Are the cities of Romania the cesspools of crime, pollution, filth, drunkeness, and violence one often hears?

Question

Face it, Romania gets a lot of bad press in the West, particularly the major cities like Bucharest and Ploiesti. The pollution problem is supposed to be the worst in Europe, the amount of violent street crime, the open prostitution and public drunkeness all add up to something out of the Wild West. Are the major cities of Romania this far out of control? Is the place with its Soviet era brutalistic archecture and soot belching stinky oil refineris really that dirty? Are they really that Third World?

Answer 1

yeah,just like New York,Chicago,L.A.

Detroit,and hundreds of cities in the U.S.

Answer 2

Romania is an upper-middle income country economy[128] and has been part of the European Union since January 1, 2007. After the Communist regime was overthrown in late 1989, the country experienced a decade of economic instability and decline, led in part by an obsolete industrial base and a lack of structural reform. From 2000 onwards, however, the Romanian economy was transformed into one of relative macroeconomic stability, characterised by high growth, low unemployment and declining inflation.

Answer 3

It is definitely one of the worst places in Europe. The communists  destroyed in Bucharest all the nice historical buildings, the city is not safe, there is prostitution, and the people look seriously unhappy. Stay clear from it, unless you' ve got time to waste.

Answer 4

Romania gets an incredibly bad reputation, but I have found that most of the people that say it's lousy after visiting there don't know how far it has come.  After 1989, there was a virtual economic freefall and crazy inflation.  My grandmother gives the example that in 1990, 5000 lei would have bought her an apartment.  1 year later, it bought her a television.  In terms of open prostitution and drunkenness, it is getting better.  The working girls no longer hang out right on the side of the road and service truckers while they are waiting for customs at the border.  Now you have to get off onto a ramp and actually know where they hang out (at least in Oradea).  There are some polluted areas in Romania like Copsa Mica,  but the US also has East St. Louis and its chemical plants, Detroit has River Rouge and Zug Island.  Industrial areas are found everywhere and rarely pretty.  In terms of violent street crime, I have never experienced it, not even pickpocketing.  But when I am in Romania, I look like a local, hang out in non-touristy areas and never carry important things with me.  I have a strong love for the country even though I always appreciate coming home to the US.  If you hear stories about how crappy it is, find out more about what the person did there, where they went, etc...  A person trying to go to Romania and purchase women for trafficking, stolen cars from Turkey and smuggled cigarettes from the Ukraine is far more likely to run into crime and violence that say someone who went to visit family, or on a sightseeing trip.

Answer 5

hmm idk what to say...i live here for 7 years and yes some places are poluated but not soo much... and about the cesspools of crime... that thing it isn't true... it's right that Romania have a lot of bad press but press today say only about bad things not the good things -__- Romania have a lot of good things as well which press don't talk 'bout... many people tend to say only bad things with out knowing the true...

Answer 6

Romania is paying it's citizens to leave the country ......there are millions of Romanian Gypsies roaming all over europe. I have never heard of anything good coming out of that POS country. It's is not a nice place

Answer 7

Third world is usually where they have no place to live, nothing to eat, and no sanitary drinking water etc. ROmania, like Russia, are crime ridden, pollution, prostitution and drunkeness are not signs of a third world country, they are signs of an out of control country...Russia like ROmania have a very bad crime problem, in Russia, they steal cars, car jacking kills many people each day...it's craziness...almost anarchy.