Sounds like you really loved Istanbul from that long post of yours. I like it too but the crowds and noise are becoming too much for me. I live in the center of the bar district in Taksim so I never get any sleep. I am transfering to Adana next month. I am looking forward to the move...
I do love so many things about Istanbul.... but if you live in the middle of a party district, what else do you expect but noise all the time?!?!
I usually stay at the Sultan Hostel in the backpacker street in Sultanamet district... quiet little side street with backpackers from all over the world along with plenty of locals. Play frisbee with the local kids in the street - have to stop when cars come by. You can sit on the roof for breakfast, lunch or dinner and look out over the mouth of the Bosphorus to watch the ships go by.
I also love to shop and haggle. Istanbul is great for that!! I found a hardware market just down the hill from the University and just west of the Grand Bazaar... it's the interior of an entire city block!!! Tools, bearings, cutters, drill bits, you name it.... heaven for a hardware kind of guy!!! On one trip the last day before I left I went there to get some ball bearings (I have LOTS of toys) with my list in hand.... found a booth that I had checked out the day before... we haggled for an hour - the shop keeper not speaking english, me not speaking Turkish - I would write down a bearing number, he would ask "dollar, lira?", I would answer, then I would hold up fingers to indicate how many I wanted.... he would punch a number into a calculator... I would look at it, shrug, shake my head, nod, or maybe punch a different number in... when we reached agreement he'd pull them out of his stock or send his runner off to get it somewhere else in the market.... then we would start again on the next bearing. When we got all done - bearings packed up and paid for (60-70 bearings for around $55) he asked "Coke, Pepsi, Sprite?".... I said "Coke"... he sent his runner off... he returned in a couple of minutes with some ice cold drinks that we sat down and drank together. What a great time... and where would you ever do such a thing here?
I've been to Turkey 5 times now... for a total of 3 months. All on vacations in the last 4 years. I've spent most of the time in Istanbul down around the SW Med coast... but I have also been to Mt. Nemrut, Van, Trapzon, and Samsun. Getting away from the tourists is the best time...