I lived very close by for a few months, and now live a little further away in Copenhagen.

There are a few nice places (cafes etc), but I mostly agree. Without the draw of drugs, the arty/anarchist/squat/whatever areas of other European cities are much more interesting -- populated by artists etc rather than dealers.

I thought the litter (discarded food wrappers etc) summed it up. An anarchist/hippie commune with green ideals, which can't somehow arrange picking the plastic out of the bushes.

(The former Kunsthaus Tacheles in Berlin was the best example.)