What is happening in Sofia, after a while it happens all over Bulgaria. There are many disadvantages of the capital, but this does not negate the fact that it not only sets the direction, but also writes the script for the future of the country. By Alexander Andreev:
Why doesn't anyone run away from Sofia, but everyone runs to Sofia? At first glance, the question sounds naive, but its serious answer is significant: Because more and more people see a better future for themselves in Sofia. And this means that the city draws not only people to itself, but also the whole country forward. And whatever hatreds outside the capital Sofia is loaded with, whatever envy it attracts, whatever (usually completely justified) criticisms of the city its inhabitants have, this 14th largest metropolis in the EU really writes the script for the future of all of Bulgaria.
Amazing progress
When the first half of your life has been spent in Sofia, and the second in other countries and cities, you can't help but acquire a wonderful internal-external perspective towards the Bulgarian capital. One lens of the glasses focuses on the past and the other on the present. And this is what is seen through these different glasses.
Where 40 years ago there were gray peeling facades covered by thick oil-coal smog, today the beauty of the old metropolitan architecture has been revealed in the center. Yes, even in the center there is still some old house with crumbling plaster and boarded-up windows drunkenly swaying, but in this part of the city it definitely shines and pulsates. There are no longer cheerless queues for meat or "Romika" sneakers, there are no cellars where coal for the winter was poured through the window, there are no worn-out Zaporozhians and ragged wall praises of the bright future. For the city, for its more affluent part, this bright future has already arrived even without the victory of communism.
"The squat shops" - a Sofia phenomenon
Of course, it sounds arrogant to talk about the "affluent" Sofia center without mentioning "Obelya" or "Orlandians"; to feast on the progressive "yellow cobblestones" compared to the economically backward villages and towns in Northwestern Bulgaria, for example. But if we try for a moment to put aside this long-suffering sensibility, perhaps we can still talk about the amazing progress of this remarkable city. Yes, the city is jammed with cars, new construction is often chaotic and unplanned, and the restoration of old buildings could go much faster with European money if it didn't go through other channels. The list of the capital's shortcomings is almost endless, but at the same time, the city surprises with a subway that is among the best in Europe, with electronic payment systems for parking or in public transport, which are not widespread even in Germany. The city is definitely taking on a European flair, and not just thanks to the Babylonian mix of languages around the center. The service offering and the civilized approach to customers ("Have a nice day!") may not necessarily come as a surprise to the Western tourist, but to a Sofian who has arrived in a time machine from the 1980s, they are downright sensational.
Of course, life in Sofia - as in any metropolis - is difficult and expensive. Restaurant prices, rents and real estate values are chasing the average levels for the EU. And yet, people from all over the country en masse want to live in Sofia. Among those supposed more than two million Bulgarians who emigrated outside the country, the number of Sofians is felt to be low. Yes, they also "run" from Sofia to Europe and the USA. specialists who, with their professions, rely on better incomes outside, but at the same time the city attracts IT specialists, logistics structures and startups, which noticeably "pump" the standard of living.
Proven historical truth
To avoid misunderstandings: here, apart from the story of Sofia's boom, there are many super important topics that are separate stories in themselves. For example, corruption and usury. Officials for the year-round Sofia political circus. Or about the tired patriotism that is trying to take over one of the oldest cities in Europe. Or about the intolerable brashness of the nouveau riche and their entourage of comic pseudo-vips. Of course, also for the huge non-capital potential, which is only slowly awakening. All this undoubtedly exists, but it does not cancel the fact that the capital is apparently the incubator of a better and richer future of Bulgaria. The city, where a quarter of the Bulgarian population lives, undoubtedly sets the direction, including the political one: it is a proven historical truth that what happens in Sofia, eventually happens in the whole of Bulgaria. It's simple. A matter of time.
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This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and of DV as a whole.