I'm still thinking about the article I read last night: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4728585/Polish-city-thats-moved-to-Britain.html. What a one-sided picture of Łódź it shows. Yes, many people went to seek work abroad; yes, the textile industry is... wel... dead; yes, there are many derelict buildings and there is a lot of poverty, but those who stayed, if they really want to work, they will find something (it may not meet their ambitions..), just like in the UK; gradually, more and more buildings are being restored, but there are still many awaiting their turn or not fit for repair and... there is poverty in every society...
As I have mentioned before, I've been visiting Łódź for many years and can honestly tell you that, despite many problems, some parts of the city are becoming prettier and rather attractive for visitors. And it is no different from any other city, unless it's some Utopian place like this little town designed by Prince Charles or the Reneissance town of Zamość in Eastern Poland after it was built. Łódź must have always been a place of sharp contrasts. The Polish Manchester has always been home to the few rich industrialists and many workers. Amazing richness of their residences was separated by lovely parks and gardens from the shabby dwellings of their employees. Then, after WWII, blocks of flats were growing like mushrooms in season. Plenty of work when export thrived.
Of what I remember, it has always been a shoppers' Mekka. Piotrkowska Street smaller elegant shops and the nearby major department stores: Central, Universal and Juventus were the destination if you wanted to shop BIG!. Now, large, Western-style shopping centres and chain supermarkets took over. Smaller, independent shops suffer, like everywhere. That is sad. Second hand imported goods, clothes mostly, are now sold in many vacated shop or factory premises. However, the main street, Piotrkowska, affectionately called Pietryna by the locals, is being gradually restored to its previous, largely Art Nouveau glory. Huge empty factories have been transformed into multi-purpose complexes, like the most famous called Manufactura with the adjacent Izrael Poznanski's Palace in Ogrodowa Street. This former residence of the textile magnate now houses museums, art galleries and a cafe.
When I looked at the photos in the article, I immediately thought that they had been taken on a Sunday morning when everything is shut. Is that 'good journalism'? OK, I could go on about it for much longer, but my friend has just sent me a link for a Polish newspaper response to The Sun text. Let me read it now.
Night, night!:-)
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