Standard of living in Russia

a reply to: anonentity

I love seeing things from the point of view of the people that live it.

originally posted by: seasonal

originally posted by: Wide-Eyes
a reply to: seasonal

It's a pound coin here. It's a bit silly though because if you really wanted that trolley then one pound would be a bargain price.

Silly non American.

The quarter, and your country should be using them, is to return the cart (trolley) to the centralized cart (trolley) location not steal them. Putting a quarter in makes you want it back. This also lowers labor costs because there is no time spent gathering carts in the parking lot.

(there are areas in my response that are /sarc)

I found a trolly with the $2 coin still in the device, on it's side, next to a bus stop that I was at. You know, they are extremely dedicated to keeping that coin in the lock. Nothing I did rewarded me with a shiny new $2 coin...

Well having family there and having travelled there dozens of times reality is quite different from the video. You average wage in Russia is about 400.00 US a month. Most of those new phones are cheap knockoffs made inpoland or Ukraine. Only about 10 percent of the population canafford a car. The average apartment size is about 50 meters squared. And a large home would be 200 meters squared. Most live in apartments that would be condemned in the US or Europe. And leave the cities it gets even worse as they cant afford much and rely heavily on trading. The store in the video notice how they have limited choices and the displays are set up to take up room. There entire stock is on the floor these are nothing like a home depot. In moscow for example you may find a dozen hardware stores but you see very few that can afford to shop there. Most will go to a momand pop where they can trade items for what they want.

As far as shops nothing like the US they have limited selections usually cheap chinese knockoffs for clothes. Most cant afford grocery stores and prefer markets where farmers sellthere produce. The nighlife is ok they have clubs however your selections of alcohol is limited. For tourists you want to stay in moscow youll find restaurants and shopping. For example you can go to TSUM its probably the largest department store in Russia . Just keep in mind only very influential russians can afford to shop there. Think of it as a small wal mart about half the size. For westerners you will want to visit Okhotny Ryad about 100 shops near red square but again most Russians cant afford it. Even when i took my grandmother there she was just shocked at the cost. Me on the other hand i found it cheap considering we had a nice lunch for 2 and i spent about 5.00 US. She didnt want to eat there thinking it was to expensive for me.

a reply to: anonentity I have a friend and her daughter who are from moscow. Although she married a wealthy guy, she was a concert pianist and is now a psychologist - and her and her daughter seemed to have grown up wealthy and have plenty of money of their own. I don't know anyone else from russia, so I don't know how they all are economically, but my friends didn't live very poorly there.

a reply to: dragonridr

Forgive my ignorance but...isn't 50m squared roughly 22,500 square feet? That would be enormous by western standards!!

And, if you meant 150 square feet, that's only 10x15', hardly bigger than a closet. (the average bed is 24 square feet alone).

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: dragonridr

Forgive my ignorance but...isn't 50m squared roughly 22,500 square feet? That would be enormous by western standards!!

And, if you meant 150 square feet, that's only 10x15', hardly bigger than a closet. (the average bed is 24 square feet alone).

50 square meters is 538.196 square feet.a