My name is Ercan and I live in the area "Karsiyaka" of Izmir. Karsiyaka literally means "On the other side" and it is, from the city center of Alsancak and Konak. A road connects the parts, but on a regular basis a passenger ferry crosses the bay. There is also ferry for the cars to Bostanli boat terminal. Opposite the boat terminal (in Turkish: Iskele) of Karsiyaka you can find the busy centre with many shops and restaurants. If you continue to walk along the seaside, you have apartments with the following view from the balcony (see photo top left). The apartments with sea view are quite nice, some bigger than others. Some buildings look very nice on the outside, and you can take it from me, that those are maintained well and are nice from the inside as well. When you pass the statue of dolphins and small basin with water, you are in the middle of Karsiyaka and Bostanli. Opposite of the "Bostanli Iskele" (a very busy place as cars also leave form here to the other side) the area of Bostanli starts. The liveliness stems from the many shops and restaurants and some nice cafes.

On Wednesdays, there is huge market where they sell fruit, vegetables, cheese, nuts, clothes and shoes!
The area furthest to the left, Mavisehir, is relatively the newest area and very popular among richer Turkish families. It is a matter of taste if you like these high 32 store buildings, although the colored villas are quite large and have a garden as well. (see picture of pink colored house) EGE Park is the shopping area, with many luxurious shops, a bowling centre and cinema.

So this was in short a tour through "the other side" of Izmir. I have been living here for 4 years now and I like it very much! All the shops you can find are here, there is enough parking space, the parks along the seaside are green, and go on for a few kilometers, it is easily reachable by the ferry from Alsançak... The only thing is, there aren't a lot of houses with gardens to be found, only the colored villas in Mavisehir... So if you don't mind living in an apartment, than Karsiyaka is absolutely worth checking out!