Eternal outskirts of Moscow and beyond (LOTS of pics!)

[99t4]

Wonder if we'll see any updates for a while?

 

[calab]

Is there mandatory enlistment there?

 

[goatman]

Yes, i hope he is ok also, i was thinking maybe his foot fell off

 

[Skorohod]

Amazing pictures. Must be good camera. And you compose pictures very well. I zoom a lot and see so much in the background. Also colors are amazing even in winter.

Thank you! My camera is good indeed, it's a Canon EOS 90D. Of course, there is some post-processing to boost colors and contrast, but nothing extreme.

 

[Skorohod]

happy new year skorohod

Thank you! I'm sorry to not respond sooner, i've took some time to catch up with a home chores and music stuff with a band, then the news came... You know the rest.

i was chuckling inside when i was riding my euc while wearing crocs and socks

EUCs are badass! Good for you.

dont tell Z :wink:

I've flinched at first when i've stumbled upon "Z" part, but then i've looked at post date and came back to senses 8)

 

[Skorohod]

I'm glad I came across this thread. I'm up to page 9 so far and have enjoyed all the pictures, especially the fine examples of Brutalist architecture ubiquitous in Russia. Where I live in the U.S. has a lot of similar aesthetic qualities. There's plenty of abandoned buildings and places that look post apocalyptic as well as examples of Brutalism in architecture, just like Moscow. Russia and the U.S. really aren't all that different.

I'm very glad to read that! There be more of stuff you liked, so be welcome to stay tuned.

As for similarities - U.S. was very involved in soviet industrialization process in 1920's - 1930's, and soviet design school in 1950's and 1960's had a lot to borrow from then contemporary U.S. industrial and architectural design, so it's all is not just a coincidence.

When we as a kids watched on a pirate VHS tape yet another american action movie with scenes on abandoned plant - "look, that is just like plant couple blocks away from our home!"

 

[Skorohod]

Wonder if we'll see any updates for a while?

Yes! I hope to post some new pics within a next couple hours.

 

[Skorohod]

Is there mandatory enlistment there?

There is a mandatory сonscription (AKA the draft) in Russia. It's only for healthy man within certain age range. I was never conscripted due to health issues (nothing that bad, but still enough to miss an opportunity to serve). But i'm still can be drafted in case of a total war.

 

[Skorohod]

Yes, i hope he is ok also, i was thinking maybe his foot fell off

I'm ok and still have a lots of brilliant ideas 8)

 

[Skorohod]

I'm back! My first ride since i've came back from Anapa and a my first ride through Moscow on a Sur-Ron.

Since Sur-Ron is that good on a rough terrain, i've decided to find nearest dirt road to my home and see what's what.

In 10 km (6 mile) radius from a Kremlin i'me was aware of only three legit dirt roads, two of them are in forest parks. And only one dirt road was in industrial area. So i've went there:



There was a little bunch of dachas and orchards underneath these power lines. Now it's all gone and this road is mostly for utility purposes for powerline maintenance:



There is some industrial stuff for one side of the road and old garages for another:

 

[Skorohod]

Time to sit and relax:



And watch early flowers bloom:





And to watch how new buildings consuming old ones:



And the ride further:

 

[Skorohod]

That dirt road was just one and a half kilometers long (roughly one mile), so i've swallowed it with one hop and found myself on a city streets again:







There is a construction of a new city highway nearby, i've remembered. There must a plenty of a dirt there! So i've went there to check:



Demolished garages and piles of a rubble and garbage as far as eye can see!

 

[Skorohod]

What a peculiar building! There was a shoe factory, now it's for office space rent. Resembles a castle or a prison:

 

[Skorohod]

There a small river Chertanovka ("чёрт" ("chert") means little devil or imp in russian) runs underneath that construction site. I've went to say hello to an small open part of that river. Here it is, young green leafs upon a green river:




And again, i've ride through construction site and came to the streets amongst old industrial area:

 

[Skorohod]

 

[Skorohod]

As i've rode, old industrial area became quiet residential block:







And then opened up in a wide city highway:

 

[Skorohod]

Something unusual catched my eye. What is this small chapel surrounded by flowers doing in a quiet inner yard? And then i've remembered. I was in bed that night, sleeping before school. My house was only 5 km (3 miles) apart from a blasted building. I felt the quake and later saw heavy construction machinery went to site through street i've lived.



To shake of a memories i've went to ride for another half an hour through sleepy Moscow streets:

















That's all for this week!

 

[99t4]

Interesting for me to see a landscape like this unfilled with tent/RV encampments, as it would be in my area.

 

[The Toecutter]

Interesting for me to see a landscape like this unfilled with tent/RV encampments, as it would be in my area.

On average, the U.S. may be greatly more wealthy than Russia, but the common person sees very little of that wealth. The bottom 75% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, close to half can't even come up with $500 for an emergency expense, and while the official statistics on homelessness in the USA estimates around 500,000 homeless people, that estimate is likely off by one order of magnitude. Homeless encampments and lots where people live in their cars are all over the place even in flyover country, including in small towns. Close to half of those people work legitimate jobs and are priced out of rent, and have to go through great efforts to assure their employer never finds out they're living on the street lest they lose their job. In most cities, the encampments tend to be kept away from areas the "middle class" and wealthy travel back and forth through via law enforcement, but should you go down the wrong street, it will look outright dystopian. I even know a fellow engineer who lives out of his car: long story short, student loan debt and child support payments/alimony mean he can't afford a place to live, even though he makes close to a six-figure income. Most of the so-called "middle class" in the U.S. uses debt to pretend that they are such, but are in reality one or two missed paychecks or accident or unexpected medical complication away from joining the exponentially growing homeless population.

These photos of Russia shown depict a situation that looks much more well off than where I live, even if nominally, where I live is greatly more wealthy. Their roads and infrastructure appear to be in much better repair as do their old buildings, and Russia doesn't have hordes of homeless people in each major city finding all of the out of the way places to avoid being harassed by law enforcement for the "crime" of not being able to afford shelter that has been deliberately overpriced by the banks and conglomerates that have monopolized everything. Everything looks a lot cleaner, even Russia's abandoned areas.

Lots of things simply don't add up between official statistics and what I can see on a daily basis. I'm sure those who lived in the Soviet Union during its reign know the feeling all too well. The concept of the Potemkin Village that originated in Russia can apply to the U.S. economy just the same, its world class prosperity experienced during the 20th century having been reduced to a mere facade as the nation slides into neo-Stalinist-style authoritarianism and what will likely be followed by a USSR-style collapse. Making a series of Yakov Smirnoff-like jokes about "Capitalist America" similar to his jokes about "Communist Russia" would be quite prescient and apropos, albeit probably not for this website(in order to avoid starting a political discussion). The similarities are nothing short of eerie.

If I start taking photos of my area, which I really want to do when I get the free time, I'll start a separate topic. But there are many areas that look delightfully post apocalyptic similar to those in this topic, and for that, I really love this topic. Lots of places to practice an UrbEx hobby if that's your thing. But do be careful taking pictures of homeless encampments in the U.S. It's a good way to get mobbed and robbed.

I also like the photos of nature in this topic. Russia is such a beautiful country. The U.S. is rapidly losing its natural world to industiral agriculture and subdivisions, but there is still some to be found where I am located, and it looks similarly beautiful. Just seeing so many similarities in this regard is refreshing, and I learned a lot about Russia viewing this topic that I didn't know.

Seeing these photos also reminds me a lot of the movie Stalker and the journey into "The Zone":

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079944/

The OP has journeys into "The Zone" on a regular basis. It's so cool!

 

[goatman]

do you still get plastic bags from the store when you go shopping?
here where i live, i woke up one morning and the stores no longer had plastic bags
just poof and they were gone
.15 cents for a paper bag or you have to bring your own.
i still like how i never see a chemtrail in the Russian sky
the bombings sounded just like a good old fashioned American false flag operation but Russian

 

[Skorohod]

Interesting for me to see a landscape like this unfilled with tent/RV encampments, as it would be in my area.

That's an interesting observation. There are homeless people in Russia, who live in extreme poverty and had no jobs, they called "бомж" ("bomzh", came from abbrevation "Без Определенного Места Жительства" - "Without Designaded Place of Habitation"). Their numbers tend to decline over the years. Mostly they very timid and chose to dwell in secluded places, such as ravines with small creeks amidst some big industrial zone or very in isolated abandoned buildings.

The reason one can't see tent camps or RV camps in Russia - bomzh people just can't afford it! So they just scavenge rugs, tarp, pieces of plywood or planks and so on and build small shacks from it.

Another factor is severely cold winters. Bomzh people can't set up some heating device in their shacks or use a simple bonfire, so only chance to live through cold time of year is to be close to "civilisation". Night shelters are the best option, but some of them use central heating pipes to warm themselves. The other options are go to prison for some thieving or violence against fellow bomzh, or go to hospital with frostbites or poisoning. Some years ago you can often see bomzh people in transport or stores, but now they got quickly chased away by police.

Due to all that facts we got tents in Russia only for hikers and tourists, and RV's is rare playtoys for the people who can afford it (there is almost none RV culture in Russia for some reason, no local manufacturers, only way you can buy one - is import new or secondhand RV from abroad).

 

[Skorohod]

On average, the U.S. may be greatly more wealthy than Russia, but the common person sees very little of that wealth. The bottom 75% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, close to half can't even come up with $500 for an emergency expense, and while the official statistics on homelessness in the USA estimates around 500,000 homeless people, that estimate is likely off by one order of magnitude.

That's an interesting difference indeed. Even the very poor people in Russia had a place to live in a capital building, it's a matter of survival. The few, who don't - called bomzh (i've wrote a post above about them).

That is possible thanks to Soviet urbanisation process. People had right to live in apartment provided by state. They didn't had the ownership over such apartments, but something like free of charge long-time renting instead. So person had to choose to be homeless back then, literally put an effort in that - if you just go with the flow, you gonna be provided with home and job!

Interesting thing happened later, when USSR fell - a privatisation program started. That program gave people right to claim an ownership right over appartements given them by state.

In a matter of some years people became owners of pretty high priced real estate "for free".

So if you see some old poor hunched babushka in a cheap food store - you probably looking at millionaire. Just because she still owns an apartment in a center of Moscow.

And that's the secret for a wellbeing of Russian people - their basic need of a place to live covered by one way or another.

 

[Skorohod]

In most cities, the encampments tend to be kept away from areas the "middle class" and wealthy travel back and forth through via law enforcement, but should you go down the wrong street, it will look outright dystopian.

There was a legends of a "wrong streets" or a "wrong neighbourhoods" almost in every of russian cities, but that outburst of street crimes mostly applies to late 1970's - early 2000's. Now the streets are pretty safe. If some random person just walks in a middle of a bomzh settelment - it's gonna be just chased off by loud swearing and stray dogs, that's is probably the most extreme case of a "walking in a wrong part of town" in russian cities.

I even know a fellow engineer who lives out of his car: long story short, student loan debt and child support payments/alimony mean he can't afford a place to live, even though he makes close to a six-figure income. Most of the so-called "middle class" in the U.S. uses debt to pretend that they are such, but are in reality one or two missed paychecks or accident or unexpected medical complication away from joining the exponentially growing homeless population.

The debt is the culprit! There still a russian people, who didn't even have a credit history because there never used a loan. Their appartment is a "gift" from USSR, the prices for elecrticity and fuel are relatively low, food is affordable, basic education are free, some of high education are still free too, medical needs covered by free mandatory insurance.

So the loans used mostly to increase a degree of personal comfort - a bigger apartment, a fancy car or even for a top-of-the-line new smartphone. But you can still be covered for your basic needs without a loans.

Some people still manage to throw themselves in a personal bankruptcy over a dirty loans for a things of a fancy life way over their heads. Nothing but their gullibility to blame, though. And even then they can't legally lose their only place to live - there is law which directly forbids that. You can't be evicted to the streets, only to lesser place of living.

These photos of Russia shown depict a situation that looks much more well off than where I live, even if nominally, where I live is greatly more wealthy. Their roads and infrastructure appear to be in much better repair as do their old buildings, and Russia doesn't have hordes of homeless people in each major city finding all of the out of the way places to avoid being harassed by law enforcement for the "crime" of not being able to afford shelter that has been deliberately overpriced by the banks and conglomerates that have monopolized everything. Everything looks a lot cleaner, even Russia's abandoned areas.

And there we probably got a reversal of a "broken windows theory". Due to stable income of a cheap workforce from a former soviet republics we got an army of a hard working street cleaners. And people indeed tend to litter less, when you amidst clean streets.

And this not a cherry peaking of a most wealthiest places of Russia - i've been in small towns and settlements and didn't saw heaps of garbage on the streets. So people do care about their environment.

Of course, there is some streets or some towns are dirtier than others. Happily, i didn't came across such.

As for looks of a some abandoned places - some people didn't hesitate to pull valuable stuff (steel, bricks, lumber e.t.c.) from those places to their needs. It's illegal, but law enforcement doesn't care if a owners doesn't care - so nobody doesn't care. They like termites eating through buildings. But such treatment does leave abandoned place look cleaner.

Lots of things simply don't add up between official statistics and what I can see on a daily basis. I'm sure those who lived in the Soviet Union during its reign know the feeling all too well. The concept of the Potemkin Village that originated in Russia can apply to the U.S. economy just the same, its world class prosperity experienced during the 20th century having been reduced to a mere facade as the nation slides into neo-Stalinist-style authoritarianism and what will likely be followed by a USSR-style collapse. Making a series of Yakov Smirnoff-like jokes about "Capitalist America" similar to his jokes about "Communist Russia" would be quite prescient and apropos, albeit probably not for this website(in order to avoid starting a political discussion). The similarities are nothing short of eerie.

For people, who doesn't noticed some obscure economic news and analysis for all those years latest events does look scary. Very scary. It's like all world is crossed some line and there is no going back. There something off going on everywhere - US, EU, Russia, China, Middle East and with every headline it's feels worse and worse. But i'm gonna agree with you, such conversations are not for this place.

 

[Skorohod]

If I start taking photos of my area, which I really want to do when I get the free time, I'll start a separate topic. But there are many areas that look delightfully post apocalyptic similar to those in this topic, and for that, I really love this topic. Lots of places to practice an UrbEx hobby if that's your thing. But do be careful taking pictures of homeless encampments in the U.S. It's a good way to get mobbed and robbed.

That would be very good, to see another country through eyes of a person with a similar interests! I would like to see some pics and read about it. Of course, there is a Google Street View and other public geographic information systems, but they all lack a personal touch.

I also like the photos of nature in this topic. Russia is such a beautiful country. The U.S. is rapidly losing its natural world to industiral agriculture and subdivisions, but there is still some to be found where I am located, and it looks similarly beautiful. Just seeing so many similarities in this regard is refreshing, and I learned a lot about Russia viewing this topic that I didn't know.

Thank you! I'm very glad to read that.

Seeing these photos also reminds me a lot of the movie Stalker and the journey into "The Zone":

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079944/

The OP has journeys into "The Zone" on a regular basis. It's so cool!

You got it exactly right! Stalker and some other movies do leave very deep impact im me when i was a child.

The truth is - in my photographs i do try to catch some childhood memories of dreams, of the places i've always want to visit. The movies, the TV, the view across the street from my window, some creepy abandoned plant on my way to school - they all still there, magnified by child imagination. And all i could do as a grown up person - is to catch those images by choosing when and where to point lens of my camera.

 

[Skorohod]

do you still get plastic bags from the store when you go shopping?
here where i live, i woke up one morning and the stores no longer had plastic bags
just poof and they were gone
.15 cents for a paper bag or you have to bring your own.

Yes, we do, from 3 to 6 roubles for one plastic bag (that would be from 4 to 8 cents per bag). Some years ago plastic all bags in supermarkets were free. Paper bags are avalable too, for 15 - 20 cents, just like you have. Paper bags considered as "fancy green agenda impractical bags" by common people 8)

i still like how i never see a chemtrail in the Russian sky

They are there, i swear! :lol: I never tend to be in right place in a right time and weather to show it to you, though. Sometimes i look form my window at condensation trails of a planes passing by Moscow at high altitude, beautifully lighted by sunset, but never went to grab a camera for them.

the bombings sounded just like a good old fashioned American false flag operation but Russian

There is even a conspiracy theory about that, it's called "Рязанский сахар" ("A sugar from Ryazan")! But as a live and see, what kind of a heinous things people tend to suddenly do with no foreseeable reason, i've tend to loose all remains of my belief in conspiracy theories...