I am biased as I lived in one of those for 20+ years, but I think they couldn't be replaced quickly enough.
Atrocious housing stock.
Atrocious housing stock.
In SPB at least, new construction is going up as fast as they can do it, and while a lot of it is done in more remote areas (end of Metro lines), there is plenty to support people who live in those areas. Dozens of full grocery stores within walking distance at the base of every complex, bus transit is plentiful and relatively frequent (compared to US bus schedules anyways), and the developers/city do seem to try to create good public places for families, such as playgrounds and parks. I have to echo what a lot of others have said, it's nice to be able to walk through the complexes and not have to worry too much about cars. The complexes closer to the city proper have some difficulty though with cleanliness just because a lot of the gardens and embankments aren't well tended to or the infrastructure built to contain the dirt has finally given out after 60 some years, and no one has bothered to fix it. The city tearing up roads and grass embankments to replace ancient plumbing doesn't help much either.
It's not perfect, obviously - the newer buildings are mostly small one or two room apartments, but they have modern amenities, are wired up with modern network and electrical, and overall look nice.
Don't think they'd ever fly in the US though...just not "personal" enough.
I wonder if that's really true. Personally I hate paying rent ... absolutely hate it. Most of my day is spent either at office or at coffeeshops/bars for work and again in gym/bars/coffeeshops/traveling after work/on the weekends. A house is just a place to sleep and cook when I have some time. I absolutely hate paying ~10% of my paycheck for rent; so if we had such "impersonal" but functional residences, I would gladly live in them.
And my personal experience is that people would in general dislike it, with a preference for a private space. I remember comments about the apartments I had when I lived in the US being "small"; I'm of the same opinion as you that a home is pretty much just a place to rest, cook, and clean up, and if I could find a smaller place with the few amenities I wanted, I would.
But that doesn't really seem to be what people are interested in, and the few smaller living spaces available are usually inflated in price due to them having been a fad at one point.
The idea of apartment ownership is also a bit different in the US versus abroad, as my partner's family owns their apartment - they can do the floors, drill into walls, remodel the bathroom, all without anyone else's approval. Such renovations are considered pretty standard and from what I'm told they're considered already as part of the cost of purchasing an apartment. The location and the space is more important than what it looks like.
Compared to apartments in the US that are pretty clear about what sort of decorating and remodeling is and isn't allowed, and the sense of home is much different.