I was recently assigned to a beautiful country near the coast, with clean white beaches that you can walk for miles and miles.

The people were welcoming, the food and shopping was great. And as I walked along the beach, I thought how lucky I was to be able to travel to this beautiful country. I wouldn’t trade it for a big, sprawling, slightly psychotic Johannesburg though.

I’ll start with the main reason I sometimes don’t like it. johannesburg:

Contrary to government claims, the high crime rate in South Africa, and in Johannesburg in particular, is not an urban legend. It happens to all of us, not just “other people,” and touches many aspects of our lives.

The morning I planned this article, one of my colleagues came to work angry and said the landlady was shot during a kidnapping (carjacking). She was taken to the nearest medical facility, where she was being treated at the time of writing this report. My colleague was so furious that she almost cried: “I hate this city!” she said.

And we could all empathize, because one way or another, we’ve been there. Two years ago, this December, while I was on vacation, I received a call from a friend saying that my house had been broken into. The thieves didn’t just take my electronic currencies – PCs (with my jobs in progress), printer, televisions, VCR and DVD player, a digital camera, etc. – that would be easy to fence.

They also took artwork from my walls, our entire collection of DVDs and videos, including my daughter’s children’s shows, my fancy pots, plates and knives, even my lawnmower and hair dryer.

The only reason they left off the beds and diapers is because I have the oversized types, and maybe they were too heavy to carry around or something.

By now you must be wondering why I love a city that sometimes treats its residents so poorly. The reasons why I love Johannesburg are the following:

1. People are generally friendly – Despite being a very large city with an estimated population of eight million, Johannesburg is a friendly place. Most people will be chatting about nothing in particular in the blink of an eye.

I have lost count of the number of conversations I have had with strangers while waiting for the light to turn green, in the elevator or in line at the supermarket. I know of a couple of cases where a taxi driver has taken a stranded tourist home, giving him a place to sleep so he can organize a new flight and go home.

2. The weather is beautiful – The climate in Johannesburg is stable. In summer, it is usually hot, with torrential rains in the afternoon to cool down. While Johannesburg is known to rain during the day, the rain usually makes good sense to arrive in the afternoon/evening after we’re all home and bundled up.

3. I never get tired of looking at the buildings– I wouldn’t call many of the buildings in Johannesburg beautiful. In fact, some of them are downright ugly. But I never get tired of seeing how the old buildings in the city center remain worthy even when facing hard times, or how they start to shine when they are renovated. I love the stately mansions of Houghton, where former President Nelson Mandela is supposed to have his home.

I like the new residential and commercial developments scattered throughout the city as they indicate economic growth and a growing affluence of residents.

I even like Midrand and Fourways, two northern regions where only crazy people drive to and from during rush hour. Actually, that’s not true: the roads to these two areas are packed with traffic, regardless of the time of day. But that’s where the business action is, so sooner or later most Johannesburg businessmen have to gird their loins and join the drag queue.

4. I love it johannesburgThe amplitude – Somehow Johannesburg managed to grow and expand without having to compromise too much on space.

The roads aren’t always narrow, and yes, developers are also building the tiny 52-square-meter terraced houses that are selling for exorbitant prices. I have even been asked “where is the lower middle class supposed to live in this city?” But if you’re willing to look under the grime outside of some of the old buildings and areas that fashioned past, you’ll still find a decent place to live.

To be continue…