Rich in history and full of lively festivals and entertainment, Frankfurt is an attractive, cosmopolitan city with much to offer its residents. Located on both sides of the River Main in southwest Germany, the city is ideally located for travel throughout Europe. The friendly nature of its citizens make Frankfurt a pleasant place to live, both for natives and expatriates.

The city boasts a museum district with no less than a dozen art, history, and science museums, as well as a pedestrian friendly shopping area that rivals those in New York City, Los Angeles, and other large international cities.

Although many of the historical structures of the city were destroyed in World War II raids, Frankfurt mains a strong sense of its history. Still, it has managed to grow into a thoroughly modern city, calling itself home to ten skyscrapers, the second largest number of any city in Europe. The juxtaposition of the modern and the traditional is what makes Frankfurt charming and livable for its residents.

The city is home to over 7,500 expatriates, most of whom move to Frankfurt to work in the banking and financial industries, or to attend the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. Most of the city's expatriates come from Turkey, Croatia, Italy, Spain, North Africa, Lebanon, and the United States. Frankfurt is also home to the second largest Korean community in Europe.

The particularly low unemployment rate in the city is also attractive to expatriates. 922 out of every 1,000 citizens are employed within the city. It is also considered the wealthiest city in Europe, as measured by GDP per capita. The 2007 Mercer Human Resource Consulting Worldwide Quality of Living Survey ranked Frankfurt among the ten cities with the highest quality of living worldwide.

Expatriates tend to live in a select few areas of the city, although small communities of expats can be found in nearly every neighborhood. Many expats who come to the city to work in the financial industry live in the downtown area, including the Westend area, an upscale neighborhood within walking distance to the banking district.

Two other popular neighborhoods are Sachensenhausen and Bornheim. Although these neighborhoods are a bit farther from the city center, they offer spacious flats and apartments, as well as easy access to shops, cafes, and small groceries.

Bockenheim, a district in the west central part of Frankfurt, is also home to a high concentration of expatriates. With its numerous ethnic groceries, restaurants, and markets, Bockenheim is a comfortable and convenient place for foreigners.

Finally, some expatriates favor the Rhein Main area, a large metropolitan area encompassing the western part of Frankfurt. Easy access to other areas of Europe is the main draw for foreigners living in this area – Paris, Berlin, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland can all be reached in six hours or less from Rhein Main.

There are several American social clubs throughout Frankfurt that hold networking events for expatriates, as well as golf outings, charity functions, and other social events to help expats acclimate to Germany's most vibrant city.

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