Throughout the country one can now see manufacturing plants belonging to familiar multi-national companies. There is a developing middle class, something that part of the world has lacked in previous centuries. An urban sprawl is developing around Budapest. Of course, people who live there must have transportation to get to work. The most notable new buildings in almost every town are service stations and automobile dealerships.
Automobiles are everywhere.
Budapest is almost in gridlock. This is true in spite of the fact that automobiles are quite expensive. The fact that there are so many automobiles on the roads is evidence that there is a great deal more money in Hungary than there was even three years ago. At the same time, there are serious economic problems. The people we talked to feel that this prosperity is passing them by.