{"id":1252,"date":"2011-02-05T04:56:08","date_gmt":"2011-02-05T10:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/?p=1252"},"modified":"2011-12-26T15:49:40","modified_gmt":"2011-12-26T21:49:40","slug":"1252","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/05\/1252\/","title":{"rendered":"Chernobyl 25 Years Revisited &#8211; Chapter 6 A City in Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fcbkbttn_buttons_block\" id=\"fcbkbttn_left\"><div class=\"fcbkbttn_button\">\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/facebook-button-plugin\/images\/standard-facebook-ico.png\" alt=\"Fb-Button\" \/>\n                            <\/a>\n                        <\/div><div class=\"fcbkbttn_like \"><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/05\/1252\/\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\" layout=\"standard\"  width=\"225px\" size=\"small\"><\/fb:like><\/div><\/div><h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Pripyat the Forgotten City<\/h1>\n<dl id=\"attachment_1353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 559px;\">\n<dt class=\"wp-caption-dt\"><a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/downloads\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Grafitti-3-27-of-39.jpg');\"  href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Grafitti-3-27-of-39.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1353  \" title=\"Grafitti 3 (27 of 39)\" src=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Grafitti-3-27-of-39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"549\" height=\"392\" \/><\/a><\/dt>\n<dd class=\"wp-caption-dd\">View of Pripyat &#8211; Jan Smith 2011<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Pripyat Jewel of Soviet Urban Planning<\/h2>\n<p>At the time of the accident Chernobyl, was about 800 years old and had c.15,000 people. \u00a0Today it has about 3,000 inhabitants. Down the road, the City of Pripyat was built in 1970 \u00a0to house the plant workers. It was a planned city, and if one looks at it from above, the shape of a sickle becomes evident in the main plaza. \u00a0On April 25th, 1986, Pripyat had about 49,400 inhabitants. \u00a0Had the accident not occured, estimates place Pripyat&#8217;s population in 2010 at close to 80,000.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Pripyat was not only a young city, it was a city for young people. \u00a0The average age was 26, and nearly 20 percent of its population was single. \u00a0There was an active (for Soviet standards) dating scene: one park, 27 cafes, promenades for bikes and walking (with 18,136 trees, 249,247 shrubs, 33,000 rose plants), and 25 malls and stores.<\/p>\n<p>The average salary was often much higher than in most parts of the Soviet Union, and this showed in the city&#8217;s infrastructure. \u00a0It housed ten gyms, ten shooting galleries, and at least three swimming pools, one of which was of magnificent proportions. Residents could (comparatively) splurge on the cultural offerings. \u00a0It had a culture palace, a cinema, a dance school, and a school of arts.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1236\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1236\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/downloads\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/center.jpg');\"  href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/center.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1236 \" title=\"center\" src=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/center-1024x273.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"127\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1236\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pripyat City Center: Restaurant, Culture Palace, Hotel. Jan Smith 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Pripyat Ferris Wheel &#8211; Iconic Symbol<\/h2>\n<p>Those who were married had young families. \u00a0I&#8217;ve had conflicting sources, but most estimates place the number of children at nearly 5,000 with close to 1,000 being in primary school and kindergarten. \u00a0To make the life of children even more joyful, Pripyat was planning to inaugurate an amusement park on May 1, 1986. \u00a0There was much excitement and anticipation of riding the Ferris Wheel and seeing the City from the top. \u00a0Sadly that never happened.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1247\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1247\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/downloads\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Games-1.jpg');\"  href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Games-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1247 \" title=\"Games 1\" src=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Games-1-1024x297.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"139\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1247\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amusement Park Pripyat, Jan Smith 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1248\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1248\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/downloads\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/games-2.jpg');\"  href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/games-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1248 \" title=\"games 2\" src=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/games-2-1024x338.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"158\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1248\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amusement Park Pripyat, Jan Smith 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/26\/chernobyl-25-years-revisited-chapter-1\/\" target=\"_self\">Chapter 1<\/a> \/ <a href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/27\/chernobyl-25-years-revisited-chapter-2\/\">Chapter 2<\/a> \/ <a href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/28\/chernobyl-25-years-revisited-chapter-3\/\" target=\"_self\">Chapter 3<\/a> \/ <a href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/31\/chernobyl-25-years-revisited-chapter-4-disaster-porn\/\" target=\"_self\">Chapter 4<\/a> \/ <a href=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/02\/chernobyl-25-years-revisited-wanderings-in-pripyat\/\" target=\"_self\">Chapter 5<\/a> \/<\/p>\n<p><strong>See Pripyat 25 Years Later: \u00a0Complete Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/outgoing\/www.smithjan.com\/pripyat.html');\"  href=\"http:\/\/www.smithjan.com\/pripyat.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"(4of 5)L1003050-Edit-Edit\" src=\"http:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/4of-5L1003050-Edit-Edit-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"90\" height=\"90\" \/>COMPLETE GALLERY\/GALERIA ONLINE:\u00a0http:\/\/www.smithjan.com\/pripyat.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pripyat the Forgotten City View of Pripyat &#8211; Jan Smith 2011 Pripyat Jewel of Soviet Urban Planning At the time of the accident Chernobyl, was about 800 years old and had c.15,000 people. \u00a0Today it has about 3,000 inhabitants. Down the road, the City of Pripyat was built in 1970 \u00a0to house the plant workers. &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/05\/1252\/\" class=\"read-more\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Chernobyl 25 Years Revisited &#8211; Chapter 6 A City in Numbers&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[477],"tags":[481,367,443,49,482,483],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1252"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1282,"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252\/revisions\/1282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithjan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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