[lazide]

1) with the exception of probably a few pensioners (who also depend on gov’t funding), everyone in the area is dependent on the military. It’s a giant military base in the middle of nowhere.

2) anyone not military (and hence in on it), is a pensioner or the like and won’t give a shit about GPS.

This is not a thriving urban metropolis or tourist location.

[akho]

Why lie? It _is_ a tourist location, with > 2mln tourists annually (for their 1 mln permanent population). It also has quite a diverse economy, with Avtotor being a major car assembler (though not quite what it was pre-war), a fishing industry, amber mining, a TV manufacturer, &c. With a significant military presence, of course, but "giant military base in the middle of nowhere" is just ridiculous.

[Scroll_Swe]

Crazy what the Russians destroyed... (you?)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6nigsberg_Castle

[akho]

Yes, we Russians are entirely responsible for British carpet bombing.

(I, of course, do not agree with the decision to demolish the remaining ruins in 1968; it could have been handled better.)

[lazide]

Hey, old military installations (albeit ancient) are still a type of tourist attraction lol.

Most places in Russia are hunting and fishing locations too, hah.

[Thlom]

The city has half a million residents and the oblast has a million residents. There's restaurants, museums, grocery stores, car dealerships, parks, zoo's, malls, stadiums, factories, train stations, an airport, ports etc etc. It's a real place.

[lazide]

I never said it wasn’t.

Killeen, Texas is also a real place.

How many people do you think don’t have at least a 2 degree connection to the US military?

Do you think anyone there is going to think twice about going along with what the military is doing? Or could if they wanted too?

And Killeen is far, far less isolated geographically.

[u8080]

It is like saying Detroit is military base because there are some military related buildings.

[lazide]

Uh huh

[u8080]

It is not. I.e. there is one of the largest passenger vehicle assembly line Autotor.