Let me lead you through the streets of Moscow

by Brit Muscovite

Artical by Lyudmila Presnyakova from www.fom.ru

Nation-wide home interviews conducted September 30 - October 1 2006 in 100 residencies in 44 regions. A sample size of 1500 respondents. The margin of error does not exceed 3,6%.

Today, less than one-third of Russians (30%) see Moscow as the `epitome of Russia's best aspects', whereas the majority (61%) regard it as just one large city among others. The breakdown of opinions hasn't much changed since 2004 (28% to 65%), or 2001 (35% to 59%). Now, as before, Muscovites themselves are much more likely than others to think that their city is an incarnation of all of Russia's virtues (47%). Yet half of Muscovites (49%) agree that the `Gold-Domed City' is nothing more than one megalopolis among many.

Still, positive attitudes towards the capital city of Russia prevail (just as they did in 2004) among residents of other regions (36% against 22%) as well as among Muscovites (82% against 10%). Non-Muscovites are indifferent towards Moscow in 37% of cases, but Muscovites – only in 5% of them.

Interestingly, Muscovites (50%) are much more prone than Russians in general (33%) to think that negative attitudes towards Moscow and its residents prevail outside the capital city. Conversely, only 14% of people living in Moscow think that people in other cities and villages cherish good feelings for the capital, while non-Muscovites think so much more often, 24% of the time; it is only indifference that is professed more or less equally (Muscovites with 18%, and non-Muscovites with 20%).

According to the opinion shared by most Muscovites (71%) and non-Muscovites (73%) alike, residents of the capital are different from the rest of Russians; the opposite opinion is held by 19 and 16%, respectively (8% and 13% found the question difficult to answer). Interestingly, while the breakdown of opinions among Muscovites hasn't changed since 2004, there are substantial changes in other regions. The percentage of respondents outside Moscow who say Muscovites are "like anybody else" has decreased (by 8 p.p.), and the percentage of those finding the question difficult to answer has grown (by 4 p.p.), as did the share of respondents who believe there is a big difference between Muscovites and non-Muscovites (by 3 p.p.).

We asked respondents what positive and negative traits are, in their mind, characteristic of Muscovites. Interestingly enough, 43% of those surveyed were able to specify negative traits, with just 27% able to name positive ones.

Speaking of Muscovites' negative traits, respondents most often reproach them for arrogance ("they behave like they are a higher caste"; "disregard of others, arrogance"; "disrespect for provincials, snobbery" – 19%), rudeness ("pushy, unceremonious"; "push forward like tanks"; "poor conduct, impudence..." – 4%), egotism ("indifferent to their natural and human environment"; "they think of themselves only"; "indifferent to other people's problems" – 5%), unfriendliness ("inhospitable, unfriendly"; "they are not nice, they'll never show you the way" – 3%), repugnance shown toward immigrants ("they strongly dislike us immigrants, although it's us who do nasty jobs"; "they treat people from other cities badly" – 2%). In fact, only less than half of Russians have meet Muscovites; 17% have met them often, 31% seldom, and 40% never at all.

Six percent of those surveyed view Muscovites as greedy ("acquisitiveness"; "envious, rotten"), `parasitizing' ("they take away our bread, our revenues; everything goes to Moscow; they've gotten fat and brazen-faced over there, while we starve"; "they get more than they can eat, the whole country works for them" - 3%). Some (3%) accuse Muscovites of cruelty ("inhumane"; "fiercer than rural dwellers"). Other negative features ascribed to residents of the capital include vanity, nervousness, laziness, hypocrisy, cunning, drug addiction and alcohol abuse (1% each).

Speaking of Muscovites' laudable traits, about one-third of respondents answering an open-ended question point to what can be placed under the category of business ability ("they know how to make money"; "energetic, business-minded" – 5%; "can get what they want"; "very persevering and self-confident"; "feisty" – 4%; "very industrious"; "they love to work" – 2%; "they are good and reliable business partners" – 1%). Respondents also point out Muscovites' friendliness ("hospitality, sociability"; "they are more friendly than people in other cities"; "cordiality, open-heartedness"; "more responsive to calls for the relief of children or the sick"; "kind; have pity on everyone" – 8%). Other features ascribed to Muscovites include intelligence and education (4%), good manners and high culture (3%). In the opinion of 4% of respondents, residents of the capital are more successful financially than their compatriots in other cities and villages ("they are wealthy"; "they earn more"; "respectable, successful"). According to 1% of respondents, Muscovites are particularly tenacious and adaptive: ("higher survivability"; "...they quickly adapt to changing life"; "adaptability"; "knowing how to live in this roaring life"). Another 1% believe that Muscovites are patriots of their city.

In the Russian regions people still believe that Muscovites have a higher standard of living than do the rest of Russians. Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed share this opinion, with just 11% thinking that people in the nation's capital live like all the others in the country, and 2% believing that life in Moscow is worse than elsewhere (two years ago, the breakdown of answers was 81%, 14% and 1%, respectively). Muscovites' own opinion on this account has changed; the percentage of those who think life in Moscow is better than in other Russian cities has dropped six p.p. from 66% to 60%, and the percentage of those saying that life is the same there as anywhere else has climbed seven percent, from 18% to 25%.

Artical by Lyudmila Presnyakova from www.fom.ru

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