@Blair Older houses in my country also have them, and they’re called just like that: vestibules. And what’s interesting is that the buildings from the communist era also have them. I grew up with them being called simply “holul de la intrare” (literally just “the entry hallway”). Indeed, it’s a place where everyone leaves their jackets and shoes so that they do not bring all the dirt inside the house. In fact, my studio has an entry hallway as well, but I rarely close the door fwiw.

Newer buildings, if I recall correctly, tend to blur this demarcation, as they try to turn everything in an open space (so that it looks bigger) - as such, there’s usually no door that leads to that little hallway - probably because having an AC makes it less important to have another door after you get inside the house. But I saw that it’s still properly marked by walls, so you know in your mind where to leave your shoes, your jacket etc.

@cerement indeed, those were some quick and dirty solutions that fixed the housing problem quickly. Yet they raised some whole different sets of issues that we’re only now dealing with 😁

Sprawl Repair Manual

Wow. That’s an interesting guide.

I’m technically not a westerner (I live in Bucharest, Romania, a neighborhood called Drumul Taberei - look it up). I, too, was really excited when I saw the video and I thought that living in a neighborhood like this would be the best choice for me in the long run. Indeed, I am quite happy with the place I live. Space-wise, my apartment is decent, and I have great connections to the rest of the city via public transit (tram, metro, buses, trolleybuses). I have many amenities nearby, such as a shopping mall (yes, an actual shopping mall that I can walk to), a few supermarkets, countless stores, some specialized, even a library.

The municipality also seems to address some of the issues in my neighborhood, with some more recent commercial infill developments that allow you to travel less to, and some new alleys for pedestrians through empty green space (If you guys are interested, I might post some photos about that transformation). There are still no bike paths, but some rudimentary bike parking is being built.

However, I sometimes feel like both the American model of development and the Soviet model with microdistricts and the likes are just the wrong way of development. Like, they are both the results of centuries of industrial and technological evolution. But both just, somehow, lack that “vibe” of the city that the old city centers have. They are places where you can live - i.e. where you have a home, and you sleep, but if you’re not a resident, you just feel you don’t belong there. They’re just both so bland and indistinguishable from one another, while lacking in personality. I think we should get more cues from how cities were build previously, before the impact of people such as Le Corbusier over how we built things, in order to build more coherent and connected cities. 😁

Top of my mind comes this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0rH5ZiKV2U

@ProdigalFrog I think YouTube urban planning is great for onboarding people, and getting them aware of the issues. But yea, involvement is left at the whim of the viewer. You are the one that needs to inform yourself regarding this.

OTOH, these channels have an international audience, and local administrations work differently from country to country. They couldn’t have such great success if they focused on how to involve yourselves in local decision-making in the US, for example. Car-centric infrastructure exists and is being developed in lots of places around the world and takes different forms.

I’d recommend you this latest episode of The Urbanist Agenda podcast, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chxbljx1k4Q

@agilob code is like wine. You let it out in the cold and it gets better over time by itself.

@Enlarging5805 it’s owned by the municipality afaik, so unless you can prove the state took it from you under the communist regime, most likely not.

Sorry to spoil your dreams! 🙁

@1110101010101

@1110101010101 For any foreigners stumbling to this thread - this is an iconic building of Constanța, sort of like the Sydney Opera House. Luckily, renovation works are already ongoing, and the building currently looks like this. The works are scheduled to be completed in 2024 and the building reopened to the public, hopefully.

Edit: also a fun fact - In the walls of it, the workers found a note written on a piece of cement bag belonging to the political prisoners who previously repaired it in the 1950s:

adevarul.ro/stiri-locale/const…