A Sneak Peak of Russian Suburbia

In a previous post, I described the aesthetics and practical implications of Russia’s apartment communities. This time I’m going to talk about single family housing, and since a lot of people are probably going to accuse of “spreading Russian disinformation” or whatever, here are some photos to prove what I’m saying.

Today, Maria and I walked my dog, Spazz. I brought him here from the USA and he’s a typical American who loves junk food.

A typical American Beagle Jack Russell mix

I tried to get a picture of him for this post but he refused to look at the camera. Anyway. We decided to take a walk through a nearby village. Our first stop was the local church.

Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church flower bed

Outside the church there are two authentic World War II pillboxes, a relic of the 1941 siege of Moscow that people still pay their respects to.

WWII memorial Great Patriotic War memorial machine gun bunker pillbox siege of moscow
WWII memorial Great Patriotic War memorial machine gun bunker pillbox siege of moscow

Along the way a water truck passed us by. These trucks are meant to keep roads clean and free of dust and are a common sight around Russia in the warmer months.

Russian water truck in the Moscow Region
Russian water truck in the Moscow Region

Then we got to the houses. As you can see, this is a far cry from barren tundra, which is how Russia is usually portrayed in Hollywood-land.

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

The same way American suburbia evolved in style and taste over time, Russian suburbs are the same way, featuring a mish-mash of architecture from 50-70 years ago and newer homes from the 90s and 2000s. Some houses are in good taste, others… perhaps not so much.

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

Notice the apartments in the background.

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast
Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

The maintenance of the outer fences, structures, and exteriors of these properties is at the whim of the owners, which produces some visually intriguing contrasts. It’s possible to depict Russia as prosperous, or crumbling, without moving from where you’re standing. Prosperous Russia:

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast
Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

Crumbling Russia:

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast
Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

Prosperous Russia:

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

Crumbling Russia:

graffiti
urban decay

One aspect of this neighborhood I found intriguing was that I frequently saw laundry hung up to dry on the balconies and porches.

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

Obviously someone who owns a house like one of these can afford a dryer. A lot of Russian people just, apparently, don’t see the need for one so never bothered.

There is also a community of town houses (or duplexes as they’re frequently called in the USA).

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast
Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

Car ownership is somewhat a necessity in detached housing, but there are still several shopping centers within a reasonable walking distance, like this one:

Russian shopping mall

That shopping center is busy and there’s an even busier highway beside it, with an unfortunate but necessary gap in the noise barrier. But there are so many trees you can barely hear the traffic.

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast
Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast
Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast
Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast

Some workmen taking a break.

Russian suburb in Moscow Oblast, construction work

A little girl finds a cat.

A girl and a cat and her dad

A very silly dog barking through a hole in the gate. Woof woof woof.

barking dog, huskie

Flowers at the mall.

flowers in Russia

A bus.

a bus in a Russian suburb

This is a first-hand visual of a middle class and upper-middle class community. These aren’t oligarchs, unless you think I’m an oligarch, since I’m staying in Maria’s apartment home directly adjacent to them. So I encourage everyone to save this post for the next time you see a troll on the internet wailing about miserable, impoverished Russia.

There is a frequently-repeated trope that Moscow and St. Petersburg are rich but everyone else in Russia is impoverished. I have photos from my travels over the summer, as well as some new ones, which I will be uploading shortly to show that this statement is obviously nonsense. But even if it was true… well, there are 16 million people in Moscow and 7 million in St. Petersburg, more than the entire population of the Netherlands. That’s a lot of affluent Russians. I have to wonder if the sheer numbers of affluent Russian tourists is at least part of the reason western Eurobros are so enraged and triggered.

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Ian Kummer

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6 thoughts on “A Sneak Peak of Russian Suburbia”

  1. Those pictures are a great and interesting view/insight into a Foreign Land, as were the pictures of your trip to college on the 15th this month. People who have never had the opportunity to travel have been short changed.

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