traingang

My first exposure to socialist urbanism was this neighbourhood in Bucharest, particularly as you go south down Brasov Street: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nfSr3Nuuunx2iJVg9

Romania is a pretty poor country that developed mostly on its own. When I visited there were two decades of post-1989 decay after their 1960s-80s construction. I stayed in one of those flats which is on par with what I pay $1600/month for in a much smaller city, not the capital across from a ration distribution centre. I walked through the neighbourhood and it was the first real pedestrian-centric urban forest I had been in, with all the benefits from that during a hot summer. I saw how much of a focus there was on diverse parks and how easy it was to get to them with the mass transit options. Beneath the 2br/1ba apartment bloc the first floor was mixed-commercial with bakeries on every corner, so you could just get government-subsidised enriched baguettes along with convenience store groceries ten steps outside of your front door. If not for the car traffic it would be a much better version of the best places I've lived in the US. Even on the periphery of socialist development projects they made something so much more pleasant to live in than much wealthier countries.

Anyway last week a child was almost killed by a big ole truck here using the crosswalk from a park to their low-density suburb. The speed limit is 70kph+ and the suburb lacks public greenspace. If I worked thirty years maintaining the closest thing they have to nature within walking distance, now a traumatic experience for them, I wouldn't be able to afford a house anywhere near that park. Renting a house there would be $2300/month+ and I would have to cross that same road to touch something other than non-native grass. There's no safe bike lane there for the 30 minute ride to downtown so I'd have to drive on streets designed for 1/10th of our population.