80% of the central city flat are communal...? Crazy. I mostly hung out mostly in Vasilevsky which is also the historical district... but I see now in an aerial view around the Hermitage from Google maps... that the entire area directly south of the Hermitage looks like communal living... many buildings with large courtyards. From the street level... the buildings look like upscale condo buildings... much more ornate than the typical communist block buildings in the outer areas... and most are a very tall 3-4 story structures. The Common area is scary. In the typical 6-story communist block buildings... the situation is opposite. The walkways are concrete that was laid in the 1950s... the courtyards and play areas are dirt... the buildings needed a few hundred thousand gallons of paint 40 years ago... but the flats are luxurious inside.
It’s great to see Russia as it truly is, the wealthy parts and the poor parts. Too many videos on RU-vid try to beautify everything and portray some gorgeous young girl to give viewers a false image when most viewers are really interested in what Russia is actually like . The good, the bad and the ugly. Even here in the US we have the exact same contrasts of the rich neighborhoods and the poor neighborhoods. But it’s more interesting to see real life than some dressed up Hollywood image. It unites us by creating a common ground and let’s us know we are not that different the way the government and the media makes it seem.
