How has your town changed since you've been there?

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I’ve lived where I live for 13 years. Vsetin, a small town in the Beskid Mountains of East Czech Republic. Pastel painted Hapsburg buildings next to the bare lines of communist architecture; huge family houses on the outskirts.

When I moved there there was an old dilapidated building in the centre of town, crammed up against the Polyklinika (where specialist doctors work). It was filled with very poor people. It was in horrible condition — it looked like something you’d see in a really depressing movie about Eastern Europe or World War Two.

Most of the inhabitants were Roma. At one point there was a fire and a hole was burned in the roof, which was covered with a big blue tarp for several months in the winter. I have heard it said that the inhabitants of this place made fires in the living rooms, just as a matter of course. I do not know if that is true. Probably just racist nonsense. Nevertheless, it was definitely an eyesore and probably not safe for human habitation.

This building was later demolished. Most of the inhabitants were moved to another set of buildings which had been built on the outskirts of town.

This was somewhat controversial. AS anybody can see the new buildings are far more habitable than the other one. On the other hand there is the fact that it was built on the edge of town, which some groups have decried as racist and likened to immigrant populations living in “suburbs” in Paris.

However, this is not a very large town, and being set in a valley there really is no other land available. In fact, I live no further from the centre than these buildings, though in another area…

But, having said that it’s also next to the water treatement plant, which must be unpleasant on some days and there is no doubt that the mayor of Vsetin, Jiri Cunek, was definitely playing for the populist racist vote — the action coincided right with his senatorial campaign and was heavily publicized.

Basically I agree with the action but the timing was despicable, as was the decision to move a few particularly ‘undesirable’ families to another town completely. They agreed to be moved, technically, but there is something unsavory and “Stalinist” about moving people like that.

The library has moved from this building:

to this one…(The green glass bit on the right is the library.) The old building has been converted into doctor’s office, a Kebab fast food joint and who knows what else.

In general little restaurants and cafes pop up and close down over the years. Not worth mentioning. At least we can get a kebab at 3 in the morning after drinking nowadays. Unfortunately I hardly ever drink any more.

Otherwise, it really hasn’t changed that much.There have been some new houses built on the outskirts of town and a new strip mall put in; the roads are in better repair and the cars are newer; and they worked on one crossroads to make it look nicer; but very little change to the city itself otherwise.