When the government was encouraging people to move from the countryside to the cities, they built many blocks of flats to accommodate them all. A large proportion of the residents of Cluj live in these blocks - bricklayers, architects, plumbers, doctors, all in adjacent apartments. This allows for a high population density - the city is about the geographical size of York but has a population of a city like Liverpool, which is far more sprawling! So, we saw these blocks of flats everywhere, in the suburbs and right in the city centre:
There are also some of the older, traditional houses dotted around; small and single-storey, set in a plot of land (gardens are rare, but we did see some chickens being kept in one city-centre yard!)
There are also some very wealthy residents of the city. What they tend to do is buy one of the above traditional houses and demolish it, then build a house of their own design on the plot. Which leads to an eclectic mix of styles - sometimes within the same house!!
It also gives interesting views along roads which have a selection of all these housing options:
We saw many new-builds in progress in the city, too, but sadly a lot of these had been abandoned part-way through as projects ran out of money when the credit crunch hit.
The friend we were visiting is renting a house on the same road as the Roman/Georgian effort. He intended to build, and owns a plot of land, but various delays and problems (fortunately not financial) have put that project on hold indefinitely. Meanwhile, he lives here:
It's HUGE!! The basement level has a garage, pantry and utility room, the ground floor a large kitchen/breakfast room, dining area and living room with terrace at the back, then there are two large bedrooms and a bathroom on each of the first and second floor. Our friend, being a retired academic, owns a large number of books so has turned two of the bedrooms into libraries, one into a guest room, and one of course is his own bedroom. He gave us the whole of the top floor for our visit! The house is about a 15 minute walk into the city centre (through a beautiful park) - photos of that city centre will follow :-)
10 comments:
what a funny collection of houses, love the style of the green one, except for the colour, lol.
Have left you message on my blog below where you psted today :)
My husband is a building surveyor, I must show him this post, he will find it fascinating.
What an interesting place!
Your friend's house is beautiful! So modern and fun.
Rinda
I like the style of the green house too, how funny to see the different ranges of house together!
What an eclectic mix... love the Romano/Neo-Georgian effort - so funny! The 1930's-goes-post-modernist-green that your friend lives in is also fun. It looks very nice actually (unlike the roman/georgian edifice!!).
It's a really interesting place. I'm trying to persuade DH we should visit Transylvania (he just made rude jokes about visiting my family there!)
What a selection of houses they have, fascinating that you get all sorts in one street! Your friend's house looks interesting though I'm not so sure about the colour ;o)
love the mix of houses. you are a fantastic modern sociologist with the way you notice and report on life. I love the green of the house - but I lived in a bright pink building for 10 years!
Ecclectic living at its best! I am envious of the green house though :-)
I love seeing the photos of places I've never been (and am unlikely to see in person.) The best place of all is that fabulous green home of your friend.
Your friend's house is really neat looking!
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