Growing up in the self-centered Unites States, people often take for granted the type of lifestyle that they live and the home that they live in. Therefore, I choose to read about the housing quality in the Soviet Union in order to gain more of an understanding on what life would be like living in the former Soviet republics. .
Of all Soviet urban problems, housing shortages remained one of the most obstinate. The tsarist legacy in housing was dismal. Stalin invested heavily in industry, but failed to provide resources to house the millions who left the countryside to work in factories. Soviet citizens still suffer from the poorest housing conditions in any industrialized nation, mainly because so many families still live communally. In practically all Western nations, the goal of matching housing units with households has been achieved. In the Soviet Union, the deficit of housing units relative to the number of households is very large and is the principle reason for the continuing housing crisis. However, the Soviet government seeks to persuade its citizens that their housing conditions are steadily improving. .
Large cities, especially republic capitals and Moscow, are magnets to those living in the provinces, but moving to them is extremely difficult. To live in a city, a residence permit (propiska) is required, but to be eligible for a residence permit, one must have housing, for which one needs a propiska. In order to obtain a propiska, a residence must first be acquired. Once this task is accomplished, the individual then goes to the local housing office and asks for the pasportist "the official in charge of residence permits, who takes the application to the district militia station where the procession takes place. Residence permits are of two kinds "temporary and permanent. A temporary permit is issued for the duration of one's work assignment in a city. .
The attempt to improve one's housing can be a full-time occupation.
