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Also, the bigger shift from cities to suburbs occurred not because of the automobile but the train. Posted about that before, and I'm just too lazy to dig up the source material again. Cars just continued what the train started in making it possible for more and more people to live farther than they could walk to everything.
If by "cookie cutter" you mean "repetitive," then some of the most beautiful streets of London, Paris, Boston, etc. are cookie cutter. However, it has become a term of abuse, so what I think the OP meant is "nice" or "not nice."
The Philly and Brooklyn row houses are very nice. They are what a cookie cutter should be used for. The Chinatown building is kind of meh, although we know that the rest of New York is just around the corner so we tend to think of it as nice by association. There is no way the great castles of Upper Montclair were made using a cookie cutter, and I think they're very nice. I wish I had one (so that I could sell it). The Maplewood street is the same but on a more modest scale. I can't figure out the South Central LA picture. I hate Stuy Town to no end.
If by "cookie cutter" you mean "repetitive," then some of the most beautiful streets of London, Paris, Boston, etc. are cookie cutter. However, it has become a term of abuse, so what I think the OP meant is "nice" or "not nice."
The Philly and Brooklyn row houses are very nice. They are what a cookie cutter should be used for. The Chinatown building is kind of meh, although we know that the rest of New York is just around the corner so we tend to think of it as nice by association. There is no way the great castles of Upper Montclair were made using a cookie cutter, and I think they're very nice. I wish I had one (so that I could sell it). The Maplewood street is the same but on a more modest scale. I can't figure out the South Central LA picture. I hate Stuy Town to no end.
And on the other hand, tract housing, built in the suburbs and meant to be affordable to young people buying their first house, is "not nice"?
imo, no not as nice. Aesthethically less interesting.
I can totally understand how this is a matter of opinion, but I don't see how a neighborhood can be inherently more or less aesthetically interesting because it's "suburban" versus "urban". I don't see how this can inherently determine the aesthetics of a place. To me, it's about subjectively looking at a specific place and determining it's aesthetics.
For example, while neither one of these next two examples would be anywhere I'd ever want to live (way too dense), I'd find this to be really nice looking, and wouldn't mind enjoying a walk around here if I was visiting the city for a while, as opposed to this, which despite being "urban and dense", is completely hideous and would be a hellish place for me to live, probably giving me panic attacks and being enraged all the time having to live "on top" of each other like that. I need space.
The same goes for suburban communities: I would find a place like this to be very aesthetically pleasing, an acceptable density and a nice range of different styles of homes, and I'd even go so far as to say that I would love to eventually buy a home in this type of neighborhood, made fun of for being "cookie cutter McMansions", however I can clearly see several different styles of home. That, and I find them (and the neighborhood) to be very comforting, homey and aesthetically pleasing. That being said, I find a suburban community laid out like this has way too high of a density for my liking, and is not very aesthetically pleasing either. I cherry-picked a few examples from across the country, since were just talking about suburbs versus urban areas.
I can totally understand how this is a matter of opinion, but I don't see how a neighborhood can be inherently more or less aesthetically interesting because it's "suburban" versus "urban". I don't see how this can inherently determine the aesthetics of a place. To me, it's about subjectively looking at a specific place and determining it's aesthetics.
For example, while neither one of these next two examples would be anywhere I'd ever want to live (way too dense), I'd find this to be really nice looking, and wouldn't mind enjoying a walk around here if I was visiting the city for a while, as opposed to this, which despite being "urban and dense", is completely hideous and would be a hellish place for me to live, probably giving me panic attacks and being enraged all the time having to live "on top" of each other like that. I need space.
I was comparing to the two urban "cookie-cutter" examples the OP used that I think are aesthetically appealing, I wasn't comparing to all urban, dense locations. Nor do I think all urban locations are aesthetically more interesting. I find your first link much more appealing than the second, though I won't go so far as to call the second hideous or hellish. The first one is probably denser than the second, possibly by a lot.
I don't care that much about space, within limits, but to each his (or her) own.
I was comparing to the two urban "cookie-cutter" examples the OP used that I think are aesthetically appealing, I wasn't comparing to all urban, dense locations. Nor do I think all urban locations are aesthetically more interesting. I find your first link much more appealing than the second, though I won't go so far as to call the second hideous or hellish. The first one is probably denser than the second, possibly by a lot.
I understand. It wasn't so much directed towards you, I should have specified that I find that a lot of people on here have that blind approach to things like that. The first urban space does appear a lot denser, but I was mainly comparing the aesthetics of the two.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
I don't care that much about space, within limits, but to each his (or her) own.
I think what it comes down to is people's desire for personal vs public, individualist vs collective, private spaces/experiences vs public spaces/experiences.
One making a decent salary could choose to live in downtown Brooklyn in a decent apartment and pay high enough rent/cost of living, versus someone who could live in a southern/midwestern suburb and spend the same amount of money on a decent sized suburban home and plot of land. The person who chose the city might prefer more public, shared and collective lifestyle: walking around crowded "vibrant" streets, taking mass transit, using public parks/pools, preference for closer proximity to cultural institutions. The latter such as me, would choose the more personal, individualist and private lifestyle: shopping at big box stores, malls and strip malls, having a large backyard with a pool to hang out in, having a big driveway and garage to wash and/or work on cars (and extra space for visitors), larger interior space for extra rooms like a sizable home office, more bathrooms (mainly to do with families), more room for people to spread out and be comfortable, room for a home movie theater setup in the basement, playrooms for kids, big kitchen and dining room for company/parties, big backyard deck for summer barbeques, etc.
It's beyond a simple preference for density and space, but rather what a person's real desires are out of their lifestyle.
I mean that was obviously your point, but I just don't see it here, really.
I cant think of a single 20 or 30 something I knew who purchased new construction, anywhere.
I think it might be a dated notion, except for expensive communities.
Last edited by HandsUpThumbsDown; 03-12-2013 at 03:08 PM..
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