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elizabeth  ·  3192 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: "Drugs are BAD BAD BAD!"

подъезд is sort of the lobby (entry?) of them communist apartment blocks. In the us, i'd compare it to the rent-controlled community buildings. The подъезд is usually full of graffiti, sometimes smells like piss and teenagers hang out there. Grandmas are not too far away gossiping about who left and entered the подъезд at what time: always useful when you need to know if someone's home, not so useful if you're cheating on your husband.

There's probably no literal translation but from my experience, that's the gist of it. There are better and worst подъездs'. Some are not too bad, some have a special reputation.