[aivisol]

The cost part Quora gets really well, I have no problem with that. Since Soviet Roubles were worthless money anyway, it did not matter how much you paid for that.

What it does not say though, is that housing supply was extremely poor. There was extreme lack of decent housing, and people could be easily on a 10+ year wait list (as my parents were). There was practically only government provided houses (e.g. apartments), you could not buy land to build your house yourself (all land was nationalized and belonged to "people", i.e. government). So your option was to wait until you were given one. There was also virtually no secondary housing market, you could not buy an apartment since the supply was so low. So while you waited for the gift from government, you either lived with your parents (if they had place), lived in "kommunalka" (shared apartment where each family got one room but shared kitchen, bathroom etc with other families), or rented a room from whomever you could find (which was not legal actually because it was deemed private entrepreneurship which was not allowed). Was not fun, believe me.

[medo-bear]

at no point did i say it was fun, or something to be emulated. my point was that post war ussr was good at providing bare basics. i still think my assessment is correct and i think population growth in eastern europe during those times vs now suggest im right. also the fact remains that the soviets built A LOT especially considering that imperial russia was very much an agrarian country. pretty much all the concrete jungles accross eastern europe is the work of socialist housing policies

[mopsi]

High population growth is associated with poverty, not prosperity. Economic growth of Eastern Europe pre-1991 and post-1991 tells everything you need to know. Countries that stagnated for 50 years went through a 10x growth in 30 years after the Soviet grip disappeared.

[medo-bear]

> High population growth is associated with poverty, not prosperity

nope. the us for example had a much higher population growth than eastern europe. every western country continues to experience population growth. the population growth pre 1990 in eastern europe was at a healthy 1%. stagnation and negative rates started in the 90s, which was hardly a period of prosperity in eastern europe

> Countries that stagnated for 50 years went through a 10x growth in 30 years after the Soviet grip disappeared

tell that to everyone that dreams about leaving and working in western europe

[aivisol]

> my point was that post war ussr was good at providing bare basics

My point is that USSR was providing bare basics for some and not for all. If you were member of CPSU or an informer, or of privileged nationality then your chances were much higher.

[medo-bear]

if by some you mean 90+% of population then yeah. otherwise you must have some statistics showing post-ww2 ussr as a leader in malnutrition, illiteracy, lack of medical care, and homelessness

in the mean time, here are some of my own

NUTRITION

   Approved For Release 2007/05117: CIA-RDP84B00274R000300150009-5 RFUTEPS 8 JANUARY 1983 5 PENGTH-DIET American and Soviet citizens eat about the same amount of food each day but the Soviet diet may be more nutritious. According to a CIA report released today both nationalities may be eating too much for good health. 

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp84b00274r000...

LITTERACY

   The education system that emerged after the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922 became internationally renowned for its successes in eradicating illiteracy and cultivating a highly educated population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Soviet_Union

MEDICAL CARE

   Despite its drawbacks, the soviet healthcare system (Semashko model) is considered by the majority of Russian experts to have been one of the best in the world, because overall it met the requirements of quality, availability and provision of healthcare services, drugs and materials. After the collapse of the USSR, the health-care system was stagnant: funding was greatly limited, highly-skilled medical professionals emigrated, medical research came to a halt and manufacture of drugs and medical equipment declined dramatically.

https://www.mattioli1885journals.com/index.php/MedHistor/art...

HOUSING

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/what-is-it-like-living...