City planning in Russia

I've been waiting to write this post for awhile, and I think I finally have enough examples to make it work. Some of my Russian readers have asked me to note that some of the observations I'm making are really generalizations, so please keep that in mind. Still, I've come to the realization that becoming and being a civil engineer or some contruction planner/worker must be vastly easier than it might be in other parts of the world. Why?

1. Street signs on corners are never required. Sometimes they're midway down the street, hidden behind some other sign. I would not want to try to drive here.
2. Drinking fountains in buildings or in any public place are never required. Then again, drinking the public water here will subject to you parasites. In fact the St. Petersburg Times reported today that 3 million tons of used water is dumped into the Neva. Two-thirds of that amount falls into the river completely untreated.
3. There is no need to mark construction sites. Russians are expected to be on the lookout for random cracks, holes, crags, scrap metal, and especially loose planks. Those nice little yellow and black-striped danger tapes, or normal orange cones are RARELY if ever used here.
4. Let's say you start building something. Let's say in the end things don't end up being very level and you need to throw a little 4 inch step in the middle of the hallway just to make things even out. Perfectly normal, right? Yeah, until you spend your break watching every single person jar their knee as they walk from one end of our building to another. A yellow strip or a "watch your step" sign would work wonders. Plus, it's not just our building, it's my house, and many other restaurants and buildings.
5. A smushed-in spare tire is a perfectly acceptable way to fill a hole in the sidewalk.
6. If you're boring a hole in the sidewalk with a massive saw and creating incredible amounts of dust, there's no need to either contain some of the dust you're making or allow for people to walk around you (without getting hit by the car speeding down the street).
   
7. I think it's worth mentioning yet again that people here actually accept they won't have hot water in the summer for 3 weeks.

Thanks for letting me rant. As my mom points out, I think it also probably has a lot to do with the abundance of personal injury lawyers in the states and probably many statutes concerning negligence and legal stuff about which I am not an expert.