Poll: Most Russians do not want to live in Moscow

According to a poll conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), only 13 percent of Russians would like their children to live in Moscow. The most popular option among those polled (23 percent) would be to live in a small town. According to another poll, the Siberian city of Tyumen rates highly among Russian urban areas.

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, RBTH – September 22, 2015)

Moscow is no longer the most desirable place for Russians to live. The largest number of those polled (23 percent) would like their children to live “in a small town”; 19 percent, in a large city (other than Moscow); 12 percent, in the country; 12 percent, abroad; 11 percent, in St Petersburg. Moscow ranks in the middle with 13 percent of those polled preferring their children to live in Moscow.

At the same time, respondents pointed out that Moscow had recently seen numerous improvements: new recreation areas have been set up, courtyards and roads have been renovated and there are more cultural venues and sports facilities. Yet, respondents are most of all concerned by the state of the environment in Moscow: 43 percent of city residents say it has deteriorated over the past five years. Another concern high up on the agenda of those polled is the Russian capital’s traffic congestion.

A year ago, the recruitment portal Superjob polled Russians in 22 cities about where they would like to live. The first place went to the Siberian city of Tyumen (1,714 kilometers from Moscow).

The second place on that rating (91 percent) went to the southern city of Krasnodar (1,196 kilometers from Moscow), with the third place (90 percent) shared by the cities that hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2013 Summer Universiade, Sochi and Kazan (1,362 and 719 kilometers from Moscow respectively).

Article also appeared at rbth.com/society/2015/09/22/poll_most_russians_do_not_want_to_live_in_moscow_49451.html