Russia has like one metro like that lmao
American apartments now:
Ok, so the luxury ones have a view. Now do poor people.
deleted by creator
I live in one currently. One of the early ones from the late 60s.
Location is great, city provides hot tap water and heating. Cheap utilities.
Huge amounts of these were insulated all over the country starting from the late 90s. EU also provided funds for that after my country got in.
I honestly don’t remember seeing typical commie block not maintained well from the outside in cities nowadays.
On the negative side - walls are crooked and not soundproof, this is usual, flat sizes are a bit too small for families. 50m^2 is most common for ones built before 80s I think.
I did talk lately with retired construction engineer that knows these, he said that although these were built cheaply and were supposed to be temporary - as long as steel reinforcements don’t rust, probably will outlast all of us.
deleted by creator
Actually in some places they are, they even look quite beautiful with new colourful isolation and stuff.
Of course not always, I have seen some where the walls act as doors.
Nice coat of paint
But nothing can isolate those things, you can hear your neighbors breathing
I see you’ve never lived in an apartment. Sure, these aren’t soundproof. However, they were made of concrete. It’s better than the US apartment made out of drywall and prayers. Still, I prefer one of these in a livable area than an isolated house you have to drive to get anywhere.
Commie blocks aren’t perfect, but they solve a lot of issues, and they were cheap. They were made for communities, being built in areas with access to everything else you needed to live. There’s never going to be a perfect solution, and anything like this is going to have an issue with hearing your neighbors. That’s just a compromise that has to be made to get the many advantages.
deleted by creator
Newly built American apartments aren’t much better than commie blocks
What? All the new American apartments I’ve seen are luxury and full of nice amenities. Which I think is a problem because none of it is affordable. Even older apartments get renovated and the rent shoots up. I would love to see some practical and efficient apartments.
This is Denver so your region my differ. From what I gather new bare bones apartments only exist in extreme cost of living areas like Sanfran or NYC.
Those “luxury” apartments are just plywood and sheetrock byult as fast and cheap as possible. They look good at first glance but start to come apart after just a couple years.
And the tenants get to hear each other’s every word and movement the entire time.
At least the commie blocks are built with concrete thick enough for the KGB torture someone without it bothering the neighbors.
Oh, and the commie blocks are in walkable neighborhoods
Having seen the interiors, Khrushchevkas are way nicer than any 5-over-1 I’ve been in in the US. By a comical degree, really.
What do they look like on the inside?
About this way:
I’ve personally been to some of them.
Kitchen separating from the living room : 1p
Big windows in all the living area : 1p
Bathtub : 1p
Entry and passage way : 1p
Balcony : 1p
Separated toilet : 1p
Only windows on one side : -1p
No window in the bathroom : -1pQuite decent but the real question is heat isolation.
Is there space from a laundry machine in the kitchen and will there be enough space for a dishwasher as well?
In the picture it seems like the toilet is separated (between bathroom and kitchen) and the washing machine is in the bathroom (behind the wall closest to the “camera”).
Oh! I thought it was some mirror and double door at the kitchen. I’ll correct it!
The wall thickness and heat isolation vary between the places, but it would probably suffice to say they serve their purpose well in the northernmost regions.
Kitchens are fairly small, washing machines are commonly installed in the bathroom, and dishwashers are normally not used in them.
That is often the case in French-style block as well. But sometimes, there is enough room in the kitchen to add a dishwasher anyway. That make the kitchen very small but depending on people it can be really nice.
Yeah, at the end of the day it’s a matter of personal preference. Washing machines can be installed, it just might be impractical given the size of the kitchen.
American build apartments are less spacious. Soviet blocks also have nice balconys nowadays.
Much easier to fall off a balcony than through a window. Convenient feature in Russian culture.
