Inside Homes in the Coldest City on Earth (–64°C, –83°F) Yakutsk Apartment Tours

Minus 60 degrees. This is not the weather forecast on Mars. This is winter in my city where around 400 000 people live on frozen ground. But this video is not just about the cold it's about life inside it. I want to show you how people here really live through the homes of real local residents. I will take you inside the four main types of housing in Yakutsk. The first housing type is the old two-story wooden houses. Most of them were built in the 1960s and the 1970s when Yakutsk was growing as urban city and needed cheap practical housing. These were simple multi-family buildings usually with around 12 to 16 flats inside. At the time they were considered modern because they offered many families a more comfortable way of life. But comfort was still very limited. Many of these houses originally had no central heating and no sewage system. Even today many of these homes still do not have basic indoor plumbing so residents must use outdoor toilets even in winter when temperatures can fall below minus 60 degrees. In the early years residents often relied on stove heating and only some buildings were connected to centralized heating later. They were built quickly to solve a housing shortage not to last forever and were expected to be replaced later by newer stone housing. Today these buildings still stand across Yakutsk but they tell a very different story. Many are now badly worn out. Built on frozen grounds these houses have been damaged over time as the ground beneath them shifted causing floors to tilt and the buildings to deform. Poor insulation makes life even harder with freezing air coming through the floors walls and windows. These houses were never meant to face such extreme winters for this long. What was once considered modern houses has now become one of the most fragile part of the city and still many hard-working families continue to live here because they simply cannot afford to move somewhere newer and more comfortable and one of those families is Katerina's Katerina is 43 years old and has five children. Her four older sons are already growing up They are 24, 23, 22 and 18 years old. All of them grew up in this flat. This home has held almost her entire life, childhood, motherhood and years of daily family life. Today Katerina stays at home to care for her young daughter while her husband provides for the family. Their flat is considered a one-bedroom apartment with a separate kitchen and one main living room that serves many purposes at once. Today flats in these wooden houses are among the cheapest in Yakutsk. A small flat in one of these buildings can sometimes be bought for around 35 000 dollars while a rent can be around 300 dollars a month depending on the condition and location. There is no proper bathroom and no shower in this apartment. Katerina's husband installed a toilet himself and connected to the sewage system on his own but the family still cannot properly wash at home so for a shower they have to go to Katerina's sister's house The living room is where almost everything happens. It's where the family rests, where they spend time together and where they sleep at night. It's also where Kate's daughter sits to do her homework. She studies well and dreams of going to university one day. Kate does everything she can to support her, encouraging her to study well and become the person she dreams of becoming. Every year they try to seal the flat again hoping to keep the cold out but it never fully solves the problem. Over time the floors keep shifting, cracks appear again and the freezing air begins to come through the walls and around the windows once more. This year the house is finally expected to be demolished and Kate and her family are waiting for that day with hope. For them it means more than just moving to a new place, it's about finally moving into a home that feels warm, stable and comfortable. Something Kate and her family have never truly had before. In the wooden house, as I don't know, all the neighbors, brother and sister, we go back and forth. And in the stone house, it seems to me, it's not like that anymore. I ask the children, it's like there's a different kind of mentality. We gather with friends, with friends, we have a tent there, we put up a big pool. Well, the kids, of course, they all swim here. Well, I was born here, I just don't know anything else. It's kind of cold, it doesn't scare me, because we got used to it from childhood, well, with him. I remember going to school, minus 50 degrees, you don't study anymore, but you run to the store to buy ice cream and eat it on the street. Well, you don't freeze, as they say there, oh, minus 15, it's cold. I got used to it from childhood. Katerina's home is one part of Yakutsk story, but the city has many different kinds of housing. The city also has modern high-rise apartment buildings. This area was designed as a city within a city, where shops, schools, libraries, and everything you need for daily life are all just a few steps away. In a place where the cold outside can freeze your skin in minutes, having everything nearby isn't just a luxury, it's a part of survival. But that comfort comes with a staggering price tag. A small 40 square meter apartment here can cost around $100,000, while a larger one can reach $350,000. For many people in Yakutsk, that puts this kind of housing far out of reach, especially when the average salary is about $1,000 a month. Hello, welcome to my house. My name is Raya. I live on the sixth floor. This is my phone. But before I show you more of Raya's home, I want to thank Opera for sponsoring this video, because honestly, a lot of this project came together in my browser. I use Opera for everything, browsing, doing research, planning my videos, and just everyday things. While I was working on this script, I found a really interesting article about housing construction in Yakutsk, but there was just too much information at once. So I used Opera AI right there on the page to summarize it and pull out the main points, which honestly just made everything much faster and easier. And because I really can't focus when I have too many tabs open, tab islands help a lot too. I can group everything for one project together, name it, research, give it a color like red if it's urgent, and then collapse it when I'm done. It just makes everything feel cleaner and clears my mind. And because this video had me constantly checking different things at once, I was also using split screen a lot. I could keep my script open next to a currency converter and apartment prices in Yakutsk instead of jumping back and forth between tabs all the time. I also like the sidebar. I use things like Gmail and Google Translate, so if I'm reading something in English, I can translate it quickly without opening even more tabs. I use Opera for everything every single day, and it's made my digital life so much easier and more organized. If you also want to try it, I will leave the link in the description. It's totally free. But for now, let's get back to Raya's home. Meet Raya. She lives here with her family in one of Yakutsk's most modern districts. Inside, everything feels modern, clean, and well-maintained. Compared to older housing in Yakutsk, apartments in newer buildings are usually a little more spacious, and life here feels more comfortable from the moment you step inside. Before entering her flat, Raya takes off her shoes. In Yakutia, shoes are always taken off before entering any home, even by guests. Raya and her family live in a two-bedroom apartment. It has a living room combined with an open-plan kitchen, a master bedroom for Raya and her husband, a separate bedroom for their children, and two bathrooms. Five years ago, they bought this home for $80,000. Today, its value has more than doubled to over $200,000. In a city built on ice, real estate is one of the fastest-growing investments. Raya and her husband Bagdan are raising two sons, Robert and the younger boy Vasily. Together, they are a young family building their life in Yakutsk. Raya and her family love traveling, and the fridge in the kitchen is covered with magnets from different places, turning it into a small map of memories. The kitchen itself is modern and welcoming, the kind of space where the family gathers together, where Raya cooks, and where ordinary daily life feels warm. Like many families in Yakutia, they also use the balcony like a second freezer. The fridge is not always big enough for everything they store. In winter, the balcony becomes the perfect place to keep it. Their older son Robert goes to a local public school nearby. Schools in this district are considered among the better ones, and that is one of the reasons this neighborhood is so desirable. Today, Robert is going to school in the afternoon. Even in extreme winter, schools in Yakutia usually remain open. They only close when temperatures drop below minus 50 degrees Celsius, which means that on most winter days, children still go to class, no matter how cold it is outside. Robert studies well and likes his school, although sometimes he wishes he could stay at home. In Yakutsk, even going to school in winter takes effort. Before stepping outside, he has to put on layer after layer of warm clothes just to make it there. One of the biggest advantages of living here is also convenience. Their son's school is right in front of their building, only about a 5-minute walk from home. In a city where even a 15-minute walk can be dangerous, being this close to school is one of the biggest reasons families are willing to pay a premium to live here. Another important part of life here is parking. Bogdan uses the underground parking for the family car. In Yakutia, you can't just park your car on the street. At minus 60 degrees, an engine can freeze solid in minutes, turning a car into a useless block of metal, so having a warm parking space is essential. But that kind of comfort comes at a price. Whether it's in an insulated garage or a space in a heated parking area, it can be very expensive, with prices sometimes reaching $50,000 or more. In Yakutsk, where the city is built on frozen ground, underground parking is still quite unusual, because digging underground is incredibly difficult and expensive. But in newer districts like this one, it has become possible, and for families it adds a whole new level of comfort. But not everyone in Yakutsk can afford the luxury of modern living. In many parts of the city, the struggle against the cold is visible right on the streets. You will notice giant insulated pipes running above the ground everywhere. If you buried a hot water pipe, it would melt the permafrost, causing the earth to shift and buildings to crumble. These pipes are the city's lifelines, carrying heat to the older, more affordable neighborhoods. Smaller flats in aging buildings, often far away from the city center and in much poorer condition. They are less comfortable, but for many people, they are simply the only realistic option. A flat of around 40 square meters in one of these older buildings can cost about $45,000. One of the most common housing types in Yakutsk is the Soviet-style apartment block known as KPD, made of large concrete panels. These buildings appeared later, mainly from the 1970s, when Yakutsk was growing fast and the city needed to house more people. For many families, moving into one of these apartments meant a more comfortable life with central heating, sewage system and better infrastructure. These buildings were designed to be fast, practical and affordable. A single block contains many apartments, often around 80 or more. Space inside is usually small and very compact. Because Yakutsk is built on frozen ground, most of these buildings are raised on piles to stop the heat inside from melting the frozen ground below. If the ground thaws, the building can start to crack or sink. This is Anastasia and she lives here in this apartment block in Yakutsk. To enter her home, she has to pass through two heavy insulated doors, a buffer zone designed to trap the freezing air outside. The entrance hall is heated and insulated too, often with large radiators. In these types of buildings, nobody lives on the ground floor, apartments start from the second floor, so the heat from the building does not thaw the frozen ground below. Most KPD buildings have 5 floors in total and no elevator, so for Anastasia, climbing the stairs is simply part of daily life. The moment you step inside Anastasia's flat, it feels completely different from outside. Anastasia loves collecting plants. In a city known for ice, snow and months of brutal winter, her place is green, warm, alive, almost exotic. Her flat is 37 square meters, but she has made it feel personal and modern. The first thing you notice is the kitchen. Like many Soviet apartments, it's small and practical. Anastasia decorated it herself and that makes it feel bright, warm and very much her own. There is also the main room, which works as both the living room and the bedroom. This is common in Russia, where a one-room apartment often means one space as to serve several purposes. During the day it's a place to relax and at night it becomes a bedroom. Anastasia is also a well-known blogger. Through her content, she shares everyday life in Yakutsk and shows a side of the city that people do not usually see. The bathroom is small but practical with a toilet and a bathtub. Like many spaces in apartments like this, it's organized in a way that works well for everyday life. Another thing that makes this flat special is its location. It's an essential part of Yakutsk. Good public schools, shops, restaurants and other daily services are all nearby. A flat like this can cost around $75,000, while a rent is about $600 a month. But apartment living is only one side of housing in Yakutsk. For some families, especially bigger ones, a private house offers more space and more freedom. Meet Maria. She and her family live in a private wooden house. Maria and her husband have four children and for their family, living in a house means more space and more independence. In Yakutia, wood is still a common choice for private homes because it holds warmth well and is better suited for the extreme winter. Maria decorated the house herself. Her home feels warm, personal and carefully made. She is also a well-known blogger in Yakutia where she shares contents about interior design and family life while also working professionally as a lawyer. Their house was built in 2020 and is 130 square meters in total. Back then, the family bought the land for about $21,000 and built the house for about $48,000. Today, the same land will cost around $83,000 and building a similar house now will be significantly more expensive. In Yakutsk, that is not a luxury, it's a necessity. Maria and her family heat both the house and the garage with a gas boiler which they set to around 75 degrees. Their monthly utility costs around $187, including heating, water and electricity. In Yakutsk, a private house can never simply be left without heat in winter. If the heating stops working for just a few hours, the pipes will burst and this house will become an ice cave until summer. Maria's home feels warm, made with love and full of care. These homes in Yakutsk are all different, but no matter where we live, we are all trying to create the same thing, a place that feels safe, warm and our own. What about you? Where are you from and what kind of home do you live in? Let me know in the comments! I hope you liked this video and if you did, please give it a like! See you in the next one!