So, the thing is, communist architecture is this brutalist stuff, not amazingly well done. Kind of sordid looking. Very grey and same-y. Matchbox apartment blocks.

But they had something going when it came to urban planning. Loads of green areas. Walkable places. All that.

Hmmm.

This is... interesting, actually:

Picturesque autumn street view:

The abandoned building is still abandoned in 2022 (this is from a different angle, but it's the same building):

Omg, May 2022 photo! Slightly better, but you can see the patches of newly rennovated and repainted apartment exteriors on the right. (Still... not great.)

An abandoned building with broken windows - and a couple of kids who seem to be staring straight into the camera:

I just *had* to check it out - it had a population of merely 10.000 in its heyday (1992?), and the number dropped below 8000 by 2010.

The most recent streetview photos are from 2009. It's sordid, even for 2009.

For comparison, a random street in Romania. Check out the fences! your yard is your yard! It's private!

I went on street view, saw something like this and stared in mute incomprehension: