Civic Priorities
This is our fourth Sunday here and third post-Otis, i.e. without Otis. We are planning another long walk + shopping expedition for today. But first, more travelogue/sociological musing….. I’ve been thinking about what the physical condition of and civic experience of living in a city say about its people and their attitudes about what is important. All of the following observations are of the center city (think Manhattan south of 96th Street); I imagine they would be just that much “more so” as you move out into the “boroughs” of Almaty.
There is not a street or sidewalk that does not need to be repaved or rebuilt. The lights in our apartment flicker and dim every 15 minutes or so. There are almost no street lights. Yet, there are as many manholes with no covers as with, and gratings with gaps through which an entire leg could slip as intact gratings.
If you turn right, as Sagat did a few nights ago, at an intersection at which a nearly invisible, never-enforced No Right Turn sign is mounted, and a cop is waiting, you negotiate the fee to the cop, rather than accept a ticket. This is accomplished in the front seat, driver side of the patrol car between you and the partner of the cop who has stopped you, while the cop who has stopped you strolls around. (Imagine a NYC cop – or any American cop – permitting you in the front seat of the patrol car! Notwithstanding the corruption, what does it say about the sense of security enjoyed by cops?) Request is for 500T ($3.60), negotiated down to 400T.
There is construction of office and apartment buildings going on all over town. For some reason, much of it appears to be at roughly the same stage of completion: the columns are in place, the concrete slab floors have been poured, and beautiful, mostly yellow, some red, old brick is being laid between the floors. Note, between the floors, not as the exterior skin of the building, i.e. over the floors. When I first noticed this construction style, I thought, “What cool-looking buildings these will be…..:” horizontal lines of new gray concrete against the old, sandstone-colored bricks. Then realized, and started seeing…. “Oh! - The old brick is to serve as a surface on which to hang hideous new marble facades.” It is extremely difficult for a New Yorker (any American?) to imagine using old brick for such a purpose. (A while ago we explained to Zoya and Sagat that Brooklynites pay a premium for old brownstones vis a vis new townhouses like ours. They were baffled.)
Generally, the architecture is hideous. The basic styles are pre-Stalinist/faux Classical, Stalinist, neo-Stalinist, and high end American suburban.
However, as I’ve said several times, the city is so green. And to keep it green, the city government sends around tanker trucks every evening, from which a guy with a hose descends to water the flowers and trees. (Sort of like a giant version of what Nancy and Sue have spearheaded on Atlantic Avenue!) BTW, there is no apparent ability to deliver pressurized water from the mains, except at big hotels and government buildings where there are sprinkler systems, and there are no fire hydrants anywhere.
Aside from the real danger of being run over or falling down a sewer, it is the safest-feeling city I have ever been to anywhere in the world. Unlike every other developing world city I have ever been to or heard of, and unlike increasingly, the US, although cops carry guns, they are discreetly holstered handguns, while off-base Army guys walk unarmed, as do all private security guys. And there aren’t tons of uniforms walking around in any event.
There are kids everywhere! Once old enough to walk with confidence, they are semi- or completely unsupervised. And no one worries about their safety, I guess because nothing ever happens to them. They go to parks by themselves. They roller blade up and down the streets by themselves. And they are all well-behaved and happy-seeming. Really.
People hang out in public, both in the lots of parks and on a major pedestrian mall that actually works. New Yorkers think we use public space more and better than most other Americans, and we do, but this place blows us away. Seeing and being seen, strolling, shopping, having a drink and a snack outside…… is what this city is about.
Below is a picture of our neighborhood and some of the nearby train station. All taken yesterday evening.
There is not a street or sidewalk that does not need to be repaved or rebuilt. The lights in our apartment flicker and dim every 15 minutes or so. There are almost no street lights. Yet, there are as many manholes with no covers as with, and gratings with gaps through which an entire leg could slip as intact gratings.
If you turn right, as Sagat did a few nights ago, at an intersection at which a nearly invisible, never-enforced No Right Turn sign is mounted, and a cop is waiting, you negotiate the fee to the cop, rather than accept a ticket. This is accomplished in the front seat, driver side of the patrol car between you and the partner of the cop who has stopped you, while the cop who has stopped you strolls around. (Imagine a NYC cop – or any American cop – permitting you in the front seat of the patrol car! Notwithstanding the corruption, what does it say about the sense of security enjoyed by cops?) Request is for 500T ($3.60), negotiated down to 400T.
There is construction of office and apartment buildings going on all over town. For some reason, much of it appears to be at roughly the same stage of completion: the columns are in place, the concrete slab floors have been poured, and beautiful, mostly yellow, some red, old brick is being laid between the floors. Note, between the floors, not as the exterior skin of the building, i.e. over the floors. When I first noticed this construction style, I thought, “What cool-looking buildings these will be…..:” horizontal lines of new gray concrete against the old, sandstone-colored bricks. Then realized, and started seeing…. “Oh! - The old brick is to serve as a surface on which to hang hideous new marble facades.” It is extremely difficult for a New Yorker (any American?) to imagine using old brick for such a purpose. (A while ago we explained to Zoya and Sagat that Brooklynites pay a premium for old brownstones vis a vis new townhouses like ours. They were baffled.)
Generally, the architecture is hideous. The basic styles are pre-Stalinist/faux Classical, Stalinist, neo-Stalinist, and high end American suburban.
However, as I’ve said several times, the city is so green. And to keep it green, the city government sends around tanker trucks every evening, from which a guy with a hose descends to water the flowers and trees. (Sort of like a giant version of what Nancy and Sue have spearheaded on Atlantic Avenue!) BTW, there is no apparent ability to deliver pressurized water from the mains, except at big hotels and government buildings where there are sprinkler systems, and there are no fire hydrants anywhere.
Aside from the real danger of being run over or falling down a sewer, it is the safest-feeling city I have ever been to anywhere in the world. Unlike every other developing world city I have ever been to or heard of, and unlike increasingly, the US, although cops carry guns, they are discreetly holstered handguns, while off-base Army guys walk unarmed, as do all private security guys. And there aren’t tons of uniforms walking around in any event.
There are kids everywhere! Once old enough to walk with confidence, they are semi- or completely unsupervised. And no one worries about their safety, I guess because nothing ever happens to them. They go to parks by themselves. They roller blade up and down the streets by themselves. And they are all well-behaved and happy-seeming. Really.
People hang out in public, both in the lots of parks and on a major pedestrian mall that actually works. New Yorkers think we use public space more and better than most other Americans, and we do, but this place blows us away. Seeing and being seen, strolling, shopping, having a drink and a snack outside…… is what this city is about.
Below is a picture of our neighborhood and some of the nearby train station. All taken yesterday evening.
posted by Candace and David at 7/17/2005 03:10:00 AM
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