The things I dislike about VN vs where I’m from(Southern CA, USA) is:
Traffic, big city like HCM during rush hours/weekdays, is horrendous. Even on motobike you will move at a snail pace or complete stop, which is saying alot, since motobike can get on the sidewalk. Still on some major roads/intersection it’s horrible.
The weather, not sure if it’s climate change, industrialization, or just more cars/truck/motobike. But the weather got hotter from the time I came to VN in 2006 to when I left 2017. I notice that during the big VN holiday, when the city was ‘empty’ the weather was less hot. I theorize that it was due to the roads having less moto vehicles putting out less exhaust/heat.
Uneven sidewalk or no sidewalk or sidewalk taken up by motobike riding on it to avoid the road traffic, etc., That means it’s hard to take your kid walking or riding his scooter on the sidewalk.
Those are my 3 biggest pet peeves, and the most refreshing change when I got back to the US. I had a great time in VN from a social/business/family point of view. My son had 5 yrs in VN and it was wonderful, up to that age, living in VN is much easier/less stressful that raising kids from 0–5 yrs old. I love taking the bus from D4 to Damsen Park or the zoo, etc. with my when he was 3 -5 yrs old. We bring his push bike and he would ride it around the park and have fun.
But it’s was a hassle to walk with him on the sidewalk because I had to be on the look out for motobike using the sidewalk.