[Eva]

You’re in Russia? Oh well, when we first moved to CA, we used to joke about the level of construction there, as well. We used to say that the houses were cheaply constructed so that if an earthquake struck nearby, it wouldn’t hurt as much if the house caved in.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

No, Czech Republic, near the Polish border. Those apartment blocks, called paneláký by the locals here, are ubiquitous throughout the former East Bloc. Berlin, especially the former DDR parts of it, is chock-full of them. There's tons of them on the outskirts of Prague. They're called sidlíště, housing estates. They cater to everyone on the socio-economic spectrum; lots of middle-class folks live in them. I even know a well-off fellow who lives in one. They may look like hell on the outside, but you can do a lot with 'em on the inside.