Step 2 — Where to live, and what it actually costs

Bangalore is not one city. It's several, joined by traffic. Pick where you live by where you'll work, not by where the nice cafés are — the cafés are everywhere; the commute is forever.

The rough map

• Koramangala / Indiranagar — startups, expensive, walkable, loud.
• HSR Layout — the compromise everyone eventually makes.
• Whitefield / Marathahalli — the big campuses. Cheaper, and far from everything else.
• North (Hebbal / Yelahanka) — airport side, quieter, a different city entirely.

The deposit

This is the part that ambushes people. Deposits here run several months' rent — sometimes many. Budget for it as a hard number before you fall in love with a flat.

The commute test

Before signing anything: travel from that flat to that office, at 9am, on a weekday. Not on a map — actually do it. A 9km trip can be 20 minutes or 80. The map will lie to you; the Tuesday won't.