Constant construction
Narc is right about the total madness!
When I was living in Poarta Schei, the world seemed normal. However, every other place I’ve lived in Romania and most every place I’ve visited friends in Romania has been plagued by constant construction noise.
For years, the sound of heavy duty drills and jackhammers can be heard at 8am. The guy to the left of me, the lady to the right of me. Upstairs, downstairs. At my apartment. At my friends’ apartments. Some people keep going until 10pm. Yes, really. Really.
8am to 10pm every day but Duminica. It’s everywhere and constant. For years. Years!
January 12th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Well, now, I wasn’t going to generalize since I didn’t know if that phenomenon was really as pervasive as it felt like, but now that I know… damn, man, how do we live with this? As a nation, I mean.
Maybe it’s time we all tore down these apartment buildings and start building houses. I think there’s enough land in all of .ro to have room for that and still have some arable land left over at the end. Oare n-ar fi mai bine?
January 13th, 2009 at 7:18 am
So you guys noticed, too! I thought I was crazy.
OTOH, Narc, I’m not sure your idea is all that good. Romania has abnormally high population density. If we spread all over, american style, there might not be enough room left for agriculture. Some calculations are in order, and I’m not in a position to make them. But there’s another problem as well. Have you seen the traffic in Bucharest? Add a bunch of commuters from outside the city limits and it might just turn into a big permanent jam. And last, I kinda like living 3Km away from the office. It allows me to walk there and back every day.
Mind you, apartment buildings are annoying, and I’d like to have a house. I’m just considering all the factors.
January 13th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
hey, people are busy refurbishing. Then they will realize it is a crisis. And then all I will be left to hear it is going to be my beginner piano player neighbor. Practicing.
January 13th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Narc – I’m all for tearing down the blocks, but only if most of them are replaced with modern versions of residential structures capable of housing the same occupancy. I’ve heard stories of the lone investor slowly buying entire buildings one apartment at a time, then converting them to other use like office space. Seems to me it would be easier for an investment group to make an offer on an entire building to all owners at once, en masse, with a reasonably fair take-it-or-leave-it offer.
If the basic structure of the building is fine, then upgrade all the interiors in a consistent and quality manner, rewire everything for plumbing and electrical, throw up a wimax broadcaster, clean up the outside with some facade, so you’ve totally re-fit the building while keeping the existing basic structure. If the building is prone earthquake collapse, well, I suppose one better scrap it and rebuild from zero… at least, in this plan, you could build some underground storage a few levels deep for your residence which can allow for sidewalks to return to pedestrian use and a better quality life in the neighborhood.
Oh, I’ve gone too far. Stupid Americans don’t know what we’ve already got now is good enough. Stop trying to change things.
Felix – Another one! You’re one of us. Heh. I’ll have to go along with your thoughts regarding population density for the most part. I’d love to see some areas get homes re-introduced but not on a wholesale basis (I’m sure Narc would agree after some reflection). Ecology, public transportation, and energy usage would be my concerns in that regard. An endless sprawl of Hummers destroying paved roads and polluting the city would not be a good idea. It’s already bad enough.
Walking to work rocks. Even a couple stops on a subway is killer. Driving around in traffic seems stupid to me and yet you see these weird people sitting alone in their cars every morning in rush hour going no where, mad they’re late. And then it repeats in evening rush hour, angry people wasting gas just idling in traffic.
On the agro front, I’m pretty sure every family in Romania could have a home while leaving sufficient land for agriculture. I’ve visited every part of Romania, including every city of decent size (except Iasi, somehow) and a whole bunch of places you might not expect. Doesn’t make me an expert on anything in particular, but it does give me a sense for just how much land out there isn’t being used for anything at all. It’s amazingly open and wonderful out in the hinterlands. Plenty of room.
So, as ruler of the world, I’d repair/replace 60% of the blocks, turn 20% into townhouses, recoup 20% into local small parks, and increase the metro lines in coverage and frequency.
Monsoux – Right now we have a refurbishment crisis, affecting the sanity of bloc dwellers across the nation. An epidemic of psychosis, sleep deprivation, and possibly subliminal messages. As the economic downturn begins to slowly have a small impact in Romania, I would look forward to your fat fingered neighbor as a welcome alternative to bone-jarring jackhammers or skull-piercing drill noise.
Scheming a citywide crime spree against construction workers is an order of magnitude more difficult than wiring a piano to electricity in order to eliminate one single irritating neighbor.
January 13th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Oh, I do — mine was a more tongue-in-cheek kind of suggestion. That said, I’d love to see your idea happen — upgrades for existing buildings, including (especially!) proper insulation; but the question is, when all that was said and done, would we be able to afford to live in those houses anymore? I think that’s the primary reason things like that don’t/won’t happen.
While we’re on the subject, subway expansion would also be great, but as I understand it there are some geological constraints; then again, an elevated train might be an option in those cases; but, on the third hand, aren’t those supposed to be really bad with noise? Hm…
Overall, I like your 60-20-20 division, either way.
Oh, also, @Felix: how about telecommuting? I’m currently doing that, since otherwise I’d have to walk to, uh, Canada… and it’s kinda working for me. But I know it’s not really a solution that would work for a large enough amount of people for it to be a reasonable alternative.
January 14th, 2009 at 11:31 am
What’s even more surprising is that I can’t really define a rush hour.
The streets are full throughout the day.
How many jobs are there in Bucharest that require or allow driving at 11 AM or 3 PM?
Are they all freelancers?
January 14th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
diciu – You’ve got an interesting point. It is true that Bucuresti is fairly fully of cars most of the day long. I would say that whether or not you can tell when it’s rush hour might depend on where you live. Here in Decebal, rush hour traffic is slightly worse than normal day traffic, by which I mean to say traffic is constant here most of the day long although it’s not the worst I’ve seen in the world.
Now, when I was living in Rahova, you definitely knew it was rush hour traffic because there were less main boulevards and no metro’s to whisk people around, so what you get is every single street and narrow back alleys engorged with a flood bumper-to-bumper traffic all honking their horns in unison. I’d definitely there’s no comparison in that even if I think you’re correct to say traffic in Bucuresti is generally poor most hours of the day, there is a distinct rush hour period which makes itself noticeable in certain areas.
January 14th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
@Narc Telecommuting would be great. Unfortunately, it will be a while before it’s accepted into the Romanian work culture, whereas in Canada it’s already mainstream. As it is, I’m reasonably satisfied with the present compromise.
@diciu @Romer!can I get the same impression that there is no distinct rush hour. Rather, some days seem to be busier than others. And when it’s busy, it’s busy – I regularly have trouble crossing narrow back streets in Tei.
January 10th, 2012 at 10:23 am
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