Today, many real estate experts suggest that the Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo neighbourhood in Northwest Moscow is the most popular choice for expats who live and buy property in the city.
Residents of the neighbourhood enjoy breathtaking views on the Moskva Canal, a great environment and an especially excellent infrastructure.
Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo Park, which includes two old mansions situated nearby, is the area’s main green zone, perfect for walks at any time of year. Alexander Ziminsky, the director of the elite property department at Penny Lane Realty, said that Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo Park is spread over 238 acres.
“There are three wooden playgrounds for children, a ski base and a chess club there,” Ziminsky told The Moscow News. “The modern park was created on the base of the historic manor park Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo, which was officially pronounced a monument to landscape architecture in 1978.”
The two historic mansions next to the park are called Pokrovskoye-Glebovo and Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo. Right now, the park is particularly popular with residents who wish to relax in the after-work hours.
Going out
There are many small and large restaurants and cafés in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo that stand out as good choices when it comes to dining out -– among them is Perfetto restaurant on Ulitsa Svobody, where Italian cuisine is served alongside Japanese sushi and rolls. The prices in Perfetto are comparatively low and the average bill will be between 1,000 and 1,500 roubles.
Else Café restaurant on Ivankovskoye Shosse near the famous Porkovskoye-Streshnevo park is another spot favoured by locals – the meals, mostly feautirng European cuisine, tend to cost about 1,500 to 2,500 roubles per meal per person, but the interior design and café’s location is worth the money.
Francophiles will be happy to know that there is a French bakery in the neighbourhood: Chantimele is located on Ulitsa Tushinskaya and is recommended as a good place to buy tarts, muffins and amazingly delicious cakes.
Shopping in Porkovskoye-Streshnevo does not present a difficult task, because there is a large concentration of large and small outlets that cover a variety of needs. Skippi-2000, located on 1st Tushinsky Proyezd, is a chain store that is said to provide an excellent selection of moderately-priced groceries, for example.
The Svoboda department store on Ulitsa Svobody and Sfera shopping centre on Ulitsa Gabrichevskogo are both good locations for residents’ other shopping needs.
Among younger residents, the Burevestnik sports complex on Ulitsa Lyotnaya is a good place to hang out - particularly if one is interested in water sports. Others prefer to do their fitness training at the Else Club on Ivankovskoye Shosse or else at CityFitness on Volokolamskoye Shosse.
Other good places to visit in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo include the Gzhel Moscow State Academic Theatre on Ulitsa Svobody and the Gallery of the Unknown Soldier on Ulitsa Bolshaya Naberezhnaya.
Arguably, one of the most exciting ways to spend one’s free time in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo is to go parachute-jumping or pilot-training at the Chkalov National Aero Club of Russia on Volokolamskoye Shosse. Named after famous Soviet pilot Valery Chkalov, the club has a good reputation and is often pointed out as one of the main attractions of the neighbourhood.
Local parents can enroll their kids at the Anglo-American School on Ulitsa Beregovaya, as well as the Delta-Prometei school and kindergarten on Stratonavtov Proyezd – both of these establishments serve as the highlights of Pokrovkskoye-Streshnevo’s good educational system.
Another exciting, yet at the same time quiet and atmospheric spot in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo is a tiny bridge overlooking the water sluices of the Moskva canal – it’s easy to access it via Ulitsa Bolshaya Naberezhnaya 13A.
Local property
Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo is currently considered the most popular neighbourhood among wealthier expats who come to work and live in Moscow.
According to Alexander Ziminsky, director of the elite property department at Penny Lane, one of the advantages of Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo are the residents themselves – there is the highest concentration of Westerners living there, most of them coming from the US, Canada and Great Britain.
“This is explained by the fact that the elite village of townhouses Pokrovskiye Kholmy is located here – accommodating diplomats (over 40 per cent of the townhouses are rented by the US Embassy) and top managers of large international companies,” Ziminsky said.
According to Ziminsky, the neighbourhood also features less expensive accommodation – “khrushyovkas and panel buildings of 1960’s and 1980’s”.
Anna Levitova, managing partner of Evans Property, told The Moscow News that that rent in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo is quite low – “there are affordable rates in our apartment database – for instance, $1,700 per month for a three-bedroom , fully furnished apartment on Volokolamskoye Shosse”, she said.
There are also a couple of elite-class and business-class residential buildings in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo, where an apartment will cost anywhere from $1,500,000 to $6,000,000, according to the experts.
“One of the most expensive real estate offerings in the area is a nine-bedroom apartment that costs $6,300,000 – it has heated floors and is fully-renovated,” Levitova said.
Meanwhile, Penny Lane’s offers for elite residential property in the area tend hover around $3,000,000 per apartment, according to Ziminsky.
Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo therefore attracts expats from somewhat diverse backgrounds – both extremely wealthy types and the sort that work white-collar jobs at smaller companies. This diversity is what makes the neighbourhood even more interesting for foreigners, Westerners in particular.
The apartment question
Svetlana Fillipova, a housewife in her mid-thirties, has lived in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo all her life.
Fillipova told The Moscow News that there are hardly any good cafés next to where she lives. “But I do like to venture out to Gruzinskaya Kukhnya, Khod Konyom and Zhemchuzhina, where they have good food,” she pointed out.
Filllipova likes the fact that Pokrkovskoye-Streshnevo is very green and there are many different parks there. “My favourite spots are Alyoshinsky Park and the area near the Khimki Reservoir, as well as Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo Park,” she said.
As for the infrastructure of the neighbourhood, Fillipova said that it is very good. She pointed out that there are many kindergartens and public schools as well as the private Anglo-American School “plus various hospitals and beauty salons”.
Fillipova said that rent in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo is pretty average, which, according to her, means that anyone with an average income can rent or even buy an apartment there.
Fillipova did point out that she would like to live in a more modern building and have no more encounters with drug addicts. “There are so many addicts in the area where I live, it’s terrible,” she complained.
Otherwise, Fillipova is generally satisfied with the quality of life in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo and she would advise potential residents to check out life in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo. “It’s probably not the most modern neighbourhood, but the air clean and there is Moskva Water Channel and the Khimki Reservoir nearby, which is great in summer time,” she concluded.
Source: The Moscow News
