You'd have to be quite apolitical to consider a move to Poland right now.

If you ignore weekly nazi rallies and all the book burning it's not such a bad place./s

Seriously though, Poland is one of the safest place to live in right now, especially if you're a foreigner. Media's portrayal of current political situation in Poland is HUGELY exaggerated.

I can’t readily discern where you are going with this comment. Perhaps the point would have been better stated another way.

First sentence but unironically and it's getting worse.

Where in Poland do you live that you get such an impression? Do you even experience such things or are you just listening to the propaganda?

Warsaw is a beautiful city with quite an active and thriving tech community. I thought of moving there after a visit recently, until I heard about a recent city sanctioned far right rally attended by 60K people demanding a "White Europe". Any dreams of moving to Poland ended after that

Actually, despite the media buzz, there were about 20 morons with "white Europe" banner, quickly kicked away by organizers, but for some reason media loved presenting their photos, not the remaining 60k of people of all age (0 to 99) celebrating the Day of Independence in a rather peaceful atmosphere.

In reality there is nothing to be afraid, Poland is one of the safest countries in the World (there are multiple resources about that), people are traditionally hospitable, in bigger cities like Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw there is pretty a lot of people from many Western Europe countries, there are also a lot of (about 1 million) refugees and emigrants from Ukraine, emigrants from Belarus, quite big Vietnamese community. So far everyone live in peace together.

A fun fact - my daughter goes to a regular primary public school and in her class there is a boy from India, a boy from western Ukraine, a girl from Ukraine and a girl from Belarus and. They were assimilated very quickly, without particular teachers assistance (public school, so teachers don't have time for anything but teaching); boys soaked into the group immediately, as running around together and screaming plus playing soccer does not require much language skills.

I think that if you consider seriously moving/traveling to country X, relaying on media does not make much sense, as they are chasing something that would make a "news". So, surely, there are people in Poland who bite dogs, yet the reality is that, typically, dogs are biting people.

Luckily, these days it is easy to contact foreigners living in Poland (Facebook groups, native language speakers portals, etc.), so, just ask someone who lives here.

>a lot of (about 1 million) refugees and emigrants from Ukraine

Please don't mix labor migrants (99.99+% of the number you indicated) with refugees.

According to the fresh official Foreigners Office report[0], there were 7.5k applications and around 400(sic!) positive decisions for the "refugee" or "protection" status from the Ukrainian citizens in the last 15(!) years.

[0] https://udsc.gov.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/UKRAINA-01.09...

10x easier to just drive through the border or get a work visa than to apply for the asylum.

Its rather sad how close we are to a 1984-esque "believe everything you hear on the 'news'" society. I hope one day we can move past that, and better realize that nearly all news is founded on Outrage designed to get advertisement views.

Here's your litmus test: If you read a news story and it invokes some emotional state within you, immediately preempt that and use your head. Is it possible they could be exaggerating, or straight up lying? What are their motivations and biases? Are there corroborating "ground" reports from individuals with different biases?

This is what my Polish friend said as well, that they're growing like crazy, and drastic negative politics alongside with it as well.

There's the media posturing and then there's reality. A lot of people in Poland have not had any contact with other cultures and make inappropriate jokes about that, those who traveled a bit are totally ok with it, the last 20 years introduced a lot more multiculturalism but there's still ways to go. The leading right-wing political party is a data driven monsters - they will build their policy on whatever gets them seats in parliament and local elections. One the most successful right wing policies in Poland right now is 500+ - a form of Universal Basic Income for every family with children. This clearly a very socialist idea, but introduced by a 'conservative' party. My point is the conservative party, like most of Poles are very pragmatic and generally will do what works rather than being too principled. If you understand that, you'll gel well with the society in Poland.

Too true. I’ve been eyeing ditching my polish citizenship for a while now.

Is that true in all of Poland though? Many people find Trump repulsive, and they will agree with most of their peers if they move to a big city in a blue state.

Big cities (capitals of subregions and anything over ~150 000 people) are liberal, small cities and countryside is conservative. Western and northern Poland has more people in big cities so it's liberal, Eastern and southern Poland has more people in countryside so it's conservative. Overall more people live in the conservative parts, so Poland is conservative, but the exact division changes with each elections, previously we had 2 terms of "liberals".

Why throw politics into it?

If you live in the country you have citizenship in, with a right to be there, you might be lucky enough not to worry about it. This doesn't spread to all citizens of all countries: African Americans couldn't comfortably just move anywhere in the states in the 1950's, for example.

If you are moving to another country, it becomes even more important. Not only can the politics affect your life greatly (being gay might be illegal, for example, with harsh punishments), but in many places, you won't have a say in said politics. You can rally folks together, but most places won't let you vote.

Even if the laws at the present time fit your lifestyle, the political trends might be geared towards changing this. It really pays to pay attention to such things. Politics and culture are important to pay attention to, especially when moving to another country.

Because the rise of anti-immigrant parties and sentiment is rather relevant to prospective immigrants.

+1 for Poland. I am not living there but very time we visit my fiancée family we literally see how the economy is thriving. Exciting times for Poland.

How bad is it there for sexual/gender minorities (aka gay/trans people). Is it livable if you are visibly transgender?

Rather bad. I guess it's getting better, especially in bigger cities, but even in Warsaw I don't think it would be a good idea for a gay couple to walk hand in hand. Poland is a mostly a great place to live, but this is a disgrace.

I've seen gay people walking hand in hand and kissing in public in the main public space in Warsaw (Łazienki Park). Nobody bothered them. They still got looks because it's unusual.

I wouldn't try that in a backyard alley in a "working class" part of the city, though, especially if they are male. Most of the time it would be OK, but there's a real risk of some idiot being "insulted" by that and reacting stupidly.

I've talked on the internet with a transgender girl that moved from USA to Poland for some time, she had family there, and after a few months she moved out, couldn't handle the shit her family gave her and the looks. So yeah, it's not pretty. Violence wasn't a problem apparently.

East Europe is the most traditional family oriented area that I know. Politics and mentalities follow that trend. Despite being a piece of heaven to a lot of people, I wouldn't recommend it to everybody.

Seconded. Poland is probably the most religious and conservative country in the EU.

It's the fastest secularizing one, though [1]. And, with recent sexual abuse reports and the success of a related movie [2], I sense we're on the verge of an outbreak of an unprecedented wave of anticlerical rage.

[1]: http://www.pewforum.org/2018/06/13/young-adults-around-the-w... [2]: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2018/10/06/church-in-po...

While that's true, there's a long tail of older people still trusting the Church a lot and there's a knock on effect where children are still sent to learn 'religion' at school. I think it will be some decades before the society becomes truly secular and not sure if that's better, the only thing that's replacing religion right now is consumerism, which IMO is even worse for keeping the society as a whole...

Spot on comment. I'm not religious but I believe that religion makes more good than harm in Poland. I've lived there for 5 years and peacefullness is remarkable.

I know some trans people (both f2m and m2f) and they really don't have any issues, so yes, it's liveable. You probably won't find large LGBTQ communities like in major US cities though.

Of course if you ask a local if they know someone who got beat up for their identity (be it nationality, language, race or gender), they will usually respond affirmatively... as would quite a lot people in the West. Just don't mess with drunk idiots and you should be fine. Also, based on my observations, there's way less harassment towards women here than in the Bay Area, for some reason.

Probably not. In 80%+ of Eastern Europe you'll get at least stares and I'd venture the "village idiots" will probably have a go at you...

I wouldn't live there visibly transgender or holding hands as gay. Too much risk. Source: am polish.

If you know what areas/times of the day/people to avoid, absolutely liveable. Just like anywhere else, people in big cities do not care in general. Still, expect mildly unpleasant situations - gender is embedded in the Polish language and it will make people think and get confused all the time.

Depends on how visible it is.

Avoid working for local companies in Poland unless you like low pay. Just find yourself a nice remote gig (there's plenty of them if you know how to find them) and live like the top .001% of the country or whatever. There's a good reason why being a "digital nomad" is becoming more and more popular.

Healthcare starts at ~$130/mo if you manage to not pay for the retirement fund scam (rarely possible), goes up to like $350/mo if you run your own company (not 100% sure, I can thankfully avoid it). The income tax is 19%.

agree. I'm from Poland but since the beginning of my programming career I've been working mostly for abroad companies (because of earnings).

And about the politics... Only people that want to play into 'politics' game really cares what's happening here - other people just don't care and live happily.

Stick with that attitude long enough and you, too, will care about the "politics game".

I've noticed that many people comment my attitude like this, but I've noticed that the less I care, the more happy life I live (and my friends as well).

Caring about politics is a total waste of time and energy - in my opinion it's just better to turn these resources into e.g. earning more money than e.g. thinking how much politicians are "stealing" it from us - I think that's the main reason why people are so angry these days and live unhappy lifes

You might not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.

of course, but still - most people I know really doesn't care..

BTW. I'm interested in politics (only to get to know what's happening), but nothing more than that - I prefer reading stuff about entrepreneurship or technology than this.

healthcare + mandatory pension contributions are $130 for the first two years of running the business here. After two years you should get a good feeling of whether you can make the larger $350 payments. IMO with any decent income, the relatively low tax rate 19% makes up for the fixed costs of healthcare. $130 is still peanuts compared to a medical insurance in the USA

Currently working for a local Polish company as a dev, how would you go about finding a remote gig ?

Look for openings on various sites, apply on sites like Upwork. Initially it'll take a lot of effort to get a gig, eventually you should be able to just use your network to find projects.

> find yourself a nice remote gig (there's plenty of them if you know how to find them

Any starting point?

+1 for Poland. Haven’t been to Krakow but Varsaw is awesome. I think I would prefer moving there compared to Prague. I’ve heard good things about Budapest as well.

Poland is very cheap, English is common (among 35 and younger), and in university cities the atmosphere is nice.

Deoending on what you value more I recommend:

- Kraków (biggest startup scene, biggest city out of these, most active cultural scene, but also crowded with tourists, worst air quality and slightly more dangerous than the others because of football clubs violence)

- Wrocław (almost as big tech scene, less tourists and smaller city, but still expansive for Poland, safe and good air)

- Lublin (smaller city with smaller tech scene but still OK, very active culturally but mostly targeting students so in summer holidays it's a ghost city, few tourists, very cheap, highest percentage of students per capita, safe and ok air)

I'm biased because I live in Lublin, but I've lived in Kraków for a short time and in Warsaw for a few years too, and I prefer Lublin. Compared to Kraków a flat will be about 1-2k PLN (2k is very good standard or strict center, median is about 1.5k), and you can earn 10-15k PLN as a senior dev.

Food and services are also very cheap because it's basically a surprise university city in otherwise poorest countryside part of Poland.

In all of these cities there's lots of foreigners, in Kraków it's mostly tourists, in Wrocław it's mostly Ukrainians who migrated for work, in Lublin it's mostly Ukrainians and Asians who are studying there and go back afterwards.

Also - all of this is nice, but be warned that Poland has its own Trump-like revolution going on right now, so far it mostly stays political, with few real-life consequences, but it is making business more risky because of government breaking the constitution and the courts wondering which law is actually binding. Also xenophoby is increasingly used as a political tool.

My (American) parents moved to all to Wroclaw when I was 5 for 6 years. I have been back several times. Each time it's like a time machine racing forward.

I love Wroclaw, I'd move back in a heart beat if it weren't for family here in the states.

There's one word that immediately negates all the good things you mentioned.

Smog.

*top in Poland, of course, since the academic record of a typical Polish professor resembles that of a decent-but-not-great grad student in the US (Google some profiles and check on Google Scholar if it sounds like an exaggeration)

Krakow can be really nice and interesting, but you should probably be white and Western. Otherwise, you may be setting yourself up for a tough time (not because of any recent events).

Weather and outdoors aren't great in Krakow. Language is also a pretty big problem: true, some educated youngsters will speak English, but the bulk of the population doesn't speak a word. Would not recommend.

have you actually been around Krakow much? There's climbing spots in the city itself, skiing slopes 1-2 hours away, Tatra mountains 100km away and beautiful Jurrasic valleys to the North-West, lots of green areas in the city and huge forests to the East, perfect for cycling or running. Weather is a mix - some snow in the winter, some lovely sunshine in the 6 warmer months and lots of rain and in-between weather on the bright side it does give you some time to work where you don't mind being indoors and you get to appreciate when it's nice outside.

Kraków has a big problem with smog in the winter. Most Polish cities do, Kraków is one of the worst.

So learn Polish? Why is it up to the locals to adapt to you?

Salary-wise, surely anything in W-Europe is better than E-Europe?

In IT not necessarily.

In programming the differences are minimal. Like 5-10%?

Adjusting for costs of living it makes no sense to move abroad from Poland if you work in IT, unless it's because of some niche you want to work in, that you can't find in your city.