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I'll do you one better. Behold - the communist superblock where I spent half of my childhood: https://www.google.pl/maps/@52.1409132,21.0491488,16z/data=!3m1!1

by Tade0 4y ago

I'll do you one better. Behold - the communist superblock where I spent half of my childhood: https://www.google.pl/maps/@52.1409132,21.0491488,16z/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.pl/maps/@52.1409132,21.0491488,16z/data=!... Without going over a single pedestrian crossing you can reach a: -school(grades 1-8, with a soccer and basketball field available to the public) and kindergarten -mini-mart -clinic -dentist -playground -culture center -hairdresser/barber -tire shop/car wash -mini spa which somehow is still there after 25 years. Bars and cafes are across the street. The grassy area in the northern part is used for festivals and the like in the summer. Note how almost all the parking spots are around the superblock. All that without being a human pile-up like Barcelona because - and I can't stress this enough - that is not a requirement for having a decent, walkable neighbourhood.

jltsiren 4y ago
I also grew up in areas like that in Finland. They still worked as intended when I was a kid in the 80s and early 90s. Then most services went away. As living standards increased, population density decreased, as people could afford more space. And as real wages increased, businesses needed more sales per employee to be profitable. Medium-density areas no longer had enough people to support local services.
- Tade0 4y ago
  Some of the buildings here were built much later than the rest - my take is that that spoiled the original idea (removing, among other things, a local farmer's market), but they did increase population density considerably. But yeah, a few corner shops didn't survive.
sosodev 4y ago
A lot of communist designed spaces seem quite nice. Though maybe they just have the potential to be nice like the one that you linked but a ton of them in less developed areas are falling apart from lack of maintenance.
- foobarian 4y ago
  Communist places are nice as long as you can keep your people from leaving to EU or America where they are paid 20x more than at home and have more freedoms. And once those floodgates open it's a nasty negative feedback loop.
jdkee 4y ago
Like Begich Towers in Whittier, AK? See https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-01-04/begich-towers-whittier-alaska/ https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-01-04/begich-tower...

by Tade0 4y ago

jltsiren 4y ago

I also grew up in areas like that in Finland. They still worked as intended when I was a kid in the 80s and early 90s. Then most services went away. As living standards increased, population density decreased, as people could afford more space. And as real wages increased, businesses needed more sales per employee to be profitable. Medium-density areas no longer had enough people to support local services.

Tade0 4y ago
Some of the buildings here were built much later than the rest - my take is that that spoiled the original idea (removing, among other things, a local farmer's market), but they did increase population density considerably. But yeah, a few corner shops didn't survive.

sosodev 4y ago

A lot of communist designed spaces seem quite nice. Though maybe they just have the potential to be nice like the one that you linked but a ton of them in less developed areas are falling apart from lack of maintenance.

foobarian 4y ago
Communist places are nice as long as you can keep your people from leaving to EU or America where they are paid 20x more than at home and have more freedoms. And once those floodgates open it's a nasty negative feedback loop.

jdkee 4y ago

Like Begich Towers in Whittier, AK? See https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-01-04/begich-towers-whittier-alaska/ https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-01-04/begich-tower...