I hear in Moscow they were trying to tear some of these old buildings to build new apartment complexes. It's controversial in how it was handled I hear especially with respect to older people who have lived in those buildings.
It's allegedly the largest planned urban demolition.
In general Soviets liked to build fast, cheap and efficiently. Corners were often cut. The apartments were not luxurious and would be considered cramped by Western standards. Everything was standardized so you'd see blocks and blocks of almost identical buildings. There is even a well known movie that has that as a key plot element: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073179/ (Man gets drunk, accidentally flies to another city, which had an identically named street, apartment block looks the same, etc).
However it was provided to the citizens for free, sometimes after waiting in line for years. My parents waited for 6 years to get a new apartment after I was born, we got one with 2 rooms instead of 1 room. And yes, they were also very anti-communist (in private at least during those times).
In a place like Norilsk I would guess there other constraints such as extreme cold, would make things hard. Even as new developments having 5 or 9 story blocks might be the more efficient to heat and maintain them. They also built on permafrost, with global warming melting, they'd probably be having major issues soon.
> There is even a well known movie that has that as a key plot element: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073179/ (Man gets drunk, accidentally flies to another city, which had an identically named street, apartment block looks the same, etc).
My wife makes me watch this every Christmas. (I usually fall asleep before the second part) I have the feeling it is a tradition somewhat like It's a Wonderful Life.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/31/moscow-bigges...
It's allegedly the largest planned urban demolition.
In general Soviets liked to build fast, cheap and efficiently. Corners were often cut. The apartments were not luxurious and would be considered cramped by Western standards. Everything was standardized so you'd see blocks and blocks of almost identical buildings. There is even a well known movie that has that as a key plot element: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073179/ (Man gets drunk, accidentally flies to another city, which had an identically named street, apartment block looks the same, etc).
However it was provided to the citizens for free, sometimes after waiting in line for years. My parents waited for 6 years to get a new apartment after I was born, we got one with 2 rooms instead of 1 room. And yes, they were also very anti-communist (in private at least during those times).
In a place like Norilsk I would guess there other constraints such as extreme cold, would make things hard. Even as new developments having 5 or 9 story blocks might be the more efficient to heat and maintain them. They also built on permafrost, with global warming melting, they'd probably be having major issues soon.