Atypical Lviv: excursion to Sykhiv

Coming to Lviv, most tourists want to see it from the front side. Well, of course: the historical center, paving stones, narrow streets, the town hall on the market square, and other attributes of an old European city. Plus, a huge number of restaurants, cafes and pubs with treats for different tastes and budgets.

And rightly so. Lviv is a charming city with a long and interesting history. Local guides offer dozens of tours in the center of Lviv, and none of them repeat the other. But there is also the Castle Hill, which offers a magnificent view, and the Lychakiv Cemetery, a necropolis that has existed since the 17th century.

But if you are interested in the modern history of Ukraine, you need to go beyond the historical center and move towards the city outskirts. For example, on Sykhiv. This is not just a sleeping area on the outskirts of Lviv. This is the new face of Lviv, a modern European city.

Initially, there were several villages in these places, one of which gave the name to the future microdistrict. By the way, the village was not so small: back in 1525, Sykhiv received the Magdeburg Rights. This made it possible to choose local authorities and manage the life of the city at the discretion of its inhabitants. For comparison: Kyiv received a similar right only 30 years earlier, in 1494-95.

Sykhiv became a city district in Soviet times, after the war. Then the city authorities adopted a master plan for the development of the area. And then, unfortunately, rural buildings were destroyed. Therefore, modern Sykhiv is not rich in ancient monuments. All the notable buildings in the area are remodels. But that’s even better. Against the backdrop of decaying Soviet high-rise buildings, new houses, shopping centers, churches appear, which show the real face of local residents.

What is that face like?

A European-style urban area is growing and developing before our very eyes. If you remove the inscriptions in Ukrainian, the first time you can’t say that this is Lviv. The same clean sidewalks and neatly trimmed lawns, the same shopping centers and square condominium houses are found on the outskirts of Prague and Budapest, Bratislava or Krakow. In a word, the farther, the less differences from the cities of Eastern Europe.

Is this good or bad? Rather good. Such development does not harm the city. The historical center does not go anywhere, the spirit of the old Lviv, its individuality, is kept there. But new areas are much better suited for life. Here, the houses are not crowded, clinging to each other, so there is plenty of space for mothers with strollers and cars. By the way, despite the negative demographic statistics in the country, population growth has been recorded in Sykhiv for several years.

Brand new yellow trams, which even have wi-fi, go to the center from Sykhiv. The tram line to Sykhiv was opened in 2016, so both the tracks and the trams are still brand new. Although fuming minibuses are not uncommon in Sykhiv: not all districts of Lviv can be reached by tram. Bye.

At one time Sykhiv was notorious for being a criminal district. Say, the area is far from the center, and therefore it is convenient to wrap up dark deeds there. Perhaps it was once so. But nowadays Sykhiv is a surprisingly quiet and calm sleeping area. Of course, there is crime here. But if we divide the number of crimes by the population of the district – and 300,000 people live here, almost twice as many as in Uzhgorod – it turns out that the average crime rate here is even lower than in the center. Least of all there are pickpockets and fights. And this is understandable. Sykhiv is too quiet for noisy business.

So, if you hear from someone that Lviv is just the outskirts of Sykhiv, don’t be in a hurry to laugh. And one more thing.
It seems that this is exactly what European integration of a healthy person looks like.