Job Discussion Forums

[ecocks]

I had an email asking me about this and want to clarify that it is simple to find an apartment in the $500 to 600 range in Kyiv.

Yes, you will be between 25 and 45 minutes out from center. In Los Angeles I commuted 2 hours each way every morning - 25 minutes on a 10 cent subway ride is no big deal. You may have to take a tram or trolley or mashrutka to a metro station. It (the apartment) should be clean and reasonable in size but the building will probably be about 25 to 50 years old - welcome to Eastern Europe. My apartment in Prague was the same as most here so, again, no big deal.

I rented an apartment in January which is $1100/month, 3 rooms plus kitchen, 90 sq. m., 3rd floor, western remodeled, carpet and 2 balconies. When I leave the apartment door, I am in Maidan (from Minska) within 25 minutes. With 2 roomies we would each have a private room (2 with balconies) and our cost after utilities and internet would be about $450/month. If you are netting $1500/month (starting salary at the language school I work for) that would leave you $1000+ for food and entertainment, savings, travel or whatever floats your boat.

Also, I have an apartment at Akademistechko metro, one room, 36-37 sq. m., 120 m from the metro entrance for $600 (it's rented through July). It take less than 30 minutes to walk out the door of the Kreshatyk metro after locking the door of the apartment. So, there is nothing fantastic about this.

The people who are telling you about truly insane prices are talking about living within a 10 minute walk of Kres. or one of the inner metros which puts you among the tourist trap restaurants and clothing stores. It is like saying all hotels in America are $375/night because you checked the price of Manahattan hotels and couldn't find anything cheaper. Another example would be saying all T-shirts in the US cost $35 because that is what they charge inside the Disneyworld shops in Orlando. Experienced expats who live here have little or no trouble finding decent quality at reasonable prices when we settle down and listen to the advice of longer term expats who have invented this wheel already. Check out rhinoks, gastronoms and, if possible, have a Ukrainian friend, make initial inquiries about pricing and such.

About 3 million people figure out how to live here, half of whom are not as smart as you are (statistically anyway - ).

[Cardinal Synn]

I second that.
I live in an apartment about 20 mins walk from Kreshatyk - 2 bedrooms, balcony, living room, bathroom and kitchen. It's around $1000 a month - luckily for me, I get it as part of my package. But if I turn right instead of left, and head out of the centre, the prices fall on a sliding scale.
Personally, I wouldn't want to live further out than I do now, but if you don't mind braving the public transport, you can get something reasonable. Always worth being near a metro station, though.

The metro in rush-hour is not for the faint hearted.