"B- But the commie blocks were of lower quality than Western housing!!!" No, liberal, brutalist architecture isn't Soviet exclusive. I've seen many such buildings here in Athens
I remember once a friend visited Moscow and sent back pictures. My boyfriend at the time was from Toronto. We discovered that large portions of Moscow and Toronto are literally identical.
The social housing I saw in the west, build at the same time, had elevators, finished flooring in the communal spaces (as opposed to bare concrete), glass doors at the entrances. I'd say it was built to a higher standard than Khrushchevkas.
as someone who lives in turkey i can confirm that capitalism doesn't fix the "commie block" issue AT ALL. we cant afford houses even way worse than these, it's a fucking nightmare.
Except there's plenty of housing in better shape than soviet housing in America, its just being held hostage by the rich, so its kinda even worse than there just being a housing shortage. There's a housing surplus and it is nondistributed
The two are not necceseraly contradictory. The budget can change but a good architect wouldn't somehow lose all their skill, they would just have more limits to how creative or over the top their solution can be.
I live in Canada, I cant afford to live on my own. If it was not my parents (My father is a piece of shit) I would be on the streets, half way frozen to death due to the extreme winters here
This is why I prefer to live in a commie block then on the streets, thank you very much
The USSR under Stalin sent people to Gulag
Stalin worked with the Nazis
The Red Army raped and killed innocents in Germany
The USSR took in Nazi scientists just like the USA
I know about The Red Terror
etc
well. kinda. people worked for years for a very low salary and stayed in line for decades to get one.
I just watched documentary called “sex in soviet union” one part of it shows video clips and interviews about how factory directors asked for sexual favors in order to skip the line. absolutely disgusting.
I'll refuse any solution that would prevent THOSE PEOPLE from dying of frostbite. No, you can't build mass housing infrastructure because i find it ugly, and you also can't just build your own little hut in an otherwise uninhabited area because that's illegal. See, you getting to live somewhere despite being poor would decrease the great value of the house I've inherited from a time when people were allowed to just build their own house almost anywhere, and were able to afford it too. So no. I can't have you destroy my sense of generational wealth >:c
sigh i wonder why can't my dirty commie friends see what a good person i am.
Hello from Russia. Khrushchev-era apartment buildings were originally conceived as a quick and cheap solution to housing problem. Later, the government really liked the idea of building panel houses, so they built more expensive, but still panel houses. I live in a panel house built in 1985. I once visited a friend who rented an apartment in a modern building – the soundproofing was absolutely terrible; you could literally hear footsteps from above. I don't know how anyone could live in such a thing. And so an entire housing complex was built like that, which everyone calls a literal human anthill. In my building, the most I hear is someone screaming or instrument noises. I mean, maybe from the outside, Soviet panel houses seem "boring" (although it's better to live in a boring house than in no house at all), but at least they had some quality standards. Now builders cut corners on everything – but who cares? People need housing, and they'll buy anything.
my dad got 2 rooms (4 persons family) out 3 rooms apartment. The biggest room went to another family (3 people) 7 people using one toilet in the morning was brutal
it was first floor so we constantly smelled the basement, and it got flooded regularly. the wall facing north always had mold on it. my dad had to replace radiators illegally just to get at least somewhat warm during winter. Children playground was on concrete with extremely unsafe equipment, i still have a scar on my forehead. Pod'ezd was always a public restroom as much as i could remember. It was always dark because the lightbulbs couldn’t live longer than a day. things only became decent in 2010s
i mean it is better than living on the street, but those arent my happy memories.
I have yet to see a "liberal" who is happy with state of American housing crisis. Though, I will tell you this, as a person from country with socialist, affordable houses. They are not great either. I mean, if alternative is to live on a street, then sure, they are awesome. But me, personally, having a choice, I prefer to live with my parents in a house then in said, affordable house from socialist era.
The alternative is homelessness. 771,000 Americans are currently homeless. Richest country on Earth. The USSR on the other hand had less riches to work with as a result of being economically blockaded by the West and still managed to eradicate homelessness.
Fr. Yesterday I was watching a video about rents in Athens and I found a 32 square meter house in a crime riddles neighborhood for 750 euros, whereas the 500 euros I pay is already ridiculous enough
The USSR on the other hand had less riches to work with as a result of being economically blockaded by the West and still managed to eradicate homelessness.
Did they, though? While yes, they made some great effort to try and eradicate homelessness, some quite funny, like making it illegal, they never, truly, get rid of it.
They did to the degree humanly possible. The only exceptions were ex-convicts who lost their residency permits and those migrating to cities without first securing residency permits in their new city. For those willing to abide by the rules, there was housing for you. The same can't be said for the US.
Never saw those, though. That's why I said "I have yet to see". It is my personal observation. Granted, I am not American though and I am more then happy not to be one, now or ever.
They did? News to me. Things have been unaffordable for a long while and in fact housing prices shot up during COVID because of supply chain disruptions putting the brakes on building.
I live in a former communist country too and don't see why the users here living in the west love this type of building so much.
They are very prone to dilapidation, they have very poor lighting (the sun could be up and the third floor and up would still be very dark) and they don't have any elevators. Not even now in 2025 (at least in my country).
If you were an old person or had mobility issues than you are essentially screwed. You had to rely on someone else to get you to your apartment. And I almost forgot but these had very poor insulation which would become a problem ever winter.
I get building these post ww2 out of necessity but decades after it?
In the UK there is a housing crisis. In my home city in Glasgow we built so many homes in this style and have since torn them down replacing half the units or nothing at all.
As a result of right to buy (a disgraceful policy which destroyed our municipal housing stock) we now face exorbitant rents at the mercy of slum landlords.
I’m just envious you even have the option, it’s an absolute abundance of housing.
yeah, housing was “cheap”because...
you didn’t own it,
you couldn’t move freely,
you had no political rights,
shortages were endemic,
quality was often abysmal,
and dissent could get you imprisoned or worse
by that logic:
prisons have great housing prices,
feudal serfdom was affordable,
and company towns were utopias,
So, you want to pay for housing your whole life? Why not just take out lifetime loan? At least you would get it instantly - instead of waiting in line for 10 years.
there were no affordable housing in USSR. w waited like 40 years for talon. and we lived all toghever, parents, children, with their spouses and children, 9 people on 40 m2.
"Sadly" the trenches and dugouts between the "affordable houses" and from hits by ballistic missiles collapsed buildings are mising, because your beloved Nazi in the Kremlin has something against affordable housing and normal russian speaking peolple.
Lowkey I miss the khruschevka I grew up in. And while I was growing up in it, I always dreamed to live in a Brezhnevka across the street.
Maybe one day when the war's over I'll come back to my childhood home... Maybe...
Hope you weren't in Ukraine. Because those blocks probably aren't there any more.
I was, in fact, in Ukraine. Kyiv to be exact.
Whoops.
Don't worry my friend, eventually all the russin orks will die and the war will end.Slava Ukraine! https://youtu.be/65Jgs8OxXpU?si=-b88311KMOABCVo9
"B- But the commie blocks were of lower quality than Western housing!!!" No, liberal, brutalist architecture isn't Soviet exclusive. I've seen many such buildings here in Athens
I remember once a friend visited Moscow and sent back pictures. My boyfriend at the time was from Toronto. We discovered that large portions of Moscow and Toronto are literally identical.
I have a feeling that's somehow the fault of le corbusier
I may dislike the USSR, but I can never hate Commie Blocks
Brutalist architecture isn't Soviet at all. It's British.
I hate Brutalist architecture but commie blocks actually looks kinda cool
The social housing I saw in the west, build at the same time, had elevators, finished flooring in the communal spaces (as opposed to bare concrete), glass doors at the entrances. I'd say it was built to a higher standard than Khrushchevkas.
I don't think commie blocks are brutalist. Some are, others are influenced by it but I wouldn't really say commie blocks are universally brutalist.
Yeah, but the quality of the soviet or eastern German buildings of that type was shit.
You can believe me, i grew up in one.
as someone who lives in turkey i can confirm that capitalism doesn't fix the "commie block" issue AT ALL. we cant afford houses even way worse than these, it's a fucking nightmare.
176000 Americans are going to lose housing assistance in july and very likely to enter homelessness
Me waiting for my "communist" government to start building some fucking commie blocks already so I can move out:
https://preview.redd.it/m7jbjnysvd8g1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=27ceefb48ee97c4bdda02a3ae6272ae64488ca91
Except there's plenty of housing in better shape than soviet housing in America, its just being held hostage by the rich, so its kinda even worse than there just being a housing shortage. There's a housing surplus and it is nondistributed
Same thing in the US, all of the housing is being held hostage by landlords and Airbnb, which exacerbates the shortage even harder
Blackrock swiftly becoming the industry leader in vacant homes
This is so real. In Germany we have roughly 1.9 million vacant apartments but only about 500.000 homeless people.
Why you know what the rich are like fuck the poor i want to steal somone elses money!!!
They care more about looks over affordability
The two are not necceseraly contradictory. The budget can change but a good architect wouldn't somehow lose all their skill, they would just have more limits to how creative or over the top their solution can be.
True but I never said they were contradictory
Nah, they're equaly as shit inside as well(ussr housing).
I rather live in a commie block then on the streets, thank you very much
I compare tu USA, sure, but compared to untouched EU, fuck USSR.
I live in Canada, I cant afford to live on my own. If it was not my parents (My father is a piece of shit) I would be on the streets, half way frozen to death due to the extreme winters here
This is why I prefer to live in a commie block then on the streets, thank you very much
[removed]
Alright, idiot
[removed]
Your post has been removed due to being deemed as misinformation or disingenuous in it's nature.
What do you do for a living
https://preview.redd.it/76mbzcjvvf8g1.png?width=642&format=png&auto=webp&s=7aae9a6068fd90133bed3f049df73e3a67ca0ea9
Every country has their bad side.
The USSR under Stalin sent people to Gulag
Stalin worked with the Nazis
The Red Army raped and killed innocents in Germany
The USSR took in Nazi scientists just like the USA
I know about The Red Terror
etc
You do not know me, kid
Fun fact. Those flats were given for free.
well. kinda. people worked for years for a very low salary and stayed in line for decades to get one.
I just watched documentary called “sex in soviet union” one part of it shows video clips and interviews about how factory directors asked for sexual favors in order to skip the line. absolutely disgusting.
I'll refuse any solution that would prevent THOSE PEOPLE from dying of frostbite. No, you can't build mass housing infrastructure because i find it ugly, and you also can't just build your own little hut in an otherwise uninhabited area because that's illegal. See, you getting to live somewhere despite being poor would decrease the great value of the house I've inherited from a time when people were allowed to just build their own house almost anywhere, and were able to afford it too. So no. I can't have you destroy my sense of generational wealth >:c
sigh i wonder why can't my dirty commie friends see what a good person i am.
https://preview.redd.it/d0tw3wmy6m8g1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=0c3047c7cd0a2b168dafdc72ecf362da8ae78659
Hello from Russia. Khrushchev-era apartment buildings were originally conceived as a quick and cheap solution to housing problem. Later, the government really liked the idea of building panel houses, so they built more expensive, but still panel houses. I live in a panel house built in 1985. I once visited a friend who rented an apartment in a modern building – the soundproofing was absolutely terrible; you could literally hear footsteps from above. I don't know how anyone could live in such a thing. And so an entire housing complex was built like that, which everyone calls a literal human anthill. In my building, the most I hear is someone screaming or instrument noises. I mean, maybe from the outside, Soviet panel houses seem "boring" (although it's better to live in a boring house than in no house at all), but at least they had some quality standards. Now builders cut corners on everything – but who cares? People need housing, and they'll buy anything.
my dad got 2 rooms (4 persons family) out 3 rooms apartment. The biggest room went to another family (3 people) 7 people using one toilet in the morning was brutal
it was first floor so we constantly smelled the basement, and it got flooded regularly. the wall facing north always had mold on it. my dad had to replace radiators illegally just to get at least somewhat warm during winter. Children playground was on concrete with extremely unsafe equipment, i still have a scar on my forehead. Pod'ezd was always a public restroom as much as i could remember. It was always dark because the lightbulbs couldn’t live longer than a day. things only became decent in 2010s
i mean it is better than living on the street, but those arent my happy memories.
And still a lot of russian housing lack fucking toilets. Poor stupid idiots
I have yet to see a "liberal" who is happy with state of American housing crisis. Though, I will tell you this, as a person from country with socialist, affordable houses. They are not great either. I mean, if alternative is to live on a street, then sure, they are awesome. But me, personally, having a choice, I prefer to live with my parents in a house then in said, affordable house from socialist era.
Seriously, those flats sucks.
The alternative is homelessness. 771,000 Americans are currently homeless. Richest country on Earth. The USSR on the other hand had less riches to work with as a result of being economically blockaded by the West and still managed to eradicate homelessness.
Fr. Yesterday I was watching a video about rents in Athens and I found a 32 square meter house in a crime riddles neighborhood for 750 euros, whereas the 500 euros I pay is already ridiculous enough
Did they, though? While yes, they made some great effort to try and eradicate homelessness, some quite funny, like making it illegal, they never, truly, get rid of it.
They did to the degree humanly possible. The only exceptions were ex-convicts who lost their residency permits and those migrating to cities without first securing residency permits in their new city. For those willing to abide by the rules, there was housing for you. The same can't be said for the US.
Meanwhile every single liberal who brags about how good the housing market was under Biden:
https://preview.redd.it/i9f1ah418d8g1.png?width=399&format=png&auto=webp&s=b0d4fc8b88020a98b415b7c119c1d02d3f55ee44
Never saw those, though. That's why I said "I have yet to see". It is my personal observation. Granted, I am not American though and I am more then happy not to be one, now or ever.
They did? News to me. Things have been unaffordable for a long while and in fact housing prices shot up during COVID because of supply chain disruptions putting the brakes on building.
I live in a former communist country too and don't see why the users here living in the west love this type of building so much.
They are very prone to dilapidation, they have very poor lighting (the sun could be up and the third floor and up would still be very dark) and they don't have any elevators. Not even now in 2025 (at least in my country).
If you were an old person or had mobility issues than you are essentially screwed. You had to rely on someone else to get you to your apartment. And I almost forgot but these had very poor insulation which would become a problem ever winter.
I get building these post ww2 out of necessity but decades after it?
In the UK there is a housing crisis. In my home city in Glasgow we built so many homes in this style and have since torn them down replacing half the units or nothing at all.
As a result of right to buy (a disgraceful policy which destroyed our municipal housing stock) we now face exorbitant rents at the mercy of slum landlords.
I’m just envious you even have the option, it’s an absolute abundance of housing.
They can suck as much as they want, but a roof is a roof is a roof. Far better than the direct exposure to elements from homelessness.
Spoken like someone that hadnt lived in a crowded, poorly maintained city apartment.
A townhouse/single home in rhe surburbs is much better.
This isn’t the argument being made . Nice straw man though
oh hell no, living in the suburbs is a pain in the ass. Medium Density is much better, like we have in Italy.
Brother I literally live in Athens which is known for being a concrete hellhole
Yeah and its shit.
Ever owned a singlehouse/lived in an air bnb singlehome?
My uncle has a house in a small village and that too is in shit condition
Yeh but its up to you. Your unc doesnt upkeep his own home and thats on him.
Theres no 'up to you' in an apartment. All it takes is ond ahole with roaches.
Yes, and it is over rated. I wouldn't want to live in a commie block either but single family homes limit and drain you in other ways.
I rather live in a crowded, poorly maintained apartment then on the streets
But hey, I actually have brains
yeah, housing was “cheap”because... you didn’t own it, you couldn’t move freely, you had no political rights, shortages were endemic, quality was often abysmal, and dissent could get you imprisoned or worse
by that logic: prisons have great housing prices, feudal serfdom was affordable, and company towns were utopias,
So, you want to pay for housing your whole life? Why not just take out lifetime loan? At least you would get it instantly - instead of waiting in line for 10 years.
Loan which you cant repay, and the bank has the power to take it away
there were no affordable housing in USSR. w waited like 40 years for talon. and we lived all toghever, parents, children, with their spouses and children, 9 people on 40 m2.
Oh nice! This is Saltievka in Northern Kharkiv.
I was there not long ago.
"Sadly" the trenches and dugouts between the "affordable houses" and from hits by ballistic missiles collapsed buildings are mising, because your beloved Nazi in the Kremlin has something against affordable housing and normal russian speaking peolple.
https://preview.redd.it/f0aryndk9d8g1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a0467af9c7a3dbef5c77814827e16464c1b569e