Culture and Traditions
Old tradition of verifying time by cannon shooting has been renewed in Sevastopol
History News
Ukrainian students of history department discovered ruins of a XIV-th century castle in Zakarpattya
Lodging and Lifestyle
Ukrainians are very attached to their homes. They prefer to continuously improve their existing homes rather than to change places of stay quite often. Most of urban citizens live in apartments, though each Ukrainian family dreams about having their own house with a backyard and a little piece of land.
Through dozens of years, Ukrainian families have had to live in small homes, where few generations share a small apartment of only 2 or 3 rooms, each room serving as a living room, a bedroom and a self-study room at the same time. People have to adjust to sharing certain family roles - retired grand parents take care of the little ones, and young working parents are the moneymakers for all family. Because of low income and lack of space at homes, a few nation-wide traditions of having a certain lifestyle have developed. For example, every family gets together for a big all-family meal in front of the TV set in evenings (there is no space to spread around, so all family spends hours sitting at the dinner table - eating, talking and watching television); the elderly parents are always busy babysitting and assisting kids with homework; Saturdays are always regarded as cleaning and shopping days, etc.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a hard economic crisis followed. With soaring prices for real estate and construction materials, very few Ukrainian families were able to improve their living situation. Only recently people's life standards started to grow, economy is reviving, and the market of newly constructed homes is quickly developing. More and more apartments are offered for rent and for sale. A new tendency of relocating from cities' apartments to large private houses in ecologically friendly countryside areas is also becoming stronger among the well-off citizens.
The signs of globalization are quickly spreading from large cities to middle size and small provincial towns in Ukraine. Today, it is not unusual for foreign visitors to buy or rent apartments or houses in Ukrainian cities, and settle down in Ukraine for years. Some foreign families relocate to Ukraine for work or for retirement. The country attracts Westerners with its unique location on the border of European Union, and with its charming integration of Western and Asian cultural specifics into the authentic Slavonic lifestyle.
To learn more about lodging situation and real estate in Ukraine, please survey the pages Renting Apartments , Prices and Facilities and Purchasing Real Estate.