Most Russians live in apartments that they own. My mother-in-law lives in a block of eight apartment buildings in a row that have adjoining walls, actually making one big complex. Each building has its own entryway, with five stories, and four apartments per floor. So that makes 160 apartments in her block. The rule is that if there are more than 5 stories there must be an elevator, so there is no elevator.
Her neighborhood has many such apartment blocks. Sometimes the first floor is used as a store. So a short walk away there is a furniture store/convenience store, an alteca (think a tiny drug store without the drugs), a few more convenience stores here and there. There is one grocery store with another (the better one) farther away at the edge of the community (or maybe in the edge of another). The farmer's market is in the middle of the community. It also has some flea market type items, although the items are all new.
When an apartment is privatized all inhabitants of that apartment, regardless of age, have a share. This means that most Russians have a place to live, although it can get rather crowded. But children born after the privatization do NOT have a share. This is bound to present more and more problems as time goes on.
It is not clear who is allowed to do what to the outside of the apartments. Yesterday I noticed ropes outside my window. There was a bucket going up and down. It contained concrete. The workers were applying the concrete to the outside of the top apartment. So the outside has bricks that suddenly change to a concrete section covering the bricks and back to a brick section. It looks rather odd.
The apartments were designed in an era when no one had cars except the apparatchik—so cars are parked here and there. This will become more and more of a problem as the density of cars increase. There are various storage buildings scattered through the community. I am not sure how they open their car doors with the car inside but obviously they do. The buildings are made from heavy sheet metal. The padlocks are huge. There is a small steel fenced section for outside car storage with a guard.
Theft is a bigger risk in Russia than in America, although I would guess that it happens less often. There are two reasons for this. Entry to Russian apartments is more difficult and the doors are massive. And most retail items in stores are not displayed for the customer. You have to ask for them. This is why there are so many employees in a small retail store—there is very little self-service.
Tomorrow I will talk about the inside of Russian Apartments.
I have an important decision to make right now. I am indecisive so it is hard for me. Should I have onion/egg stuffed pierogi, or jam stuffed pierogi with my coffee. Ah, the solution is obvious.