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Clearly there's a reason why Orange County real estate is more expensive than suburban King County real estate, and that's because the average OC neighborhood is very dense for suburban America.
Orange County real estate is more expensive than King County real estate because more people want to live in Orange County.
The newer developments in Irvine are not typical of Orange County as a whole.
But I thought this thread was about Canada vs the US, not OC vs. Seattle?
What's so great about Irvine? I feel like Oak Park, IL, Cambridge, MA, and Hoboken, NJ offer a better experience as far as dense suburbs go. My knowledge of dense suburbs isn't that great, so I don't have many examples, but having been to Irvine, CA, I don't get it.
Nothing. It's safe, clean, close to a good university and to the beach/mountains and to decent shopping, but so are many other places, including many other cities in Orange County.
Orange County real estate is more expensive than King County real estate because more people want to live in Orange County.
The newer developments in Irvine are not typical of Orange County as a whole.
But I thought this thread was about Canada vs the US, not OC vs. Seattle?
I think frankly that the OP was more interested in using this thread to boost Irvine's density than to actually discuss US vs. Canadian suburb density.
I think if you want a California suburb that offers a good dense suburb experience you could do far better than Irvine:
Take your pick: Zero lot line SFH's in groups of six sharing a glorified driveway on one side of the street, or townhomes in bundles of eight. Let's not even talk about how many apartment complexes they're building.
Clearly there's a reason why Orange County real estate is more expensive than suburban King County real estate, and that's because the average OC neighborhood is very dense for suburban America.
I will agree that is a different level of density, thankfully King county isn't that bad. We don't really see that type of density in new developments until you get inside the city limits of Seattle, and even then they don't sprawl out that far, which is nice since there is more variation that way, though the styles get recycled anyway.
the only suburb that comes close is probably planned suburb district Issaquah highlands, but even then it has a lot of space dedicated to greenery and small parks.
But it's definitely not the norm, plus it's goal of creating a mixed use mixed income walkable district has kinda failed, since only rich people can afford to live there, busses are packed, the traffic is backed up, and major employers such as Microsoft backed out.
Higher Canadian fuel prices limit home size and sprawl. Getting a license is much more work, and the Ontario government randomly cancels drivers' licenses without notice. Parking tickets are a tremendous scam through all of Canada, on streets and in private parking garages.
Higher Canadian fuel prices limit home size and sprawl. Getting a license is much more work, and the Ontario government randomly cancels drivers' licenses without notice. Parking tickets are a tremendous scam through all of Canada, on streets and in private parking garages.
How's gas prices in Toronto now?
Gas prices in Los Angeles County (which is very close to the California average) now are at $1.27 CAD/liter.
$1.33 CAD/liter in San Francisco (most expensive gas among major U.S. cities)
Older US suburbs are pretty dense. Some examples are Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh or Kenmore, outside Buffalo. They are the exception, though.
Perhaps the "white flight" in the US during the 1950s has something to do with why many American suburbs are also sprawling. Maybe there was a sort of mass hysteria to move out of the city, so there's a tendency to build big houses on sprawling lots.
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