Take a look at the sidewalk. Paving stones, not some stupid asphalt (the kind Muscovites don’t want to walk on).
It warms the heart. Real large-format granite paving stones of a new generation. In many places now, the old bad ones (from 2013) are being ripped up and replaced with these nice brand-new ones. And the curbs are new too—very good and very expensive.
Many thanks to Sergei Semyonovich (Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow) for this wonderful urban improvement project. Those billions were not spent in vain. Unfortunately, the video is short, so it doesn’t show the many cyclists or the cozy little tables on the wide sidewalks—where Muscovites were sitting with such tiiiny cups of coffee and newspapers.
P.S. The video was shot yesterday. Yes, it rained—but it was hardly a flood. Short downpours with thunderstorms after a couple of very hot days happen in Moscow 15 times every summer. That’s exactly the kind of rain the song "A Normal Summer Rain" is about.
P.P.S. People have asked whether there will be a reply to Grigory Revzin’s response. I will definitely write one. Not because I’m trying to have the last word—simply because the discussion is very important.