Innopolis eyes of a resident of Moscow
My name is Lena, I work as a tester in InfoWatch. I want to share my impressions of a long summer business trip in Innopolis. I know that there are already a lot of articles about this unusual city near Kazan, and I hope that my story will help you to see it from a new angle.
Washer
This year, InfoWatch opened an office in the Innopolis special economic zone (SEZ), and now we are its residents. Now Testers, developers and sales department work in Innopolis. All the guys from the technical department had an internship in Moscow, after which they moved to Innopolis to work and live.
A month after the official opening of the office, my manager decided to send an employee from the Moscow office to Innopolis to see how our testers work remotely, what difficulties they have in their work, help solve the issues that have accumulated and strengthen friendly ties between branches.
')
Acquaintance with life in Inno (this is how the locals call their city) began back in Moscow during the settlement of the question of where I would live for a month. On the advice of our HR Director, I asked this question in a letter to the concierge service at the address indicated on the official website of the Innopolis SEZ.
And here - the first "Wow"! And immediately - respect for the organization of work: the answer came on the same day, just two hours later. Later, from my colleagues, I learned that in the concierge service, 24/7, four girls work in shifts that answer a wide variety of questions concerning Inno, from all available sources.
For a comfortable stay in Innopolis, I was offered a choice of two options: a hostel and a student campus. Together with the offer I was sent all the available contacts. I decided the housing issue quickly, and I immediately booked a double room on the student campus. Airplane tickets in your pocket, you can fly!
On the appointed day, I flew to Kazan, where I immediately felt at home. The capital of Tatarstan greeted me with wind and rain.
The path from the airport to Innopolis is through Kazan. I decided to go there by taxi, but the driver immediately admitted that he did not know the road to Innopolis: “I have never been there since the city is new. I'll take you, and I'll see for myself at the same time. ” He also asked me to be his navigator as soon as we left Kazan. As a result, we were driving on two different navigators, although finding Innopolis was easy. The city is located on a hill and its modern buildings become visible from the M7 highway.
Part of the existing road and part of the still open road
The driver dropped me off near “Popov Technopark”, or, as they would say in Moscow, near the business center. And then I thought: “What a nasty, piercing, cold wind, and where is my suitcase going?”. I almost grabbed my luggage and disappeared from the weather in the walls of the building, where the InfoWatch Volga office was located on the second floor.
After a month of living in Innopolis, I realized that the place where the Technopark stands is the coldest and most blown by the winds in the city. But it is outside, but inside is always very warm and cozy! The business center itself is built in the form of a glass ring. Locals call it a puck.
At night, the technology park has a very beautiful lighting.
Inside the building is divided into three design sectors: grass, wood and stone.
The concept of each sector is consistent with its name.
By the way, from the business center to any part of Innopolis - 7-10 minutes on foot. Against the background of my expenses on the road in Moscow, this time looks unreal.
InfoWatch Volga is located in the “stone” sector. The office has placed not only the essentials for work - large work tables and new appliances, but also a small kitchenette with a refrigerator and a coffee machine. For meetings and meetings equipped with a separate negotiation. For the rest, a window sill was adapted, which turned into a sofa with soft cushions and a carpet, and a monitor with a prefix was installed nearby.
The office is divided into conditional areas of responsibility - each employee cleans the part of the room that is assigned to him. I really liked this format of self-organization.
But I was a little surprised by the orders that are installed in the building itself. All separate meeting rooms in the technopark are paid. Each connected power outlet in the company's office is also charged. These are the market relations.
A few photos of our office from different angles.
At work
The atmosphere of our office
Here is a lovely view from the window of our office.
View from the "well"
In the Technopark building the access system works and the things are checked through the scanner. Such a system is installed in many buildings in the city: in Technopark, Innopolis University, student campuses, a sports complex, a school, and kindergartens. You get used to such procedures in three weeks. Moreover, I can not fail to note how polite security works in Innopolis.
Residents of the city are students and staff of the University, specialists of resident companies, the mayor's office, employees of the sports complex, and staff of companies that maintain order in the city.
I lived in the first building of the student campus. Rooms on the student campus in Innopolis are an elite hostel. My double room consisted of two rooms: a dining room with a fridge, an electric stove, a TV and a sofa, and a bedroom with two beds, two large desks and a wardrobe. All amenities, including the bathroom, were also located inside the room.
From a conversation with students, I realized that the rooms are of different capacities. There are rooms where one person lives, there are those in which they live in three. Even in the student campus occupy those who come to study at courses organized by the University. The conditions for them are different: they are settled by 5-6 people per room, but living and studying with them is free.
Student campuses
All my colleagues live in apartments, the rent of which is paid by our company. Each building has its own playground and its own underground parking. At the same time there are places for ground. All parking is free, but in the winter is paid for underground heating.
Residential quarter. The left house is also called “candle” by locals.
I think that Innopolis is an ideal place for young families with children: there is a kindergarten, a school, playgrounds, a swimming pool in a sports complex. The most important thing is that it is quiet and peaceful here.
Sea of ​​daisies
Large families live in two-bedroom apartments, couples without children - in one-bedroom.
I was only in one-room apartments. They are pretty big. And the kitchen at all - huge.
My colleague Stas and his “Novosibirsk” cat named Neko or affectionately Neklya
When my colleagues drove into the apartments, they already had everything they needed. In the room: sofa bed, wardrobe, TV and curtains. In the kitchen: refrigerator, electric stove, microwave, cabinets, table and chairs, electric kettle.
True, there are two minuses. Firstly, nothing can be changed in the apartments, including the color of the walls. Secondly, at home after delivery, the tenants do not have a guarantee. If, for example, a tap drips, then this is only a tenant problem.
By the way, apartments in Innopolis are played in a lottery. The conditions are as follows: a person applying for housing must be an employee of the resident company of the Special Economic Zone Innopolis. He must fill out a questionnaire in which indicates the desired living space, floor, the presence of a balcony and other details. And then it remains only to wait for the new house with empty apartments to be delivered or when another tenant moves out of the apartment. In the next two years, the planned delivery of several new buildings.
Buy an apartment in Innopolis can not, just to rent. The cost will depend on the number of rooms, and payment of utility bills depends on the area.
I noticed that in Innopolis very many issues of citizens are solved by local authorities and various services in telegrams. Dialogues are different: chat for all residents of the city, chat for residents of house number 4, chat for residents of the second entrance, chat for dog lovers, chat for volleyball fans and so on. Some of them are closed, and can be added to them only at the invitation of the concierge service, who need to write a request. Within a small town, telegram groups look very comfortable and operational. For example, a cat was lost, a question appeared in the chat: “Who saw my cat?”, And the answer immediately comes: “She is in apartment number X. Ran to visit us. "
In the dining rooms. In Innopolis canteens are everywhere: in a technopark, a student campus, in the University itself, in a sport complex. You can pay for lunch in cash or by credit card. But it is better to prepare in advance for the long queues, since often only one cash desk works. It is also not worth waiting for delicacies, moreover, the food was quite fresh and unpretentious. Affected by the lack of competition.
In cafes and bars. In the city there are several places where you can go and sit over a glass of wine with pasta or a frothy mug with a burger. The establishments have their own telegram groups where the nearest events and new items on the menu are announced.
If you need a large mall, then this is definitely not about Innopolis. There is one shop for the whole city - “Bahetle”. Prices in it are slightly lower than in Moscow, but the quality of goods leaves much to be desired. In the store you can buy everything you need, but not more. To the delight of the inhabitants, they promise to soon open a Pyaterochka shop.
Very often interesting events are organized by the University of Innopolis. For example, showing films (in the summer); lectures promoting various fields of science. Announcement of events can always be learned from the telegram channel of the city.
The city has its own bookstore, no need to go to Kazan. Books in it - for any reader. If some edition is not in the store, then the consultants of the store will order it. If the book is available in a warehouse in Kazan, then it will be brought to Innopolis within 2-3 days.
The bookstore regular customer offers discount cards. One of my colleagues already has a card and is happy to share it with me.
On the outskirts of the city there is a specially equipped barbecue area where a gazebo, barbecue facilities with common skewers and even a tandoor are placed. The order in this zone is maintained by the inhabitants of the city: everyone after himself cleans up the garbage and washes the skewers. My colleagues and I appreciated such leisure.
BBQ area
The town has its own bike rental. Since the city is small, almost without car traffic, it is a pleasure to ride a bike. You can rent not only a bike, but also a scooter, longboard, rollers.
And still inhabitants of Innopolis very much like to play football. They form teams themselves and after training they organize a city tournament. My colleague Stas participated in the tournament, and I was rooting for his team. The initiator of the tournament was Alisher Rakhimov - chief fizruk Innopolis.
Much attention in the city is paid to sport. Mayor Ruslan Shagaleev sometimes trains children at a local sports complex. An interesting detail: for the game “Race of Heroes” the mayor personally took part in the selection and preparation of the guys for the competition, so that they took part in the competition as a team of the city of Innopolis. Under this case, the city has allocated funds to pay for the participation of the whole team.
About the sport center I want to tell more. He is wonderful! It has everything: from the hall where you can play volleyball, to the halls for group classes (boxing, yoga, Latin dances), from the spacious gym to the children's room.
There is a sauna and hammam. In addition, there is a large football stadium, several tennis courts, classic and beach volleyball courts, and a basketball court. And all of them are in very good condition and well covered. For holders of a subscription of the sports complex they are free. You can book any site through a special telegram group. Slightly stricter rules for armor football field: you can drive the ball around the field for free only in the morning, at other hours (due to high demand) you have to pay.
On the second day of my stay in the city, I bought a subscription to the sports complex. But for my colleagues who live and work in Innopolis, the company compensated for the full cost of the annual subscription.
Outside the Innopolis, you can also find entertainment for every taste. For example, visit the island (village) Sviyazhsk. Very beautiful village with a long history. On the island there are monasteries, churches and ordinary residential buildings. And this year, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has included the Sviyazhsky Assumption Monastery on its List.
Very spiritual and peaceful place Sviyazhsk
Boulgar. The city is also ancient and beautiful too, but the history of the city turned out to be very tragic. In the 50s he was flooded to start from scratch. From the old city were only ruins. A few years ago, the authorities of Tatarstan began the restoration and reconstruction of historic landmarks and the construction of new cultural and infrastructure facilities.
Bulgarians - a chronicle of history
And, of course, for everything and not for one weekend, you can easily get lost in the beautiful capital of Tatarstan - Kazan. There are so many places that are definitely worth a visit!
If you have a car, then the chances of being able to visit all the sights in one trip increase. But you can get to interesting places on your own. The transport network is well established, moreover, there is a direct bus between Innopolis and Kazan. On working days, quite often, and on weekends - once an hour. Travel by bus is free, but I heard that by the end of the year they will transfer to paid fare.
In Innopolis there is a pharmacy and a hospital. According to colleagues, the hospital has the most modern equipment installed, and doctors from the best hospitals in Kazan, including from the republican hospital, work there.
A pharmacy is located in the building of one of the student campuses.
I was lucky with the weather. For the whole trip there were only a few cloudy days. Summer is like summer, no sweaters, warm pants and rubber boots with socks! I, finally, for the whole summer could receive the long-awaited vitamin D, going to and from work or walking on the weekend. But colleagues said that cold winds and rains in Innopolis - a common phenomenon. This is especially acute in winter, since the city is located on a hill. Before the trip, I read that there are very beautiful sunsets in Innopolis. And the truth is, they are unreal beautiful, just space! If you are in Innopolis in clear weather, then stay in the city until sunset, it's worth it.
In the testing department, we have one nice tradition: everyone who has passed the probationary period is handed pictures with cats. Our guys passed their probation while being in Innopolis, and I was fortunate enough to congratulate them personally.
PS: All cats were selected taking into account the individual qualities of their owners in the opinion of testing managers!
After PS: I understand that the quality of the photos is so-so, but I really hope that I still managed to convey the atmosphere of my favorite company and city.
Washer
First, a little background
This year, InfoWatch opened an office in the Innopolis special economic zone (SEZ), and now we are its residents. Now Testers, developers and sales department work in Innopolis. All the guys from the technical department had an internship in Moscow, after which they moved to Innopolis to work and live.
A month after the official opening of the office, my manager decided to send an employee from the Moscow office to Innopolis to see how our testers work remotely, what difficulties they have in their work, help solve the issues that have accumulated and strengthen friendly ties between branches.
')
Correspondence acquaintance
Acquaintance with life in Inno (this is how the locals call their city) began back in Moscow during the settlement of the question of where I would live for a month. On the advice of our HR Director, I asked this question in a letter to the concierge service at the address indicated on the official website of the Innopolis SEZ.
And here - the first "Wow"! And immediately - respect for the organization of work: the answer came on the same day, just two hours later. Later, from my colleagues, I learned that in the concierge service, 24/7, four girls work in shifts that answer a wide variety of questions concerning Inno, from all available sources.
For a comfortable stay in Innopolis, I was offered a choice of two options: a hostel and a student campus. Together with the offer I was sent all the available contacts. I decided the housing issue quickly, and I immediately booked a double room on the student campus. Airplane tickets in your pocket, you can fly!
Road to inno
On the appointed day, I flew to Kazan, where I immediately felt at home. The capital of Tatarstan greeted me with wind and rain.
The path from the airport to Innopolis is through Kazan. I decided to go there by taxi, but the driver immediately admitted that he did not know the road to Innopolis: “I have never been there since the city is new. I'll take you, and I'll see for myself at the same time. ” He also asked me to be his navigator as soon as we left Kazan. As a result, we were driving on two different navigators, although finding Innopolis was easy. The city is located on a hill and its modern buildings become visible from the M7 highway.
Part of the existing road and part of the still open road
About business center
The driver dropped me off near “Popov Technopark”, or, as they would say in Moscow, near the business center. And then I thought: “What a nasty, piercing, cold wind, and where is my suitcase going?”. I almost grabbed my luggage and disappeared from the weather in the walls of the building, where the InfoWatch Volga office was located on the second floor.
After a month of living in Innopolis, I realized that the place where the Technopark stands is the coldest and most blown by the winds in the city. But it is outside, but inside is always very warm and cozy! The business center itself is built in the form of a glass ring. Locals call it a puck.
At night, the technology park has a very beautiful lighting.
Inside the building is divided into three design sectors: grass, wood and stone.
The concept of each sector is consistent with its name.
By the way, from the business center to any part of Innopolis - 7-10 minutes on foot. Against the background of my expenses on the road in Moscow, this time looks unreal.
About the workplace
InfoWatch Volga is located in the “stone” sector. The office has placed not only the essentials for work - large work tables and new appliances, but also a small kitchenette with a refrigerator and a coffee machine. For meetings and meetings equipped with a separate negotiation. For the rest, a window sill was adapted, which turned into a sofa with soft cushions and a carpet, and a monitor with a prefix was installed nearby.The office is divided into conditional areas of responsibility - each employee cleans the part of the room that is assigned to him. I really liked this format of self-organization.
But I was a little surprised by the orders that are installed in the building itself. All separate meeting rooms in the technopark are paid. Each connected power outlet in the company's office is also charged. These are the market relations.
A few photos of our office from different angles.
At work
The atmosphere of our office
Here is a lovely view from the window of our office.
View from the "well"
Security
In the Technopark building the access system works and the things are checked through the scanner. Such a system is installed in many buildings in the city: in Technopark, Innopolis University, student campuses, a sports complex, a school, and kindergartens. You get used to such procedures in three weeks. Moreover, I can not fail to note how polite security works in Innopolis.
Where and how do Innopolyans live?
Residents of the city are students and staff of the University, specialists of resident companies, the mayor's office, employees of the sports complex, and staff of companies that maintain order in the city.
I lived in the first building of the student campus. Rooms on the student campus in Innopolis are an elite hostel. My double room consisted of two rooms: a dining room with a fridge, an electric stove, a TV and a sofa, and a bedroom with two beds, two large desks and a wardrobe. All amenities, including the bathroom, were also located inside the room.
From a conversation with students, I realized that the rooms are of different capacities. There are rooms where one person lives, there are those in which they live in three. Even in the student campus occupy those who come to study at courses organized by the University. The conditions for them are different: they are settled by 5-6 people per room, but living and studying with them is free.
Student campuses
All my colleagues live in apartments, the rent of which is paid by our company. Each building has its own playground and its own underground parking. At the same time there are places for ground. All parking is free, but in the winter is paid for underground heating.
Residential quarter. The left house is also called “candle” by locals.
I think that Innopolis is an ideal place for young families with children: there is a kindergarten, a school, playgrounds, a swimming pool in a sports complex. The most important thing is that it is quiet and peaceful here.
Sea of ​​daisies
Large families live in two-bedroom apartments, couples without children - in one-bedroom.
I was only in one-room apartments. They are pretty big. And the kitchen at all - huge.
My colleague Stas and his “Novosibirsk” cat named Neko or affectionately Neklya
When my colleagues drove into the apartments, they already had everything they needed. In the room: sofa bed, wardrobe, TV and curtains. In the kitchen: refrigerator, electric stove, microwave, cabinets, table and chairs, electric kettle.
True, there are two minuses. Firstly, nothing can be changed in the apartments, including the color of the walls. Secondly, at home after delivery, the tenants do not have a guarantee. If, for example, a tap drips, then this is only a tenant problem.
By the way, apartments in Innopolis are played in a lottery. The conditions are as follows: a person applying for housing must be an employee of the resident company of the Special Economic Zone Innopolis. He must fill out a questionnaire in which indicates the desired living space, floor, the presence of a balcony and other details. And then it remains only to wait for the new house with empty apartments to be delivered or when another tenant moves out of the apartment. In the next two years, the planned delivery of several new buildings.
Buy an apartment in Innopolis can not, just to rent. The cost will depend on the number of rooms, and payment of utility bills depends on the area.
I noticed that in Innopolis very many issues of citizens are solved by local authorities and various services in telegrams. Dialogues are different: chat for all residents of the city, chat for residents of house number 4, chat for residents of the second entrance, chat for dog lovers, chat for volleyball fans and so on. Some of them are closed, and can be added to them only at the invitation of the concierge service, who need to write a request. Within a small town, telegram groups look very comfortable and operational. For example, a cat was lost, a question appeared in the chat: “Who saw my cat?”, And the answer immediately comes: “She is in apartment number X. Ran to visit us. "Where to eat?
In the dining rooms. In Innopolis canteens are everywhere: in a technopark, a student campus, in the University itself, in a sport complex. You can pay for lunch in cash or by credit card. But it is better to prepare in advance for the long queues, since often only one cash desk works. It is also not worth waiting for delicacies, moreover, the food was quite fresh and unpretentious. Affected by the lack of competition.
In cafes and bars. In the city there are several places where you can go and sit over a glass of wine with pasta or a frothy mug with a burger. The establishments have their own telegram groups where the nearest events and new items on the menu are announced.
About stores
If you need a large mall, then this is definitely not about Innopolis. There is one shop for the whole city - “Bahetle”. Prices in it are slightly lower than in Moscow, but the quality of goods leaves much to be desired. In the store you can buy everything you need, but not more. To the delight of the inhabitants, they promise to soon open a Pyaterochka shop.
Where to spend your free time?
Very often interesting events are organized by the University of Innopolis. For example, showing films (in the summer); lectures promoting various fields of science. Announcement of events can always be learned from the telegram channel of the city.
The city has its own bookstore, no need to go to Kazan. Books in it - for any reader. If some edition is not in the store, then the consultants of the store will order it. If the book is available in a warehouse in Kazan, then it will be brought to Innopolis within 2-3 days.
The bookstore regular customer offers discount cards. One of my colleagues already has a card and is happy to share it with me.
On the outskirts of the city there is a specially equipped barbecue area where a gazebo, barbecue facilities with common skewers and even a tandoor are placed. The order in this zone is maintained by the inhabitants of the city: everyone after himself cleans up the garbage and washes the skewers. My colleagues and I appreciated such leisure.
BBQ area
The town has its own bike rental. Since the city is small, almost without car traffic, it is a pleasure to ride a bike. You can rent not only a bike, but also a scooter, longboard, rollers.
And still inhabitants of Innopolis very much like to play football. They form teams themselves and after training they organize a city tournament. My colleague Stas participated in the tournament, and I was rooting for his team. The initiator of the tournament was Alisher Rakhimov - chief fizruk Innopolis.
Much attention in the city is paid to sport. Mayor Ruslan Shagaleev sometimes trains children at a local sports complex. An interesting detail: for the game “Race of Heroes” the mayor personally took part in the selection and preparation of the guys for the competition, so that they took part in the competition as a team of the city of Innopolis. Under this case, the city has allocated funds to pay for the participation of the whole team.
About the sport center I want to tell more. He is wonderful! It has everything: from the hall where you can play volleyball, to the halls for group classes (boxing, yoga, Latin dances), from the spacious gym to the children's room.
There is a sauna and hammam. In addition, there is a large football stadium, several tennis courts, classic and beach volleyball courts, and a basketball court. And all of them are in very good condition and well covered. For holders of a subscription of the sports complex they are free. You can book any site through a special telegram group. Slightly stricter rules for armor football field: you can drive the ball around the field for free only in the morning, at other hours (due to high demand) you have to pay.
On the second day of my stay in the city, I bought a subscription to the sports complex. But for my colleagues who live and work in Innopolis, the company compensated for the full cost of the annual subscription.
Outside the Innopolis, you can also find entertainment for every taste. For example, visit the island (village) Sviyazhsk. Very beautiful village with a long history. On the island there are monasteries, churches and ordinary residential buildings. And this year, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has included the Sviyazhsky Assumption Monastery on its List.
Very spiritual and peaceful place Sviyazhsk
Boulgar. The city is also ancient and beautiful too, but the history of the city turned out to be very tragic. In the 50s he was flooded to start from scratch. From the old city were only ruins. A few years ago, the authorities of Tatarstan began the restoration and reconstruction of historic landmarks and the construction of new cultural and infrastructure facilities.
Bulgarians - a chronicle of history
And, of course, for everything and not for one weekend, you can easily get lost in the beautiful capital of Tatarstan - Kazan. There are so many places that are definitely worth a visit!
If you have a car, then the chances of being able to visit all the sights in one trip increase. But you can get to interesting places on your own. The transport network is well established, moreover, there is a direct bus between Innopolis and Kazan. On working days, quite often, and on weekends - once an hour. Travel by bus is free, but I heard that by the end of the year they will transfer to paid fare.
Who is on guard of health?
In Innopolis there is a pharmacy and a hospital. According to colleagues, the hospital has the most modern equipment installed, and doctors from the best hospitals in Kazan, including from the republican hospital, work there.
A pharmacy is located in the building of one of the student campuses.
A little about nature and weather
I was lucky with the weather. For the whole trip there were only a few cloudy days. Summer is like summer, no sweaters, warm pants and rubber boots with socks! I, finally, for the whole summer could receive the long-awaited vitamin D, going to and from work or walking on the weekend. But colleagues said that cold winds and rains in Innopolis - a common phenomenon. This is especially acute in winter, since the city is located on a hill. Before the trip, I read that there are very beautiful sunsets in Innopolis. And the truth is, they are unreal beautiful, just space! If you are in Innopolis in clear weather, then stay in the city until sunset, it's worth it.
And in conclusion about the traditions
In the testing department, we have one nice tradition: everyone who has passed the probationary period is handed pictures with cats. Our guys passed their probation while being in Innopolis, and I was fortunate enough to congratulate them personally.
PS: All cats were selected taking into account the individual qualities of their owners in the opinion of testing managers!
After PS: I understand that the quality of the photos is so-so, but I really hope that I still managed to convey the atmosphere of my favorite company and city.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/344610/
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