About 1,000 people move to Bangalore each day, and it’s known for having plenty of IT jobs and pubs as well as a cosmopolitan vibe. A lot of people love Bangalore, and I had a good time there. But others say Bangalore is overrated.
Bangalore is overrated in a few ways. It’s the most traffic-congested city in the world with 16.7% of all India’s traffic accidents. 5000 tons of waste are produced each day and the landfills are overflowing. A 4% annual population growth has led to overpopulation.
In this post, I’ll also cover a number of other categories, such as:
- The slums
- High crime
- Poorly maintained parks
- Poorly maintained roads and lack of them
- The high cost of living
- Too much air pollution
- High-income disparity and too many people living in poverty
- The lack of spoken Hindi
- The overrated nightlife
- Unfriendly rickshaw drivers
- The distance the airport is from the city.
Bangalore’s not all bad. I stayed on Church Street and had a great time. The city is called the “Silicon Valley of India” for its many IT jobs and it draws in a hip crowd of young professionals.
It’s also used to be called the Garden City because of its many parks and recreational activities for citizens.
So is Bangalore overrated? Or is it a cool city for tourists and locals alike? Well, it’s a bit of both. In this post, I’ll share 14 reasons you might think Bangalore is overrated… AND 8 reasons it’s pretty cool and worth visiting.
1) Bangalore Is NOT Like Silicon Valley at All
Bangalore is called “The Silicon Valley of India” because it is the home to 67,000 IT companies and has 38% of India’s IT exports. This is more than any other Indian city and similar to the San Francisco Bay Area (the original Silicon Valley).
Given the prevalence of tech companies, you may be expecting Bangalore to resemble San Franciso and if that is your expectation… you’re bound to be disappointed.
San Francisco is one of the most expensive and beautiful cities in the world. Over 20% of the city is beautifully maintained parks.
Bangalore is cool, but you will still find typical problems that plague India: air pollution, crime, trash in the streets, overpopulation, and traffic.
It is an unfair comparison of course. San Francisco is much different than Bangalore and also has some problems. But many people think Bangalore is overrated because of the similarities.
2) Bangalore Is No Longer the Garden City
Bangalore was originally billed as the “Garden City” and originally designed with many parks. However, as the city’s population exploded, many of these parks are now in disrepair.
According to a recent survey, the 1115 parks and playgrounds in Bangalore are mostly in poor condition.
- 21% of parks and playgrounds are inaccessible
- Less than 40% have playing equipment
- 56% have proper lighting
- 3% of parks have drinking water
- 1% of playgrounds have drinking water
- 6% of parks have toilets
- 4% of playgrounds have toilets
- 54% of the parks have garbage
- 70% of playgrounds have garbage
- 21% of parks and playgrounds are closed
- 28% of parks and playgrounds do NOT have security
There also aren’t enough parks in the city. Only 3% of the city area has parks when that number should be much higher.
The Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation Guidelines recommend that a city of its size should have 67 sq km of open space. The city only has 10 sq km, so it would need 500% more parks to meet the guidelines.
As I mentioned above, San Francisco has 20% of its city area made up of parks.
3) Should Bangalore Be Called the Garbage City?
With Bengaluru’s fast-growing population, there are 5000 tons of solid waster produced each day and the surrounding landfills are overflowing.
A paper by the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru found there are no sanitary landfills in the area. Instead, the landfills are poorly managed or closed.
This means a lot of the waste is being dumped in places that are risking contamination of groundwater, soil, and air.
However, in some parts of the city, Bangalore’s streets are clean and you wouldn’t know about this problem. Stay near Church Street to find upscale shops, nice restaurants and coffee shops, and clean streets.
4) Is Bangalore Overpopulated?
Only New Delhi’s population is growing faster than Bangalore, which is leading to many of the problems mentioned in this article.
The population in Bangalore is currently estimated to be 12,326,532. In 1950, the population was only 745,999. In 2015, the population had grown 2,185,452 people and the UN World Urbanization Prospects estimates the average annual population growth at 3.98%.
Bangalore is the third most populated city in India and the 24th in the world.
This may have some benefits though. According to the Bengaluru Innovation Report, Bengaluru will be the fastest growing city in the world because it’s GDP is expected to rise by 8.5% until 2035.
5) Is Bangalore Expensive?
The Economist ranks Bangalore as among the cheapest major cities in the world. If you’re an American or European, you’ll think Bangalore is very reasonably priced.
However, if you’re from India or if you’ve spent a lot of time traveling here, you may be shocked at how high the prices are.
There are more cafes in Bangalore with Starbucks-like lattes where you’ll pay $3 to $5 per drink, instead, 10 rupees like you’d pay in a smaller city or village.
Overall, Bangalore is 13% more expensive than the nearby city of Chennai.
6) Is Bangalore’s Traffic the Worst?
TomTom’s Traffic Index states that Bengaluru is the “Most Traffic Congested City in the World.” Residents spend an extra 71% of travel time, which is higher than huge sprawling cities like Mumbai and Manila.
City residents spend an average of 243 hours each year in traffic.
7) Does Bangalore Have Terrible Roads?
Bangalore’s traffic police claim there are at least 244 roads in poor condition and 78 city roads should not be driven on. There are potholes in 518 places.
According to the Global Mobility Report, Bangalore has 10,200 km of roads in the city limits and only 8.2 km of roads per sq km. While New Delhi has 300% more roads with 32,000 km of roads and 21.6 km of roads per sq km.
Given these statistics, it’s no wonder that Bangalore has 16.7% of all the traffic accidents, 10% of all traffic deaths, and 14.3% of all people injured in traffic accidents in India, according to an analysis by the International Journal of Economic and Business Review.
8) Is Bangalore a Polluted City?
The air pollution in Bangalore was measured to be more than twice as bad as New Delhi. According to the WHO, Bangalore has a level of PM2.5 of 66, which is an unsafe level and it’s recommended that you wear a face mask.
PM2.5 is small particulate matter in the air than makes the sky look foggy.
Across all levels, the pollution in Bangalore is HIGH.
- Air Pollution
- Drinking-Water Pollution
- Garbage Disposal
- Noise and light pollution
- Water Pollution
9) Does Bangalore Have Slums?
In 2015, it was found that 25% to 35% of Bangalore is made up of slums. In 1971, only 10% of the city was slums.
The population of Bangalore is about 12 million people and with its increasing growth rate, there are a huge number of Bangaloreans living in poverty.
10) How Is the Nightlife in Bangalore?
Bangalore is called the “pub capital” of India and there has been a 50% increase in pubs in the last 4 years, according to The Hindu. But the bars and clubs do close at 1 AM.
If you’re picturing nightlife like New York City, Paris or even Thailand… you will be sorely disappointed.
11) Are the Rickshaw Drivers Unfriendly?
Rickshaw drivers in Bangalore are commonly thought of as rude and greedy. In a Study of Autorickshaw Sector in Bangalore City, the common complaints against the drivers were refusing to drive, demanding an excess fare, and having a defective meter.
The common public perception of auto drivers is that they are greedy, dishonest, rude or arrogant, and in general, a nuisance, giving rise to hatred and hostility towards them.
Study of Autorickshaw Sector in Bangalore City
However, the taxi drivers in many big cities are like this so if you’ve been to New Delhi or Mumbai, you will be used to it.
12) Is Bangalore Dangerous?
Bangalore has higher crime than most other major Indian cities. The nearby city of Chennai has 35% less crime than Bangalore.
Bangalore has some high crime numbers in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Overall, Bangalore has many areas that are completely safe though. Plus, with its more progressive values, women may feel more comfortable wearing short dresses or tight-fitting skirts.
13) How Long Is the Commute From the Airport to the City?
For many Indians flying domestically, their commute from the airport will take longer than their flight.
The Bangalore airport doesn’t connect to the metro and the closest train station is 40 km away.
For most people driving, it will take you between 1-to-2 hours to get to your downtown hotel.
When I flew in from Colombo, Sri Lanka, the flight was only 1.5 hours, and the taxi ride to my hotel took the same amount of time.
14) Do They Speak Hindi in Bangalore?
53.6% of Indians claim Hindi is their first or second language. Yet only 2.5% of Bangalore’s population speaks this language.
Kannada is the official language in Bangalore. If you primarily speak Hindi, you may find it more difficult to get around.
The Positives of Bangalore
Bangalore’s not all bad, in fact I prefer it to another big city in South India, Chennai. With all of Bangalore’s IT jobs, there are a lot of coworking spaces and networking opportunities. Plus, there are a lot of pubs, coffee shops, and restaurants to cater to this crowd after work.
If you’re traveling through Bangalore, you will appreciate these aspects of the city:
1) Many IT Jobs
Bangalore has 33% of the IT workers in India, and with 67,000 companies it’s the biggest IT center in India. Bangalore might even soon become the largest cluster of IT companies in the world.
The IT industry is what is driving a lot of the growth of this city and helping it become so modern.
2) There Are a Lot of Footpaths
In many Indian cities, it can be tough to find a sidewalk. But in Bangalore, 80% of the roads have sidewalks. In New Delhi, only 60% of the roads have sidewalks, according to the Global Mobility Report.
This can make it more fun to walk the streets of Bangalore and window shop with friends.
3) There Are More Bike Paths
Biking can be dangerous in many Indian cities, Bangalore included, yet there are more bike paths in Bangalore than other cities:
- Bangalore: 45 km
- New Delhi: 34 km
- Lucknow: 43.7 km
- Guwahati: 0 km
Renting a bike can be an inexpensive way to get around. You could even buy a basic bike for $20 or so.
4) The Airport Has Modern Amenities
The airport in Bangalore has 50% fewer international flights than Chennai, yet the flights are growing faster over the past few years. The domestic flights are growing twice as fast as Chennai.
Bangalore’s airport is privately owned and is better maintained, so as you get off your plane you can find all types of nice restaurants and shops.
5) Bangalore’s Economy Is Growing
Bangalore’s economy is exploding and currently has an estimated GDP of $110 billion. With so many IT firms, as well as manufacturing companies, it’s a great place to get a job.
Bangalore’s economy is much larger than many of the similarly-sized cities in India.
| City | GDP |
| Bangalore | $110 billion |
| Chennai | $78.6 billion |
| Hyderabad | $75.2 billion |
| Pune | $69 billion |
| Ahmedabad | $69 billion |
6) Plenty of Coworking Spaces
For digital nomads traveling in India, Bangalore is a great place to visit. I stayed on Church Street near downtown, and there were 10 coworking spaces within walking distance.
There are a number of WeWork locations as well as many more options.
7) Bangaloreans Speak Many Languages
Bangalore is one of the most diverse and cosmopolitan Indian cities, and you can hear many different languages spoken.
Kannada is the official language and 38% of people speak it. Yet other languages are spoken by a significant number of the population:
- Tamil: 28%
- Telugu: 17%
- Urdu: 13%
- Malayalam: 3%
- Hindi: 2.5%
8) Bangalore’s Nightlife Is Pretty Good
Bangalore’s nightlife is well known in India, and while it might disappoint someone who wants to really party. It is one of the best places in India to party.
Final Thoughts:
You may think Bangalore is overrated if you had expectations that it would be similar to the San Francisco Valley. It’s not a perfect city and if you visit or move there you will run into challenges like traffic, overpopulation, crime, pollution, and more.
But you could also have a great time socializing with the many young professionals who love this city.
For more, I compared Bangalore to Chennai and asked which is better? To answer the question, I consulted data across 14 different categories.
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