Commie Blocks Are Pretty Good, Actually
Why Hacker News recommends it
Linked in housing and urbanism threads as a fun, deliberately provocative case that dense blocks are better than their reputation.
What it is
Adam Something gives a short, tongue-in-cheek defense of Soviet-era prefab apartment blocks. He argues they offer efficient, dense housing with schools and services built nearby.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2022 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Recommends bartwr · 2024-02 · on “The hottest trend in U.S. cities? Changing zoning rules to allow more housing”
I know this is an unpopular opinion in the US, but the tenements can be pretty great. I grew up in Eastern Europe (Warsaw) in "commie" blocks and there was a lot of valid criticisms and problems (like poor quality of buildings, small apartments, or thin walls - but consider that they rebuilt whole Warsaw after it was completely grounded in WW2 in a decade or two!), but also a lot to love. Extremely walkable, safe, all amenities (cinemas, stores, cultural centers, playgrounds) in the walking distance, lots of trees and green, easy access to public transit. As a kid or teenager they were great. I preferred it 100x over suburbs where my parents moved later, and to typical American cityscapes. (
Cites leto_ii · 2022-01 · on “Why skyscrapers are so short”
I will contribute by adding a couple of references to AdamSomething's views on skyscrapers [1] (we shouldn't build them) and commie blocks [2] (surprisingly pleasant and efficient housing): [1] [LINK] [2] [this video] As an Eastern European who lately has developed a casual interest in urban planning, I wholeheartedly agree with a low to mid-rise approach to urban development. Both in my home town (Bucharest) as well as in my current place of residence (Amsterdam) by far the least pleasent areas are the places where high-rises concentrate (Pipera and Zuidas respectively).
Cites smusamashah · 2022-10 · on “Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms”
From what I have found watching this [this video] and [LINK] is that very tall buildings are cool only for the very rich but they are not very liveable. Burj Khalifa does not have a severage system. Trucks are used to take the human waste away every single day from burj khalifa.
Cites Hard_Space · 2022-10 · on “Made in America is back, leaving US factories scrambling to find workers”
Higher density happens because investors want to maximize the use of land in desirable areas, not because land is unavailable or difficult to zone. I live in Bucharest, a city of incredibly high RE development, and most of the new buildings are more compressed and crowded in on each other than they were under communism, which is a common occurrence in the former Soviet satellite states [1]. From my window, I can see across the Delta Vacaresti, a wildlife reserve that was once a neighborhood that Ceausescu just had time to raze to the ground for some new insane scheme before his people shot him. Across the way, I see three massive multistory residential blocks going up, crowded together like