Quote:
Originally Posted by anm
Natural setting is great, I wish we could build a city with great architechture there... eventually.
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I couldn't agree more. Vladivostok has amazing untapped potential. Unfortunately it also has a number of liabilities. The city's infrastructure is extremely delapidated, the climate is miserable, and many parts of the city are so polluted that they have been declared 'ecological disaster zones'
Quote:
Originally Posted by LouisianaRush
Is the city growing fast? I would guess it is doing quite well (like Vancouver) since it is Russia's window to the Pacific.
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The city has actually lost a chunk of its population in last decade.
The population is down to 594,701 (2002) from 633,838 (in 1989).
Like I said earlier, Vlad has great potential that is only slowly being realized. The city center has a great stock of historic buildings that are being revitalized (My favorite is the Train Station pictured below that was recently restored)
Here are some aerial shots of the city I found on the website of the airline 'Vladivostok Avia' -
http://www.vladavia.ru/ru/press-cent...ank/aerophoto/
These were unfortunately taken during the ugliest time of the year when the trees are bare. Winter in Vladivostok is especially awful because everything is dead and despite the frigid cold, it rarely snows, and little that does fall, quickly turns black from coal smoke that is thick in the air. When the trees are green, they tend to hide a lot of the city's imperfections so summer is the best time of year in Vladivostok.
And a few more from Flikr member 'rapsak' -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rapsak/
Beginning with the train station and marker of the end of the Trans-Sib. railroad, and ending with the Triumph Arch: