Homes and housing

Homes and housing

In the Czech Republic people live different than in the Great Britain and USA. But some people live as well as people in others modern states. There are very big differences between people in the Czech Republic.

The biggest difference is among living in village and living in town. I think that there are advantages and disadvantages to both.

LIVING IN TOWN

The majority of people live in the towns, which are full of big estates with a lot of blocks of flats ( which look like big rabbit boxes ). The estates were full of grey concrete, but now in the towns the walls of these blocks are coloured, so they looked like very nice. The blocks of flats are both low and high. There are several floors with flats on every floor. If you live in a block of flats, mostly you know what happens in a neighbour’s flat, who has what problem, who listen music and so on.

In the block you can’t have privacy and you can’t give privacy to others. Sometimes there isn’t silence, when you want to sleep.

The richer ones have family houses in the suburb. These houses can be both small and cosy, and big residences with swimming pool. The poor ones – homeless people – sleep on benches in a park, at train stations, in underground stations and so on.

In the towns there are many hypermarkets. There is no problem if you need to buy something. The hypermarkets are open every day. In the centre there are many department stores too. You can buy here some clothes. If you want to see some new movie, it takes a few minutes walk to the cinema. If you want to entertainment yourself in the evening, you can visit some coffees, bars, pubs and discos.

LIVING IN COUNTRYSIDE

Now only few inhabitants live in Czech countryside. There are few people, who live there permanently. For young generation, village is a symbol of weekend housing. In some nice village they have a cottage with garden. They can find a quiet place there after hard workweek.

eople don’t live there because of commuting to work and to school to town. The only ones, for whom is the best to live in a village, are farmers. They don’t have a long way to work. In countryside there is peace, there aren’t big blocks of flats, relations with neighbours are friendly.

There is a lot of greenery. If you need to buy bread, it isn’t problem, but if you want to buy a new book or clothes, you must go to town. There aren’t cinemas and theatres too. And if you haven’t a car, you must go by bus. There is sometimes bad connection with some city. The big advantage of the countryside is that all around it there is very nice nature. You can go for a walk into the forest, pick mushrooms or blueberry. There is fresh air everywhere.

HOMELLES

Homeless are people without family, home and work. They can lost their job thank to alcohol, drug addiction or illness. They are concentrated in big cities, because they are here anonymous. We can find homeless on the railway station, in parks, under bridges and in old building. Some state authorities help homeless: charity organisations – Red Cross and Emausy.

· HOUSING IN CZECH REPUBLIC

o The majority people live in the block of flats

– Usually 5-7 storey houses

– Flats have about 3 or 4 rooms

– Are centralized to housing estates – with parks, trees, shop centres, school and playgrounds for children

· In recent years most people buy their homes with the help of a mortgage (loan) from a building society or a bank

· I live in the block of flats, I have to pay money to a house owner (I am a renter or occupant)

· HOUSING IN BRITAIN

– Many British people own their own houses

o Houses are made of the red brigs or stone and wood, usually with fireplaces
o Majority people live in a town in an urban-area, the most expensive areas-London and South England

– Types of housing:

– Detached house: stands by itself, usually with a garden all around it, most of them are to be found in suburbs or in the green belt (= open green area around city without any industrial development), much more expensive, often owned by professional people

– Semi-detached houses: built in pairs, usually have a small back and front garden, 3 bedrooms and a small bathroom (called the home of Mr. and Mrs. Average), have been built in large numbers since the 1930´s, the most popular type of house in Britain

– Terraced houses: are built in long rows, usually found in inner cities, often built by industries to house their workers near the factories, often called „back to backs“ (= the back of this type of house faces the back of another identical row of houses), in recent years have been renovated (central heating…)

– Country cottages: often built on the country estates of wealthy landowners, they have low ceilings, wooden beams and sometimes a thatched roof

– Tower blocks: can vary from 3-5 storeys high up to 10-20 storeys high, each storey contains 5 or 6 flats for families, in London dangerous at night

– Bungalow: only one storey, popular with elderly people who find stairs hard

HOUSING IN AMERICA

The houses in USA are very different, but the dominant style of the last 30 years has been the ranch-style house. Houses are usually made of wood and built by carpenters. In the southern states there are brick and stucco houses. Modern stucco houses are often built in a Mexican style. Victorian houses are painted in bright colours, especially blue.

FLAT, WHERE I LIVE

HOUSE OF MY DREAMS