^ So you don't really like the Communist residential architecture.
Ivry is a remain of the so called "Red Belt", the old working-class suburbs of Paris. It has been a stronghold of the French Communist Party since 1925! That's crazy, but they've got their very own local system and management, so to say...
Anyway, some of what they built is bland and kinda sad, but overall, it's been a serious improvement because they don't act as sectarian as they did in the past. There is more social diversity in their real-estate programs now. I think the town will finally thrive from this better attitude someday. It is literally stuck to Central Paris, so it can't go wrong on the long run.
I mean, Communism is surely some sort of bigotry, but the old Red Belt of Paris is growing more social democratic now because they realized they needed regular businesses of the private sector and some better-off taxpayers to fund their own public policies. So this is actually better than the old industrial ruins that were there before.
In Val-de-Marne, we need more mass transit now. A lot of people still rely on their cars because they don't have any subway station close to their homes.
Biking infrastructure got better over the years, but we're not quite there yet. It could be much better.
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