Hi,
Well, I thought about your question for a long time and have to say that I would move to Pasing or Schwabing. But it depends also on how much you want to spend on your rent. Pasing is a bit cheaper than Schwabing because it is a little bit outside of munich. But you have a good train and bus system so you are in 20 min at the city center. There are a lot of different shops (clothes, food, drugstores, books..) there and there is even a daily farmers market (which I love).
Schwabing is more a student area (the university is there) but still very expensive. There are a lot of nice fashion shops there and a lot of bars, restaurants and coffe shops. There is also always something going on in Schwabing, especially in the evening, when people are hanging out in the bars and restaurant. But you also can get a little bit of quietness in the English Garden of Munich. So it depends what you are looking for. And just that you know: You have in whole Munich a very good and secure public transportation system. You nearly don't need a car, apart of if you want to drive to the Alps.

Hey,

I think you will like Schwabing because it has a nice combination of gardens, soft or hard core night life, excellent transport system, is close enough to main "down town" - and makes you understand why Munich is considered one of the most "livable" cities in the world. Olympia Park is nor far away too - and in general the area is quite nice.

The cost of life in Schwabing may be higher indeed than in other parts of Munich - especially to rent an apartment. Shopping wise you have most of what you may need located nearby as well.

Thomas Mann wrote his “Magic Mountain” in the area – so expect to understand all about life here :-)

I would recommend Schwabing too. It´s close to the city and offers a good selection of bars and cafes as well as very close to the Englisch Garden. Indeed it is not the cheapest place to live, but I would recommend you to find a place between underground stop "Nordfriedhof" and "Muenchner Freiheit" which stops are at the dark blue underground line U6. From there you are in about 10 minutes in the city by underground and the "Englischer Garden" is in walking distance. Grocery shops are usually also in walking distance. Besides of that I would recommend Neuhausen which is closer to central station/Theresienwiese, but less gardens/parks are in walking distance. The nearest bigger parks are "Nymphenburger Park" and "Olympiapark". By bike you´ll be there in around 15 minutes. Both areas are very safe and in my opinion a good choice to start your life in Munich.

Hi,

my favorite parts are: Glockenbachviertel (creative, younger people some streets are gay/lesbian a bit sub culture, but only some streets and still very soft like Munich is in general ;-)), Neuhausen (its not really in the centre but very nice), some areas of Haidhausen (e.g. close to Wiener Platz), some areas of Isarvorstadt (south of Schlachthof around Röcklplatz). Schwabing is also fine.

Well, first of all, good luck to you when you move to Germany. My fiancé just moved to the US from Germany and she lived in Munich for about 2 years. I would say Schwabing is a good place for you to stay if you love to spend money and tend to apply for a job that could probably take care of the rent and your expenses coz that is definitely expensive to live there.

But there is many smaller towns all around Munich like just a bit outside of Munich, like Neuhausen, or Pasing where you can find a nice place for a reasonable price. And as soon as you get to Germany you can forget about anxiety about how to get around without a car coz this is a country of public transportations. Take a train, S-Bahn, U-Bahn or Tram or Bus to go to work, you would love this country for that.

Have fun

Andrew