Where I Live (3 of 3): Apartment

So I guess it would be fair to live up to expectations and tell you where I actually live and wrap up this topic. Currently I am staying in the apartment owned by my grandmother and my mom. It's in a Stalinist apartment building--meaning that it's sturdy and has fairly high-ceilings (3 meters, to be exact). In this picture, the balcony on the fourth-floor on the right, is ours.

Russians seem to be more aware of square meterage. At about a 100 sq. m., this apartment is fairly large: two bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, bath, toilet, and balcony. While all of this may mean little out of context, few average Russians have apartments of this size. It may seem luxurious with two people living here now (grandma and me), but when I was little, there were six of us living here. Basically, apartment space in St. Petersburg is at a premium and this shapes social interactions and views of privacy: much less likely to be invited to someone's house, house parties are rare, etc. Oh, and there will be all sorts of stuff crammed into small spaces. This old stuff sometimes makes me feel like I am truly back in the USSR--but since the apartment is not mine, I just deal with it.

Positives about this apartment include that within a one block radius, there are all sorts of public transportation that take me to most parts of the city (or at least to the nearest subway-stop), nearest subway stop is a twenty minute walk (a little far by SPB standards, but ok), within a two block radius are eight grocery stores (including two 24-hr ones), the harbor and park are two blocks away (with the sea wind keeping the air cleaner), and the neighborhood is not overly busy or dirty. If I had to give a Twin Cities point of reference for the proximity and cleanliness, I would use Uptown. On the map, the red dot and square (bottom left) are basically where we live on Vasilievsky Island (the city-center is at the center/bottom right-edge of the map).

We also have a nice courtyard and live across the street from a quiet (!) BFA-Actors dorm (those who know that I worked with the BFA-London program should appreciate this fact).

Some random observations that I would like to share about Russian apartments are that: a separate toilet and bathroom give an apartment more value (over a combined bathroom), not all buildings have elevators (ours does), almost all heating is central, wallpaper is considered nicer than painted walls, few people have carpeted floors, most appliances are smaller (less space) and dryers are uncommon.

Where I Live (2 of 3): Neighborhood

In order to understand why St. Petersburg neighborhoods (of which there are 18 in the city proper) are they way that they are, you have to understand the Russian housing system.
In Soviet Russia, housing essentially owned you. You, along with some family, and maybe some strangers, were "assigned" to an apartment ("kommunalkas" were and are apartments shared by several families, with a communal kitchen, bathroom, hallway). As city populations (and individual families) grew, residents could be assigned to housing in newer block-like apartment buildings. Think of Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis. Think of the literal meaning of Einstürzende Neubauten. Some Soviet neighborhoods were built thematically to create housing for workers at a specific factory near-by. Or, for example, the area serviced by the Akademicheskaya subway station was the neighborhood in which many academics were housed. This has had an effect on the social-class that lives in those neighborhoods now. Generations of prolies tend to produce, you guessed it, more prolies. Bask in the USSR, everything was state-owned.

Then, the state collapsed. In the 1990's, housing was privatized. Essentially, residents were given the ability to own the apartments or rooms in which they were living. Many people still live in those apartments to this day. Many younger adults don't move out until they move in with someone. Owners in apartments generally only pay utilities. When people buy an apartment, they can change their residency, or be "assigned" to that apartment. It is preferable to own rather than to rent. People who rent are either those who move out on their own, or move to the city. Where they rent is largely determined on budget--rent for an entire apartment could be the equivalent of a month's salary.

Simplified--the closer to the center of the city, the more expensive. Although, some wealthier Russians are choosing to live in single-family homes or town-houses outside of the city. A large number of modern and high-class apartments have been built in outer-laying neighborhoods. However, because housing in Russia is expensive to the utmost, there isn't as much freedom to move, or a culture of moving based on a specific cultural affiliation. There also really isn't a long-term lease. Consequently there isn't a cluster of businesses that cater to a specific demographic--there isn't a Chinatown or a hipster neighborhood. Some of the historically worker neighborhoods are classified as "hoods" and it is advised to avoid them at night.

You are assigned to social services (clinic, tax-office, housing authorities, tuburculosis dispensary) in the neighborhood of which you are a resident. Even "sleeper"/commuter neighborhoods have grocery stores, crap-electronics stores, clothing stores, pharmacies, eateries, etc. Most clubs, bars, stores, and entertainment locations are in the center of the city--which can be a drag if you live far or in an area separated by a bridge that gets drawn at night.
This, essentially, is the housing situation in St. Petersburg (and generally in most Russian urban areas).