Living In Saint Petersburg...
An apartment with three or four rooms and a kitchen and bathroom can house three families (or individuals). One young lady I know lives in an apartment that has four rooms (not counting kitchen and bathroom), a family of four uses two rooms, she has a room, and a young man has another room. They share the kitchen and bathroom. She has a bed, refrigerator, chairs, table, wardrobe and maybe a desk in her room. Her room is not as big as the kitchen in the apartment we live in and she pays 5000 rubles which is over $150.00. She only makes about 15000 rubles a month, which is around $500.00. Another young lady shares a room with another lady and they pay 10000 rubles a month. She makes only a few thousand rubles a month. Needless to say by the time they pay rent, buy food and Metro/bus passes they have little money left over. They also told me about some apartments that have the kitchen and bathroom both in one room. That would be very inconvenient don't you think?