Top 10 ecologically clean and dirty areas inside the Moscow Ring Road
At the beginning of July, an abnormal heat wave covered Moscow. And in the secondary housing market, buyers have become more active, purchasing the capital’s “squares” for elderly parents. After all, the older Muscovites are, the more they are attracted by the clean air, silence, forest parks and ponds in the neighborhood. MK found out how much the environmental agenda now influences the cost of housing.
For a long time, when choosing housing in the capital, the main factors for buyers were price and distance to the metro station. However, recently there have been changes in the list of priorities. As Valery Kochetkov, director of the “New Buildings” department of INCOM-Real Estate, told MK, currently 60% of buyers of Moscow apartments are primarily focused on a comfortable monthly mortgage payment. For 20% of buyers, the total price of the lot is most important. 15% consider transport accessibility and infrastructure of the area. And only about 5% of customers choose a purchase based on the environmental friendliness of the location. Basically, the “green” agenda is a priority among representatives of the older generation, who remember factory pipes that do not meet modern environmental requirements.
According to Est-a-Tet Sales Director Roman Sokolov, most often buyers for whom the eco-factor is on the list of priorities are interested in the presence of parks and walking areas, proximity to the river and landscaped embankments, and the absence of noisy and busy roads outside their windows. But air quality, industrial facilities, the influence of electromagnetic radiation and the impact of airports are mainly of concern only to buyers of business class and higher housing.
“Previously, many home buyers were poorly aware of the features of areas with a “spoiled” reputation, on the territory of which factories with hazardous production, wastewater treatment plants and large thermal power plants are located. Now people have become more discerning. The most difficult environmental issues are in Kapotnya and Biryulyovo,” said Vyacheslav Molchanov, a real estate expert at the federal company Etazhi in Moscow.
He highlighted another interesting point: when somewhere in the photo the client sees a pipe or an inscription on the map “snow melting station” even in the cleanest areas of Moscow, this causes unnecessary concern. “Buyers from other regions tend to avoid large highways, warehouses and industrial areas. Just because of the noise. For old-timers or those who have lived in Moscow for more than three years, it is more important to live in a convenient and prestigious area. But the fact is that prestigious areas, with the exception of the center, are the greenest,” the expert added. These, in his opinion, include Ramenki, Krylatskoye, Khoroshevo-Mnevniki, Strogino.
According to Kochetkov, everything is in order with the environment in Sokolniki with its park, in the Timiryazevsky district with the park of the same name, in Krylatskoye and Strogino with magnificent expanses of water and beaches.
Because of the wind rose, there are most “green” ones. districts of Moscow in the ZAO and SZAO, as private broker Alexander Ivanov noted: “These territories are higher above sea level than the eastern and southeastern regions. Therefore, in the west and north-west there is less pollution from cars and it is easier to breathe. Clouds of dust and car exhaust fumes move to the southwest. Plus, historically, there are many large parks and few hazardous industries.”
Note that over the past few years, many industrial zones have been reorganized for the construction of comfortable housing. And due to the relocation of large factories outside of Moscow and the use of new, modern, environmentally friendly public transport, the overall environmental situation in the capital has improved significantly.
There are a large number of environmental maps of the capital that evaluate areas according to various criteria, such as, for example, air quality, the presence of large forested areas, the absence of industrial enterprises, etc. For example, a lot of useful and relevant information can be found on the mos.ru portal in the section “Air” (https://mosecom.mos.ru/karta/).
When choosing a “green” apartment, the most important advice is to think and analyze, and not rely on someone else’s subjective opinion, advises Molchanov. Roman Sokolov recommends setting priorities before starting your search: what you are willing to sacrifice, what you are willing to close your eyes to, and what you are absolutely not satisfied with. “After you have made your shortlist of residential complexes, walk through the areas where they are located, literally within a 15-20 minute walk from the residential complex. After this walk, you will understand a lot for yourself: is the level of natural surroundings, noise suitable for you, is it easy to breathe here,” Sokolov noted.
“Of course, you always want to buy residential property near a park and away from noisy transport interchanges, but the difference in housing prices between such environmentally friendly and dirty locations can be up to 25–30%,” Kochetkov noted. Therefore, not all potential buyers are willing to pay such a significant price premium for clean air and silence.