I wondered if someone will ask Sat-an -> SATelitní ANtény - Satellite dishes No negative connotation for "satan" in atheist country.
It is probably a local branch of the SATAN (the Satellite Tracking Antenna Command System) originally established by NASA in one of the most religious countries in the world. :wink:
"Italský bar" means Italian bar but "Bar Italská" means Bar (at) Italian (street). By the way, Italian street is much better name than its former name during communist times - Raketová, which means Missile street, adjacent streets were Dělostřelecká (Artillerymen's street), Tankistů (Tank drivers' street) and suchlike.
I know several housing etates, with panelaks, near where we live in Karlín including Prosek, which one American estate agent here rather snobbishly called 'Panelak City' and I would have no objection to living in any of them. They're nothing like the block in the photograph, but perfectly respectable, nice blocks of flats.
I had no idea that streets were named like that during those times (seems a bit funny now). Were they new streets and named that way from the beginning or were they old streets renamed? About the only time a street name gets changed around here is to honor someone - for example Grand Central became (John F.) Kennedy Boulevard and Buffalo Avenue became Martin Luther King Boulevard.
It seemed funny even then. Communists did some really "funny" things sometimes. Our street was new, because our panelak was builded alredy during communist rule. But many streets were renamed, because they were named by people, who became inconvenient for regime and this applies for all regime changes. In 1918, when Czechoslovakia was created from ruins of the Empire. When Nazis occupied Bohemia, they changed names too, then after liberation, names were changed back, then communists changed names again and then again and again during their rule, because some of their former comrades suddenly became traitors, Stalin was hero and then suddenly he was tyrant... And after 1989, communist street names were changed again... It's fun, to live here And what applies to streets it applies double for statues.
just wondering, how u all (new part), agreed with the restyling and why the old part didn't. did u paid for? I though panelak are statal and governament provides for these rebuilding work. I realized all kind of families are living in panelak, not only "working class" nor low budget, but high professionals as well. I suppose it depends of czech mentality about house property. in italy 80% have a own home. in CR, for what I knew the % was much low, isn't it?
That's interesting about how the street names change as the people they are named after fall out of favor. I think probably all medium size to big cities in the U.S. have a Martin Luther King St. now. funny....can mean humorous, or odd
2007 20% - rental flats (in municipal or private houses) 17% - cooperative (družstevní) flats 17% - private flats 40% - small private (so called family - rodinné) houses, esp. in the villages 6% - others (e.g. pensioners' houses) 40+17+17=74% : these flats are private in fact.
The street names in Prague often reflect history of the Central Europe. For example: Jungmannova - in the peacefull XIX cent., after Josef Jungmann (a Czech philologist) Fochova - after the WWI (Ferdinand Foch, a French marshal) Schwerinstraße - during the WWII (a Prusian field marshal) Fochova - after the WWII Stalinova - after Joseph Jugashvili alias Stalin (Soviet Generalissimus) Vinohradská (= Vineyard Av.) - from 1962 till now (peacefully named after the erstwhile royal vineyards)
I live in one I think! http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabbitwhoruns/3055404051/ I like it Much nicer than counsel flats at home. And like someone said already, at home these things were/are just built in a hurry and everyone who needed a home was just thrown in there, given no facilities such as shops or youth centers or anything whatsoever for people to do. There is no sense of community, no attempt is made to build something that could be a community eg. giving people a sense of ownership in some way, or putting lots of people from different stages of life in one building.. there will be a whole complex with all single mothers, and how will their kids treat old people when they are teenagers? They never see them at home! They often don't regard them as normal human beings. It's natural. A few things are nicer at home though, for example if you want to buy your flat the council are obligated to sell it to you, and for less than it would normally cost. That way you can sell it after a given amount of time and make enough money to move in somewhere else, if you want to, and if you work hard and save up.
The sale of council houses was a policy initiated in the UK by Mrs Thatcher's Conservative government in the 1980's. It was probably her single most successful policy - that, and bringing the trades under control.
Oh, this topic is just pure sadism! :lol: Some people say they live well in these houses. If you are in the flat already, it usually doesn't look bad. But from outside, it's usually horrible. But as quite everything in the Czech Republic, it's going to get better. People leave these houses and live in the family houses like people in „Western Europe“ do. Some concrete houses get repaired. Their trouble is not only bad look, it's also absolutely unecological (the fuc...stupid commies didn't care for ecology at all, they destroyed this lovely country!). Just today, I read a interview with David Vávra, a know Czech architect. He were asked if he would begin to demolish the concrete houses. He told: „Yes, we'll have to do it anyway in the future.“ Of course we can't demolish the houses where people still live, these concrete houses will slowly leave our country. But I hope they will. For Czechs and Czech speaking people, I add the refer to the article. It's very interesting. Vávra speaks about religion, communism, concrete houses and other „hot topics“ in Czechia. http://www.super.cz/rozhovory/11522-dav ... smeje.html „Super“ is a Czech yellow press (it was, because of some pursuits, it went bankrupt, but they still have an internet page). Don't you think I read it, I just found this interview by Google. And it's quite good, I was suprised Super can do something like that.
i wouldn't say! i lived in a panel area in brno, slatina, really working class and not "fancy". well, there is everything, pubs, shops, green area, sports ground, common area for get clothes dry, excellent transport net...
