Riedberg is one of those districts that will pop up in your search for housing the moment you give up trying to find an affordable and nice apartment within the city centre.
Once you see it, and it’s location, it immediately raises some questions. Why are nice, new apartments available and relatively affordable? Do I want to live so far from the city? Why do all the buildings look the same? 😉
I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the architecture in Riedberg. It’s a perfect exhibition of modern residential monotony. Building after white, cubic building in straight geometric lines spaced out with tarmac paths and decent wide green strips and perfectly aligned trees. Take a look at the Google map and you’ll see how regimented the layout is. But if this doesn’t send you a little crazy, then you’ll proabably love it here!
It’s relatively easy to get to, good access to the A5 and A661, and the U8 goes through middle. The U9 also cuts across connecting Riedberg to all the other north/south U-Bahns. Evenings and weekends are poorly served though and most housing is a bit of a walk from public transport. Most people tend to have a car.
Riedberg was a greenfield construction project by the city designated as zone for young families. Was a direct response to the lack of affordable housing, schooling and family-friendly green spaces in the city. To be fair, they nailed it with the green spaces. I am here on a warm summer day, school is out and the playgrounds are full of kids and families having picnics.
The outskirts of Riedberg are still under constructions with new apartment blocks going up all the time. To the south of Riedberg are many university buildings and student accommodation blocks. A good third of the district is Goethe Uni campus, dominated by science and research departments so it always feels quiet. Not a party zone by any means.
The downside to Riedberg is the lack of community feeling. The centre does have a shopping area with all of the basics covered, with a large Rewe supermarket, and smaller Lidl and Edeka. There are also a few bakeries, hair and beauty salons, a post office and some banks. A very limited number of restaurants and cafes complete the set. On Saturdays, there is a local fresh market with a dozen vendors selling meats, fruit and veg. Plus a wine truck in the middle.
In 10 years, with more amenities and bus lines, it might be quite nice, but they will never fix the architecture! Overall, a safe and affordable choice for a family though. A tad depressing and quiet for anyone younger – you’ll find yourself doing the ubahn ride fairly often!
Did you spot a mistake or bad link? Leave a comment and let me know.
And if this post helped you, feel free to treat me to a coffee (beer)! Blogging’s thirsty work!
Living in Frankfurt 
We are Swiss citizens and choose to live in Riedberg. Not sure how familiar you really are with Riedberg or Riedberg West. Our square meter is calculated around 8-10 thousand. Homes in the west area are Modern and well above the 3-4 million. Young who one lived on the down town area of Frankfurt are overjoyed to move to the modernity of Riedberg with wide streets, lovely trees and in summer what becomes as a garden of beautiful blooming flowers. Down town with beautiful old buildings with its headaches of a never ending repairs and no parking is really a yesterdays dream world. Nice to ride the train for an evening in town but just marvelous to return to our home in Riedberg. You might want to really visit us and not just write without true knowledge of life downtown Frankfurt nor of Riedberg and its positive reasons.
Hi Neighbour ;). Glad to see you like it so much, I know plenty of people do enjoy it in Riedberg and plenty who don’t. It’s ok to have different experiences. I also lived is Switzerland and I’m sure we have different opinions about that as well! :)).
And I only write about things I know or have experienced personally. Plenty of areas in Frankfurt I can’t write about. Thanks for the feedback anyway!