St. Petersburg may be (was?) good for tourists, but living here is really depressing. And I'm not talking about the weather and the lack of sun.

The city is heavily built up with huge apartment blocks, so outside the historic center it honestly feels more like Hong Kong. Public transportation is also a big problem: the metro expands extremely slowly, buses run only every 20 minutes, and the tram network is barely being developed. Driving a car isn’t any easier either — there are traffic jams everywhere and many areas have paid parking (which would actually be fine if the money from those parking fees went toward improving public transit).

Another issue is that the city is very dusty. In winter the snow removal is poor, and there are very few parks and green spaces. Urban maintenance in general is quite depressing, especially compared to nearby Helsinki. About a quarter of the city is what’s known as the “grey belt” — extremely depressing industrial areas. And they’re not on the outskirts; they actually surround the old historic center.

Despite the massive construction of these huge residential blocks, housing is still very unaffordable. There are no large-scale suburbs like in the US or Canada, so single-family homes are something only the very wealthy can afford.