Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140
It's a matter of personal preference. The 65,000 people living here are happy with their large lots and having to drive everywhere, as are the 62,000 in nearby Redmond, 37,000 in Issaquah and 87,000 in Kirkland. Many of us may work in Seattle but don't want to live there. Being "stacked on top of each other like cordwood" is what I would consider a nightmare.
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I can't speak for Europeans, but in the UK generally, I find that there is a cultural difference between Brits and Americans when it comes to residential preference.
Americans tend to be more individualistic (just look around at some of the threads here where the concept of "community" is even being debated) and materialistic where bigger is always better. You have large SUVs as the norm, living in a large McMansion as being inspirational, large spacious roads as the ideal, etc.
In the UK, it's quite different where the aspirational lifestyle is the typical village life. Even though the typical English village conjures up images of low density living, it is much different in character than your typical American suburb.
If you look at the
Sunday Times ranking of the best places to live in the UK, you will see areas that are compact and walkable, has a bustling high street (often times with a farmer's market) which contain the amenities you could need, and where the area was established before the car was even invented. Even the houses tend to be more compact, often times in the form of terraced houses. No McMansions in sight. The town centre or the high street is usually the focal point. The Italians even have a ritual called
La Passeggiata. Strolling down in your local town is such a European thing to do.
Even the
commuter towns surrounding London, has this sort of "village feel", rather than the anonymous, sterile suburbs you find all over the US.
As I have posted on a different thread, even in London, which is a city of 1,400+ villages, the "suburbs" have a village feel to them. The more "villagey" it feels, the more people want to move into it. It is really the epitome of British living.