>A lot of the time it feels flat and dull in comparison to other large cities [...] My personal theory is that it’s just too rich and developed; you need cheap ‘edgy’ areas
As someone hailing from Cologne but with lots of friends in Munich, I tend to agree. Maybe it's the "Ruhrpott" dysfunction you're used to when you grew up in this part of Germany, but Munich always felt like a giant Apple Store, Hamburg does too but with a Protestant/Nordic spin instead of the posh Catholic south.
I think also another factor is that Munich is monocentric, the urban core absorbed districts very quickly (most people wouldn't know it these days but Bavaria used to be very underdeveloped for a long time) whereas the Ruhr area or Berlin are much more decentralized urban agglomerations, growing over a longer time, making it a bit more chaotic and sprawlish and economically hit or miss.
As someone hailing from Cologne but with lots of friends in Munich, I tend to agree. Maybe it's the "Ruhrpott" dysfunction you're used to when you grew up in this part of Germany, but Munich always felt like a giant Apple Store, Hamburg does too but with a Protestant/Nordic spin instead of the posh Catholic south.
I think also another factor is that Munich is monocentric, the urban core absorbed districts very quickly (most people wouldn't know it these days but Bavaria used to be very underdeveloped for a long time) whereas the Ruhr area or Berlin are much more decentralized urban agglomerations, growing over a longer time, making it a bit more chaotic and sprawlish and economically hit or miss.