A European immigrant moves to USA and explains why he believes US suburbia is soul crushing (article) (subdivision, Houston)
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Chiming in very late but it was an interesting article...
Single-use zoning: Yes please. Don't see the problem here
Not being able to walk a short distance: This is a solid point. If you can't drive, you probably aren't going to be happy in suburbia. Or maybe you are ok with getting rides
People should be able to live in huts in the backyard? Grandma can live in the garage?
No street enclosure: This is apples to oranges. The first picture is apartment living. The second is detached houses. It's two completely different types of living. You couldn't get me back in a apartment if it was free. That's just me. Did apartments for many years. I hope and pray I never have to live attached to people again.
Something about useless grass: Not sure about this one. I see lots of people using their grass. Swingsets, trampolines. You can put a pool in. A deck. A screened in porch. I see gardens.
Garbage cans at the curb isn't civilized? Say what? What is better, smelly dumpsters loaded up in city alleys. Garbage is garbage.
Standard complaint about newer houses/McMansions. Whatever. So many ugly buildings in the city too
No street life: What kind of street life does one want? I walk my dog on our sidewalk, I see all of the dog walkers, we chat. That's good enough for me.
No public transport: I rose public transportation for many years. I much prefer my own car.
Re: the sentence in bold.
Here are a couple examples from my old neighborhood, of properties with more than one dwelling:
1. I almost bought this house. If I did, my mom would have been quite happy living in the apartment (1BR) above the garage. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0990...8i6656!6m1!1e1
In both cases, you have the benefits of having additional income, like owning a duplex or triplex, and you could live on site, without sharing a wall or floor with a tenant.
Yesterday after working at the hospital, I came home to my home. My son had mowed the yard but needed me to trim the edge. I did that. Took care of the palm trees, and pulled some weeds. One thing I love is Sunday just before dusk. It seems that the neighborhood is quiet at that time. Most people are in and away from the hustle and bustle of the week. I remember growing up and it seemed the same way. For me this is my time. I water the plants and enjoy the time I have. My kids seem to be in at that time.
Contrast that with when we were living in the apartments and it is not the same. I had no plants to water or weeds to pick. I think a person gets great satisfaction from having their own bit of dirt to call home. I prefer my our home on a street with others. We are all in the same boat just trying to make it a good neighborhood or at least keep it that way.
Still, my time, the time I love the most, is that Sunday late after noon before the sun has completely set. I love the quiet and few if any people our and about. My own personal place of escape.
Here are a couple examples from my old neighborhood, of properties with more than one dwelling:
1. I almost bought this house. If I did, my mom would have been quite happy living in the apartment (1BR) above the garage. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0990...8i6656!6m1!1e1
In both cases, you have the benefits of having additional income, like owning a duplex or triplex, and you could live on site, without sharing a wall or floor with a tenant.
I see your point. I'm all for extended families living together when needed. The author mentioned building additional structures in yards and stuff like that. That could be a mess
Half of Austrian housing units are detached homes, presumably with some yard? There are huge diffferences between European countries, it's silly to talk about a "European model". One commonality is cities have a dense core, very pedestrian oriented (usually with rather narrow streets). How big those are and how typical they are of a resident differs
What I have noticed is the relative ease to add a in-law or even two in-laws under one roof... many of my Austrian friends have parents or children living in separate apartments under one roof... it really works quite well and not much fuss unless you change the footprint... also the common masonry construction makes fire spread unlikely... whereas in America most homes are stick built and fire is a REAL threat.
The planning/zoning is not an issue and as long as it is family or caregiver occupied the jurisdiction could care less how many stoves a house has...
The American counterpart has been fought tooth and nail for granny flats and in-laws until very recently here in California...
I've attached a picture of one of my coworkers homes in Austria... started out as single family he and his wife built in 1970 and over the years added on and finished the basement and attic so it is now a 3 kitchen home with 3 living units... all on radiant heat and one electric meter...
It as a very nice garden and views... and this is representative of the homes in the Salzburg area outside the city proper...
Zero issues building out or finishing the attic/basement as the spaces are not rented.
Seems he is always starting or just finishing a home project... just about everything you see was done by family on nights, weekend and holidays...
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 03-13-2017 at 03:19 PM..
What a load of crap. Humans DO NOT "crave enclosure". My heavens, what a ridiculous idea! Some people tolerate crowding better than others, but just like rats, when crowding becomes too much, people turn on each other. Give me the wide open spaces, you can keep your cages and "enclosures". I just want a house of my own that is far enough away from the neighbors that they can't see into mine just by glancing out their window - which is 2' away from mine. I had many relatives who lived in those narrow houses with the barely-wide-enough-for-a-child-to-walk "side yards". HATE those things. You can keep 'em, and the cities they were built in.
Some of the pleasant ambience here results from gentrification and high property values; a generation ago some of these buildings were in bad shape. These aren't solid blocks of buildings but they're close enough together to create a kind of street wall enclosure. The streets aren't completely straight and/or the topography shifts so that the view is closed in the distance too. Not sure of the 'golden section' but here is an agreeable proportion of street-space width to the height of the enclosing buildings: they're not very high but since they're built right up to the street line they really define the space.
I hear you... I stay with my friends when in Vienna... one is a Doctor and two are nurses... they actually all started in Nursing School together...
The single female Doctor has a 3 room flat in a good district... it belonged to her Grandparents so she lucked out... not large or fancy but close to everything and lots of underground shops across the street...
The two nurses share a flat... they all take great trips and last week went to London just for a two day weekend... only the Doctor has a car and it is very small... mostly just so she can visit her parents in Litschau...
My friends outside Salzburg in the Salzkammer Gut all have picture postcard homes... some passed through many generations and some built on family land... Land is everything... even 400 to 600 qm opens many doors...
I built just outside of Salzburg and was very fortunate to have been able to do so... 10 minutes to city center and 10 minutes the other way to the lake district...
Only can comment on Austria and Bavaria... can't generalize about the rest... but my Swedish friend has 41 days and comes to visit.
Austria, which guarantees workers the most time off, has a legal minimum of 22 paid vacation days and 13 paid holidays each year.
In Land Salzburg there are also additional holidays... still find it odd to see miles of trucks waiting at the border because it is Sunday or a Church Holiday and they are forbidden to drive on these days with a few limited exceptions for perishables...
The previous tenant in my apartment is a doctor. The nice thing here are the mixed-use buildings. A single or multiple apartments can be repurposed as a place of business. A dentist or doctor can have his/her private practice literally next door on the hallway from where they live. That's a good commute!
Many people luck out with housing. More than half the city live in public/social housing. It doesn't carry the connotation of a slum. The income threshold is quite high - easy to get in. Once you're already in, even if your income rise, you don't have to vacate! Also, the contract rights can be passed to immediate family members. Thirdly, there is really tight control on rent increases. What this means is for natives whose grand grandparents qualified for this program when it was started in the 1920s, 30s...they inherited rental rights to apartments for peanuts!!!--1/5th of free market rates!!!
The bad part on public.holiday is that it falls on dates, not days. A holiday that coincides with Sunday on a particular year does not roll over into Monday. So fewer than 13 days is the reality.
Many people luck out with housing. More than half the city live in public/social housing. It doesn't carry the connotation of a slum. The income threshold is quite high - easy to get in. Once you're already in, even if your income rise, you don't have to vacate! Also, the contract rights can be passed to immediate family members. Thirdly, there is really tight control on rent increases. What this means is for natives whose grand grandparents qualified for this program when it was started in the 1920s, 30s...they inherited rental rights to apartments for peanuts!!!--1/5th of free market rates!!!
This kind of thing happens everywhere, but unfortunately can't really be factored in to the "cost of living" in a certain place, since newcomers can not take advantage of it. People sometimes wonder how my family of five can afford to live in high-COL Southern California on a single income. When I tell them what we paid for our house, way back when, they faint (figuratively speaking). No family of five could come to my area today, making an average single income, and expect to live as we do.
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