Everything is either high quality and modern or in a state of decay, awaiting its turn for repair. There's nothing in between. The shops are either just like the ones we have in the UK or they're half-empty, miserable affairs selling the same thing as the shop next door. Or they're a table in an underpass where the owner makes a living from selling slippers.
Where it has been refurbished, though, Lodz looks great! The main pedestrian street, Piotrkowska, has many buildings like this in it:
Of course, sometimes they have buildings like this next to them:
Those will be next in line once the rest of the place has caught up. These, however, I fear will take much longer to replace:
Most of the roads in Lodz are long and straight, and it's arranged in a grid pattern. I guess this means it grew fast in the late 19th Century — I didn't see any sign of a river, which is what I'd expect if the city had been large 300 or 400 years ago. The main east-west road is an 8-lane highway with a couple of tram lines in the middle. There are some big offices and big shops there, including the life-saving-when-you-have-to-buy-presents-for-your-daughters Galleria Lodzka. It also has places like this, though:
In case you didn't notice it, there was a sign there:
It does just what it says on the label.
Hey, look! Christmas in Nagrand:
There seems to be a tradition in Poland of rubbing the noses of metal statues:
This was an interesting building. I think they must use it as a cafe in the summer when THREE INCHES OF SNOW haven't just melted under HOURS OF UNFORGIVING RAIN:
Finally, here's evidence that there isn't a compensation culture in Poland:
If the paving stones were like that anywhere in the UK, people would converge on them from all over in order to sprain their ankles and claim money from the council.