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In some towns around Boston, there are required lot size : square footage restrictions. People were buying up perfectly good "smaller" houses (under 2000 sq.ft.?!) and building these beomoths that covered the lot right up to the setbacks all around, ruining the character of the town (usually old historic, etc.)
In some towns around Boston, there are required lot size : square footage restrictions. People were buying up perfectly good "smaller" houses (under 2000 sq.ft.?!) and building these beomoths that covered the lot right up to the setbacks all around, ruining the character of the town (usually old historic, etc.)
In some towns around Boston, there are required lot size : square footage restrictions. People were buying up perfectly good "smaller" houses (under 2000 sq.ft.?!) and building these beomoths that covered the lot right up to the setbacks all around, ruining the character of the town (usually old historic, etc.)
If a house were deemed "old historic", people would not be permitted to demolish and rebuild. Nobody is breaking the law if they abide by the square footage restrictions.
That is false. There are very few "large" families around today, yet housing sizes now are larger than ever before. Isn't the average household size somewhere around 2.2? In other words we're building larger and larger homes, consuming more and more resources and open space, and we're housing fewer people in each unit. Why?
I am the youngest in a family of four, and we lived quite comfortably in a 1,500 square foot home with three bedrooms and one bathroom. I drive a small sedan and often tote around passengers who never appear to be cramped.
If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck. The only reason so many childless professional couples are buying 5,000 square foot homes is to show off. Don't try to tell me that people who are childless each "need" 2,500 square feet of living space while entire families of four, including my own, comfortably reside in homes that are under 2,000 square feet.
This is obviously a case of "needs" vs. "wants." For those saying "If I want a larger house and can afford one then let me buy one and shut up," did it ever occur to you that by continually building larger homes that consume greater quantities of energy on progressively larger lots that we're improperly using our open space and are driving up costs for nonrenewable sources of energy for everyone, regardless of housing size, due to that increased demand? The same argument can be made for large SUV owners who are ignorant of the fact that by consuming more fuel to go fewer miles that they are increasing demand for gasoline and causing prices to spike for EVERYONE, not just themselves.
There is too much of a "me first" attitude in America, and it's sickening. If you truly DO want a 5,000 square foot McMansion with a two-story foyer, media room, "bonus" room (whatever the hell that is supposed to be), etc., then why not install solar panels and/or invest in alternative energy methods in order to be SOCIALLY-RESPONSIBLE so that your extravagance doesn't hit the pocketbooks of others who choose to live frugally? In the West more and more larger homes are becoming more and more energy efficient, but in my area hundreds of childless professional couples continue to build and move into lavish oversized homes without giving a damn about where their home heating and cooling sources comes from or about the fact that their irresponsibility jacks up the prices for everyone else around them!
"From each according to their ability, to each according to their need."
Sound familiar? Look it up.
What is with this class warfare? If someone works harder than you, takes more risks, and becomes more successful than you then they are entitled to spend their money any way they want without any input from you or the government. Keep in mind that if all of the have-nots keep slamming the people who are making all of the money then the money-makers may just decide to live off their savings and stop working so hard. Then a lot of jobs will be lost, and you will have something new to complain about.
How much "home" does a person/family/dog need? There is such a thing as over comsumption too.
As much as we want -
We are building a 4000 + sq ft for the two of us - our choice
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