From left to right: the 2018 FIFA Stadium under construction, the Port of St. Petersburg, and new, privately-owned condominiums. [Click to enlarge]When you wake up and open the blinds in the Port of St. Petersburg, the view seems like it is constructed out of socio-economic satire. To my left, shiny new condominiums were recently finished or in the final stage of construction. Still further to my left was a developing soccer stadium, scheduled (and politically pressured) to be ready by the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Sochi-style, as St. Petersburg is one of the host cities. In contrast, directly ahead of me were dismal, rundown, seemingly Soviet-era apartments with external AC units. I later found out, they were in fact Soviet, state-owned apartments. They’re apparently still in operation.
A morning view of the Soviet-era apartments visible from the port.
anchored & adrift 