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I imagine the lifestyle in many planned Soviet housing blocks was more pleasant than a low income American Edit: I just mean the physical environment, not poli

I imagine the lifestyle in many planned Soviet housing blocks was more pleasant than a low income American Edit: I just mean the physical environment, not political / social / economic

rendall 5y ago
Why would you imagine that?
- diordiderot 5y ago
  No need for cars + greenery and public parks? Weren't there LeCorbusier style.
  - rendall 5y ago
    I dunno. East Berlin is pretty soul-crushing, with its block upon block upon block of blocky blocks. Warehouses for humans.
    - betaby 5y ago
      Less soul-crushing than most of the Montreal for me, which looks mostly like that outside of the fancy neighborhoods https://goo.gl/maps/vH7SwbRXdZndQszt5 https://goo.gl/maps/vH7SwbRXdZndQszt5
      - rendall 5y ago
        You're right. East Berlin is not so bad: https://goo.gl/maps/KtpqjfJW2eUUcbP8A https://goo.gl/maps/KtpqjfJW2eUUcbP8A
    - diordiderot 5y ago
      Sad, I thought the whole idea was apartments with parks with 15 minute walk to doctor, school, etc and taking the bus to work
      - rendall 5y ago
        Maybe there are.
philwelch 5y ago
> Yeltsin, then 58, "roamed the aisles of Randall's nodding his head in amazement," wrote Asin. He told his fellow Russians in his entourage that if their people, who often must wait in line for most goods, saw the conditions of U.S. supermarkets, "there would be a revolution." … > About a year after the Russian leader left office, a Yeltsin biographer later wrote that on the plane ride to Yeltsin's next destination, Miami, he was despondent. He couldn't stop thinking about the plentiful food at the grocery store and what his countrymen had to subsist on in Russia. … > "When I saw those shelves crammed with hundreds, thousands of cans, cartons and goods of every possible sort, for the first time I felt quite frankly sick with despair for the Soviet people," Yeltsin wrote. "That such a potentially super-rich country as ours has been brought to a state of such poverty! It is terrible to think of it." https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/amp/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/amp/When-Bor...
- diordiderot 5y ago
  Sorry I didn't explain well! I only meant navigating the built environment! Nothing economic or political
rdtwo 5y ago
It’s not clear to me that American poor are actually more happy with all their Nike shoes, big screen TVs and fast food than Soviet poor with nothing but cheap vodka. I think seeing others be rich is more unhappiness producing than having everyone be generally poor

I imagine the lifestyle in many planned Soviet housing blocks was more pleasant than a low income American Edit: I just mean the physical environment, not political / social / economic

rendall 5y ago

Why would you imagine that?

diordiderot 5y ago
No need for cars + greenery and public parks? Weren't there LeCorbusier style.
- rendall 5y ago
  I dunno. East Berlin is pretty soul-crushing, with its block upon block upon block of blocky blocks. Warehouses for humans.
  - betaby 5y ago
    Less soul-crushing than most of the Montreal for me, which looks mostly like that outside of the fancy neighborhoods https://goo.gl/maps/vH7SwbRXdZndQszt5 https://goo.gl/maps/vH7SwbRXdZndQszt5
    - rendall 5y ago
      You're right. East Berlin is not so bad: https://goo.gl/maps/KtpqjfJW2eUUcbP8A https://goo.gl/maps/KtpqjfJW2eUUcbP8A
  - diordiderot 5y ago
    Sad, I thought the whole idea was apartments with parks with 15 minute walk to doctor, school, etc and taking the bus to work
    - rendall 5y ago
      Maybe there are.

philwelch 5y ago

> Yeltsin, then 58, "roamed the aisles of Randall's nodding his head in amazement," wrote Asin. He told his fellow Russians in his entourage that if their people, who often must wait in line for most goods, saw the conditions of U.S. supermarkets, "there would be a revolution." … > About a year after the Russian leader left office, a Yeltsin biographer later wrote that on the plane ride to Yeltsin's next destination, Miami, he was despondent. He couldn't stop thinking about the plentiful food at the grocery store and what his countrymen had to subsist on in Russia. … > "When I saw those shelves crammed with hundreds, thousands of cans, cartons and goods of every possible sort, for the first time I felt quite frankly sick with despair for the Soviet people," Yeltsin wrote. "That such a potentially super-rich country as ours has been brought to a state of such poverty! It is terrible to think of it." https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/amp/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/amp/When-Bor...

diordiderot 5y ago
Sorry I didn't explain well! I only meant navigating the built environment! Nothing economic or political

rdtwo 5y ago

It’s not clear to me that American poor are actually more happy with all their Nike shoes, big screen TVs and fast food than Soviet poor with nothing but cheap vodka. I think seeing others be rich is more unhappiness producing than having everyone be generally poor