I know those parks quite well, and have been here quite long enough to have formed this opinion (>5 years). These parks are wonderful - but they are not within the city limits, and require the use of transportation systems to get to them.

They are great places - no question about that - but the city itself remains monstrous to live in even if you are able to spend a few hours in any of those parks when you can.. Wienerwald is not in the city limits, Donauinsel - just barely - Lainzer Tiergarten also on the periphery. Prater is within the city limits, but this has to be one of the least interesting 'natural spaces' ever created..

I don't know which century your Vienna map is from, but the Wienerwald, the Donauinsel etc. are all within city limits. As I said before, maybe you should considering moving to another district. It took me, erm, 15 years to move beyond the Gürtel -- i.e. closer to the above places. Today I'm asking myself what took me so long.

The city itself is what took you so long. Take a good hard look - did you always know what was beyond the wall?

For the record, I live outside the city limits, at the tip of the Donauinsel, and frequent the area often.. yes, Donauinsel is 'in the city of Vienna', but it still takes on average 3 train rides through the concrete jungle to get there for the average citizen.

Wienerwald is definitely not something I'd consider 'within the city limits' - its close, and the city is surrounded by it, but again - we're talking about the city, not its surrounding towns. The city of Vienna is a concrete jungle, and has been so for centuries - its citizens, and this is my point, have become acclimated to it and no longer see The Wall. Its still there, though. You just demonstrated this fact..