You're reading: What we love and don’t love about Kyiv

In the spirit of the 10th annual Best of Kyiv awards, Kyiv Post staff members offer our opinions about what we love and don’t love in this ancient capital, home to more than three million people.

The Kyiv Post’s Best of Kyiv awards is a tradition that annually honors the outstanding people and places that make Kyiv such a great place to live. But exactly what is so great about it?

There are sharp divisions on the newspaper’s staff. I am among those who wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I get disbelieving reactions from many Ukrainians when I say this.

But, as an American, I have been to many of my nation’s big cities and lived in its capital, Washington, D.C., only 10 blocks from the White House. I found it charming, but also boring, self-important, sterile and expensive. I also once turned down a job in Moscow, where I’ve spent a lot of time. I like its grandeur, but it’s just too cold, too big and too impersonal.

The world has almost 200 national capitals, and I have been to less than 10 percent of them. So, somewhere in the world, there may be a capital that feels more like home than Kyiv. But after getting a taste of Minsk, Almaty, Colombo, New Delhi, Vienna, London, Paris, Budapest, Prague, Vientiane, Bangkok, Amsterdam and Brussels, I can say that they don’t measure up to Kyiv, despite all those “quality-of-life” indexes that put Kyiv closer to the bottom.

Of course, my view is not shared by many Ukrainians on the Kyiv Post staff, some of whom are longing to live abroad. “I would prefer loving Kyiv from some faraway place,” said staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska.

But all of us found plenty to love and also not to love (hate is such a strong word) about this place.

A complete list of the 10 best and 10 worst things about Kyiv from Kyiv Post staff members you can find here. To make your own list of 10 best/10 worst things, e-mail [email protected] and please put “Best & Worst of Kyiv” in the subject line. We will publish excerpts.

HERE ARE SOME THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT KYIV:

Architecture

Kyiv, founded in 862 A.D., is renowned for its beautiful – but crumbling and neglected – buildings and streets. We love the House with Chimeras, St. Andrew’s Descent, Khreshchatyk, Yaroslaviv Val, Prorizna, cobblestone pavements, St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral, St. Sophia and St. Michael squares, Reytarska Street, Volodymyrsky Park near the Foreign Ministry, Park Slavy… and more.

Dnipro River ambience

Everything about the city seems to be laid out perfectly for a nice walk – a compact, historic center; a great world river coursing through the center; hills and valleys. Having the Dnipro River splitting the city helps create an incomparably pleasant ambience.

Staff writer Maria Shamota finds the Dnipro hills wonderful to climb and a good place to enjoy wine. I like the view from the River Station and the street cafes along the banks in the summer. Others like the islands. The city is still green and not overdeveloped. It has chestnut and fruit trees, charming parks, abundant flowers and hidden corners to enjoy and explore. Even when your feet fail you, you can get to any corner of the city on cheap public transport.

Cost of living

Living in a poor nation means millions are on the edge of survival as poverty brings its own special misery. But Ukrainians know how to survive and to be frugal – and those are skills worth emulating. If you avoid living like a wasteful Westerner, you can get by remarkably cheap here by knowing where to go and what to pay.

When you think about it, the government policy of cheap vodka, cheap bread and cheap utilities makes sense in a way. This isn’t India, after all, where millions live on the streets. It’s just too cold for that, and the basics simply don’t cost much.

Women

Most of the foreign men I’ve met here since 1996 have either been in love, are in love or hope to be in love with a Slavic femme.

Beauty comes in all forms and is found everywhere. Beauty also varies with taste. But much of the male world has weighed in decisively that the Slavic Ukrainian variant of feminine beauty is exceptional.

It is why men vacation here. It’s also why others put up with the corruption, rot, lower living standards and lower wages than they might be able to make elsewhere. You can be rich and buy a big house and a big car somewhere else, perhaps, but what does that matter if you don’t have a happy personal life?

The downside to all this male attention is the ugly advent of the sex tourist, or “sexpat,” which made it on to the list of worst aspects of Kyiv from some staff members. “Foreigners who think they can pay any girl to have sex with them” is one of the worst 10 things about Kyiv, said Nataliia Protasova, the Kyiv Post’s subscription manager.

The choices are so good here that, in my view, men have to have a lot wrong with them to be alone in this city and in this nation.
The beauty is not just skin deep. While there are people of horrendously bad character in both sexes, and while women share blame with men for all that’s wrong with the world, many men will find that – if they pay attention – Ukrainian women can teach them a lot about the meaning of life, proper values and being happy even when life is stacked against you.

“The women aren’t afraid to be themselves,” said staff writer Mark Rachkevych, a Ukrainian-American. “They can still compete with men, yet retain their feminine allure.”

Women on the staff also recognize their gender’s strengths.

“Many women are beautiful, and some of them are quite intelligent at the same time,” said Tuchynska.

“Girls wearing spiked heels and short shirts even while walking in a snowstorm,” said staff writer Kateryna Panova, in praise of women..

One women’s group – Femen – even uses its femininity to challenge the authorities. They may have their critics, but by whipping their clothes off they certainly draw attention to their causes.

Better food

We would need more scientific studies to back us up. But it seems to us that America and other places have shot their food full of hormones, chemicals and artificial additives. Maybe that’s one reason why America is fast becoming a nation of obese blimps. By contrast, Ukraine’s black earth yields up tasty and organic vegetables, fruit and meat that make us all healthier.

Rebel spirit

Although it manifests itself in the ugliest of ways, Kyivans have created a culture (or are victims of one?), in which no one knows for sure what’s going to happen from day to day. Everything is so unpredictable. Even when there are rules, they seem made to be broken.

There are more downsides than upsides in this sort of environment: Who will go to jail today? How many people will get run over and killed by speeding motorists? Will the hryvnia collapse? Will I lose my job? But not everything that happens is bad. For adrenaline junkies, and those who thrive on chaos, spontaneity and reading tea leaves, this is the place to be. It’s also a good news town, which is why many journalists from other parts like working here. It helps if you pretend there is no tomorrow.

HERE ARE THINGS WE DON’T LOVE ABOUT KYIV:

We could go on and on about what and whom we love in Kyiv. But for the sake of balance, let’s run down what we don’t like. These may be on everyone’s list. But here’s ours:

Verkhovna Rada

This is our shorthand reference for the corrupt and primitive culture that pervades Ukraine. These (mostly) guys are above the law – amazing in its contradiction and insolence alone. They fight. They steal. They evade. They are, in the eyes of many Ukrainians, the single largest club of unpunished criminals. Is it any wonder that corruption spreads out from parliament to infect all other elements of society? Add pandemic bureaucracy to this formula and you will feel our pain.

Ukrainians say that government puts up Olympic hurdles in order to register a business or just get a birth certificate. Foreigners for their part are so overwhelmed with registration permits and the like they often want to run back soon after passing immigration at Boryspil.

No law and order

While police aren’t as vile as during the era of ex-President Leonid Kuchma, when officers would routinely patrol the streets looking for anyone of non-Slavic appearance, foreigners and defenseless people to shake down, they are still by and large not here to serve and protect the public. They behave more like a private police force protecting the rich, powerful and politically connected. Justice almost never happens, keeping Ukraine a half-step above the law of the jungle.

Bad service, rudeness

“Were you born in a barn?” is a retort directed at the unwashed and uncouth. It seems, in Kyiv, many people fit this category. Many simply have no idea what good manners are – and many of these are working in a service profession, such as government employee or waitress! Kyiv, at times, resembles a big village rather than a cosmopolitan capital. Why, in the 21st century, must Kyivans stand in line for hours to buy train tickets or make simple banking transactions? “Even some of the biggest Ukrainian banks do not have online banking and, even if they do, they have really lousy customer service,” notes staff writer Olesia Oleshko.

This sort of disrespect extends to people who talk on their cell phones wherever they want, or who push past you without so much as an acknowledgement or apology. Too many also seem to violate a notion of “personal space” that should not be invaded physically without invitation.

General filth

From the garbage on the streets to dog owners who don’t clean up after their pets and people (mostly men) who rarely shower, one of Kyiv’s great downfalls is its general dirtiness and unkempt appearance. Granted, when three million people live on top of each other in high-rise apartments in a concentrated area, it’s hard to stay clean. But too many people aren’t even trying.

It would help if government bought more trash bins, but, of course, it would take much more to instill a culture of civic pride that is clearly absent. As for the lack of personal hygiene by many of its citizens, it is hard to understand how to solve the problem – so keep a bottle of perfume or air freshener handy.

Smoking

It is truly astounding that in the 21st century many workplaces and most bars, nightclubs and restaurants cater their businesses to the minority of clientele who are addicted to a disease that will send them to their graves 10 years earlier than non-smokers. We are still waiting for the non-smoking majority to rise up and demand 100 percent smoke-free air in public places. This is one peaceful revolution we support. We have many smokers on our side in this battle as well.

Gloom

Especially this time of the year, the shades of grey that Kyiv presents are innumerable – from the pavement to the sky and everything in between. It doesn’t help that so many people choose to dress in black and grey either. Battling depressing conditions will be an ongoing struggle from now until May. But even in spring and summer, the bland Soviet-era architecture and monotonous high-rise apartment blocks remain with us.

Animal haters

We know that Kyiv is full of irresponsible dog owners. But it is also clear that tolerance for animal abuse is abnormally high. Just look at the morbidity statistics of your average inhabitant of the Kyiv Municipal Zoo, an international disgrace. But then there are the thousands of vicious, hungry and diseased dogs who roam the city in packs – sometimes taking human life and limb. It is another sign that medieval Kyivan Rus lives on.

Bad drivers

Take your pick, from extortionist taxi drivers to speeding motorists in tinted-window luxury cars or dangerous marshrutka drivers in public transport, the situation is always the same on Kyiv’s mean streets: dangerous. Hostility for the pedestrian is endemic. Still, I’d rather be on foot. I like being able to get from one corner of the neighborhood, city, nation and continent to the other without having a car. To have an automobile culture, you have to have the road and bridge infrastructure to handle the volume. Kyiv doesn’t. Hello, Moscow-style traffic jams.

Expensive basics

While many staples (bread and beer) are cheap, it defies explanation that many other consumer items – a meal in a restaurant, or clothes, or dry cleaning – are priced high while their quality is low. We think the explanation is the lack of a truly competitive free market, created by the nation’s oligarchs and enforced by its government bureaucrats.

More good than bad

Ukraine has, undoubtedly, one of the most traumatic national histories. Even two decades into its existence, many (we’re talking to you, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin) do not think it’s a real nation. Its territory has been carved up and suffered the two biggest despots known to mankind – Hitler and Stalin. Its people have been murdered by the millions, in war and through forced famines.

Six million Ukrainians live abroad, leaving fewer than 46 million to build a nation. You would have to be cold-hearted not to be inspired by the Ukrainian struggle for survival and nationhood. We grieve every day for what was lost and what might have been. And we don’t know why so many, including many of the political leaders, don’t seem to love Ukraine as a nation.

As our lifestyle editor Yuliya Popova put it, it can only get better from here. Let’s hold on to that thought. Kyiv is an ancient capital of three million people from across Ukraine, Europe and, indeed, the world. That mix creates a dynamic and ever-changing atmosphere.

Yes, we may have gripes and complaints, but the good must outweigh the bad, or else we’d be thinking about leaving.

We want to know your “Best & Worst of Kyiv” list at [email protected].

See also the Kyiv Post staff’s picks of the 10 best & 10 worst things about Kyiv

See also the special Kyiv Post supplement “Best of Kyiv 2010”

Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected]