5 reasons why American housing is worse than Russian

We used to admire the American: cars, salaries, medicine, service, science. But it turns out that in the USA, not everything is as safe as it seems. In some ways, America is much inferior to Russia, for example, in the quality and comfort of budget housing. It turns out that living in our houses and apartments is more comfortable and convenient than in American ones, and here are five reasons to think so.

Disgusting protection from external sounds is a distinctive feature of both Soviet and modern Russian housing. But it turns out that even in the "Khrushchev" sound insulation is better than in American apartments. In the USA, they love to build walls of drywall, plywood or chipboard, and we are now talking not only about interior partitions.

Most Americans living in budget apartments are aware of all the vicissitudes of life of their neighbors, because they can hear not only family squabbles, but also just conversations. Another disadvantage of such walls is that they are completely unsuitable for placing heavy objects. Very few lucky people manage to hang a TV on the wall, so TV cabinets and all kinds of racks for equipment are in high esteem.

The small kitchens that we inherited are irritating to more than one generation of housewives. Alas, the situation in modern apartments in multi-storey buildings has not improved much. It may help you if we inform you that the average cuisine of a resident of an American metropolis is even smaller. Yes, it is possible - kitchens in the USA often resemble the galley of a submarine, where even two people are problematic.

By the way, unlike Russians, Americans are not upset by such cuisines and this is primarily due to their mentality. In the USA, it is customary to eat in the living room, near the TV, and also eat in cafes and restaurants. And for making sandwiches and oatmeal with milk, even a room similar to a pantry is enough. They do not understand our desire to gather the whole family in the kitchen, and even invite guests.

In the USA, corridors, halls and hallways are the prerogative of expensive luxury housing. Ordinary Americans live in apartments representing one or more rooms, smoothly passing into each other and into the kitchen. This is practically what we now call a studio.

Young lovers of Scandinavian style are delighted that the apartment door opens into the bedroom, and the work desk is partially located in the kitchen area. But for the older generation and those who value privacy and personal space, living in such a zoned apartment without doors and passages is a real torture.

Once our windows were equipped with vents for ventilation or, at worst, transoms opening at the top. Now metal-plastic windows with the function of ventilation are in high esteem. In the USA, both window panes and windows familiar to us with summer and winter ventilation are rare. Most often, traditional sliding windows inherited from the British Empire are installed in apartments and houses.

Windows with rising sashes are safer in strong winds, but such sliders are not too convenient for ventilation, and washing them is a real torment. Many of our fellow citizens, who for one reason or another found themselves in the United States, are most annoyed by the design of windows in the apartments of Americans.

In our bathrooms and showers, you can most often find watering cans on flexible hoses, which are very convenient to use. In the USA, traditionally, the shower is fixed rigidly and does not leave the user the right to choose. That is why American women use the very shower caps that often cause us confusion. And what to do — try not to wet your hair when you have to spin yourself under the jets of water instead of watering yourself.

Another inconvenient thing in the bathrooms of Americans is faucets. A very strange plumbing scheme is often used for us, when one tap regulates the water pressure, and the other only its temperature. It is difficult for our person to get used to manipulations with two different cranes for their intended purpose.