Will Families Really Live in Cities? (metro, suburbs, downtown, issues)
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In my family the opposite. Hotels are costly and the point of visiting someone is to visit them not have to commute to and from an hotel to their house. The only time my family might choose an hotel is if there are no close relatives available and we don't wish to impose. Hotels are not that private at all.
Hotels aren't private? You have a room all to yourself. I could walk around naked in a hotel room after a shower, I can't do that when staying at someone else's house.
Well, you can have a lot of privacy if the person you're visiting has enough space.
We usually just go to my brother's house for holidays since he's got a McMansion. That way we can all be under one roof. The whole point of having family for the holidays, imo, is to be around each other to watch the Macy's Day Parade, the Charlie Brown movies, Home Alone, etc.
I can do all those things and still enjoy the comforts of a nearby hotel room when visiting someone for the holidays. It isn't any different than spending the holidays at someone else's house when we live in the same city. At the end of the day I would just go home to my own house.
I still wouldn't attribute that to suburban living . . .
We would take our bikes there during the summer and ride around with other kids who lived two, sometimes three miles away. Backyard basketball, football, baseball, playing in woods, catching fireflies, eating honeysuckle and muscadines, etc.
Yeah, you're talking about when you were old enough to ride your bike around the neighborhood. You knew where the other kids were and someone said "hey, let's go over the playground" so you did. If you didn't go over there with your friends it would just be you there until one of your friends rode by and asked you what you were doing. It was the same thing where I grew up.
I'm talking about young kids - under 6 or 7 - with their parents. In the suburbs those kids, and even most of the older kids are playing in their own backyard (and you pointed this out yourself) or in their friend's backyard. Kids in the city are at the playground because they don't have a backyard.
As a parent with little ones if you want to find those kids in the suburbs you have to call their parents to find out what what they're up to.
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I don't think our house was even that large (unless you include our basement, which is unfinished). Our house was definitely small for four kids who weren't that far apart in age. We had one full bathroom in our house. And we had very little storage space. I shared a room with my older brother until he left for college, which would have been cool if we both didn't have a bunch of stuff. With instruments, stereo equipment, rollerblades, etc. our room was tight as hell. That's part of the reason he opted for brand new construction in the Atlanta suburbs.
My point in bringing up the space thing is that having 4-6 bedrooms and 2000-3000 s/f and living in the city are not mutually exclusive. I agree that if you have 4 kids it might get a little tight on the smaller end of that range but the average "family" is 2.5 people. The average family with kids has 2 kids.
Hotels aren't private? You have a room all to yourself. I could walk around naked in a hotel room after a shower, I can't do that when staying at someone else's house.
Typically when we had guest over they got an bedroom to themselves or were out on the couch.
I never saw much point in spending an extra $50,000 or so for an extra bedroom in case I have relatives coming to visit. With the money I save not owning a house with that extra room that gets used a few times a year, I can afford to pay for their hotel room if they come to visit.
I never saw much point in spending an extra $50,000 or so for an extra bedroom in case I have relatives coming to visit. With the money I save not owning a house with that extra room that gets used a few times a year, I can afford to pay for their hotel room if they come to visit.
I don't think anyone gets an extra bedroom solely for that reason. The primary reason for us is to have extra space. Other considerations are space for guests and greater potential rental income. It's also easier to sell a 2BR unit.
We've also had people live with us long-term (around 6 months), which would have been challenging with a one-bedroom.
I'm talking about young kids - under 6 or 7 - with their parents. In the suburbs those kids, and even most of the older kids are playing in their own backyard (and you pointed this out yourself) or in their friend's backyard. Kids in the city are at the playground because they don't have a backyard.
I see your point. In very dense urban environments, you certainly see that. You will see a lot of kids playing in spaces like this.
I can do all those things and still enjoy the comforts of a nearby hotel room when visiting someone for the holidays. It isn't any different than spending the holidays at someone else's house when we live in the same city. At the end of the day I would just go home to my own house.
If you feel comfortable doing that, and you've got the cash, then why not? My main concern is having people in town who can't necessarily spend hundreds of dollars per night on a hotel room in an expensive metro area during the holidays. I'd prefer to have a home where I can house my brother, niece, nephew, mom, etc.
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