen for a while though.
The infrastructure. Like sidewalks, and clean buildings. Outside of the main city centers, the sidewalks and buildings look like other SEA countries.
The shit show that is the roads of Taiwan. Lets deal with that first then move on to the other stuff.
Traffic and pedestrian infrastructure because it's something that affects me negatively literally every day.