However, under communism, very few people could afford to buy cars, so in the 70s and 80s he also built the Metro so people could get around. Today it's one of the most extensive systems in Eastern Europe.
Finally, after the fall of communism in 1989, Romanians were able to make more money. As they did, almost every family in Bucharest was able to afford a car. The wide roads were filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic, modern shopping malls and stores popped up all over the city and the city was able to restore a lot of the beautiful buildings from the interwar period. One of our favorite things about car culture in Bucharest is an app called BlaBlaCar. It lets us carpool with people to drive to different cities all over the country! As you drive or walk through the city, you can see the layers of history and how the culture of Bucharest changed drastically over these three periods. Whether you walk, drive or ride through the city, it's easy to see how the movement and culture of Bucharest are inextricably connected.
