A roundup of what Szczecin is talking about online: wrecks are leaving the Oder and the Odyniec Canal, pedestrian crossings in Warszewo got new lighting, and passengers are asking about tram cleanliness. Plus a year of dug-up streets and a summer full of concerts, from Kupała to Candy Dulfer.
This time we stepped beyond the official bulletins and looked at what Szczecin is actually talking about online: in local media, on forums and in residents' streams of complaints. The result is a portrait of a city that is at once cleaning up years of neglect along the water, lighting up pedestrian crossings and getting ready for a summer full of concerts. We gather current updates in our news section.
By the water: the Oder finally sheds its wrecks
The loudest "housing" story of recent weeks is not about housing at all, but about the river. Rusting wrecks had sat for months right by the showcase embankments, and in the Odyniec Canal near Regalica close to a hundred decommissioned vessels had gathered, many of them owned by foreign operators. That is thousands of tonnes of rusting steel, plus oils and greases right next to water used by anglers and kayakers. The regional governor settled the matter in late May: the wrecks by the embankments are to go, and the Inland Navigation Office is looking for a company to tow them away. The very stretch we wrote about with optimism alongside the new face of the waterfront now has a chance to finally look like the renderings.
Residents' affairs: brighter crossings, cleaner trams
In Warszewo, extra lighting has been finished at seven pedestrian crossings. Lamps went up on Duńska Street at Złotowska and Jantarowa and on Podbórzańska at Maciejkowa, among others, at a cost of just over 153 thousand złoty. It looks like a minor investment, but it is exactly the kind residents have been asking for, where after dark a driver simply cannot see a pedestrian.
The second recurring theme is the cleanliness of public transport. Passengers posted photos of cobwebs and streaks on the sides of the cars, and the operator explained that a thorough interior wash takes place once a month, daily cleaning at night, and the upholstery is laundered seasonally. Vehicle cleanliness is checked by traffic supervisors, with penalties for the carrier in case of lapses. The catch is that tight schedules leave too few hands for cleaning, so the result does not always match the declarations. We track current disruptions in our transport section.
Roadworks: a year of dug-up streets
Road crews have announced a broad package of works for this year, from resurfacing key streets to repairing pavements and building lighting. Two spots will be felt the most. At the Warcisława viaduct, alternating traffic controlled by temporary lights has applied since mid-June and will last until the end of summer. On Zbójnicka Street, rebuilt from Europejska all the way to the city border, the traffic layout changed on 18 June. Major resurfacing is also planned on Piłsudskiego and Matejki. If you can, allow extra time in these areas; details are updated in our investments section.
Summer in the city: from Kupała fires to open-air jazz
The good news is that the city makes up for the dug-up streets with a packed calendar. On 20 June KUPAŁA in Szczecin returns to Psia Polana in Kasprowicz Park, a Slavic celebration of fire, water and nature with wreaths and live music. The Sacrum Non Profanum Festival is also under way, its concerts filling historic interiors including the cathedral. On 27 June the philharmonic plays Music on the Water by Jan Waraczewski, and the strongest note of early summer will be an open-air concert by saxophonist Candy Dulfer as part of Szczecin Jazz, billed as her only show in Poland. We also covered the summer programme in our June roundup, and gather all the dates in events.
Barometer: the city on the investment map
Finally, something for those looking at Szczecin from above. In a recent ranking of Polish business centres the city scored a solid 6.9 out of 10, with its port and logistics base among the strengths and urban infrastructure among the challenges. In parallel, more than 2.3 billion złoty is flowing into the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście to improve rail access, the fairway and the terminals. These are not things you see from a tram window, but they decide whether in a few years there will be more work and fewer wrecks along the Oder.
We review the web regularly, so what residents are really living with, from neighbourhood matters to major investments, can be found here in one place. We keep the events calendar current in events.