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Location: Prince Georges County, MD (formerly Long Island, NY)
1,558 posts, read 2,723,240 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steven r.
Suburbs are nothing more then some drawn up fantasy created by a sadistic satanic developer looking to cash in on a leave it to beaver scenario. So much fakeness and Keeping up with the Joanses vibe going on.
Right, because none of that goes on in Manhattan, LA, or Miami-- to name a few.
*Usually* whenever I visit a suburb in a different region, it's almost always just a mix of subdivisions and wilderness....with a shopping strip here and there filled with the expected stores: that's it! No kind of history, no landmarks, nothing special whatsoever.
And the houses usually look the same or almost the same as every other house in the subdivision. YAWN!
I actually plan on leaving Long Island in 1-2 years (for the same reasons as most ppl) but I couldn't help but notice this.
Because LI is the bomb! Also the colony states were settled first. The east is older than places elsewhere. Plymouth MA has been settled since the 1600's. That's why there is a ton of history in this part of the country. I actually prefer older houses and I love the variety of homes On LI. A lot of new homes are all the same and just simple. It's hard to really make it your own.
LI has culture. I stay for friends and family first and foremost, then that.
Suburbs all over the country are generally "boring."
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LOL that's probably true.
Like Mike said, you're probably not looking in the right places. Especially if you plan on transplanting yourself, you're probably looking at newer housing stock. Without knowing where you're looking, can't comment too specifically, but I know where I live people who've never been here call it "cookie cutter heaven" and of course the newer houses look that way, just as when you look at old pictures of Levittown you wonder how people found their own houses on their block.
But trees and landscaping grow in, people make changes to their exteriors, etc. And what was once deemed "cookie cutter" becomes the accepted norm and doesn't really look like that.
Jdawg cites the history of a place like LI, as one of the "first colonies" and as usual she gets a little bit right. I grew up in a 1933 house and the first house I owned as an adult was built in 1938. The 1933 house was unlike any other on the block and at one time was probably only one of a few on the block. The 1938 house was an exact carbon copy of all the houses on the street but since it's old it escapes the designation "cookie cutter". Isn't that silly? Of course builders who are putting up many houses at a time use the same plans, maybe taking a staircase or a bay window and moving it but otherwise you can tell they all went up at the same time.
Where I live, you can find houses that are quite old, but maybe that's because it's one of the "original colonies" In my neighborhood specifically, it was built by a consortium of builders, so while the houses all look like they belong together, no two are truly alike. The covenants require a minimum size (2200 sq feet I think) but other than that we have low-country capes, brick center hall colonials, 1.5 story ranch type homes, houses with porches, houses with gabled roofs, etc etc. And since the neighborhood is nearly 20 years old, and the builders took pains not to cut down every single tree, it looks even less "cookie cutter".
I had to go to an area I'd never been to yesterday and was amazed at how old the neighborhood was, all the houses had a ton of land, tons of trees, etc etc in my part of the Containment Area we don't see that too much, LOL.
I'm not sure what's more "soulless" than block after block of the cookie-cutter 1950s high ranches and splits that still dot the Island. It seems to me that what goes on inside a home is what really counts, not whether the neighborhood looks beautiful architecturally.
*Usually* whenever I visit a suburb in a different region, it's almost always just a mix of subdivisions and wilderness....with a shopping strip here and there filled with the expected stores: that's it! No kind of history, no landmarks, nothing special whatsoever.
Most people would say the same thing looking at LI.
Some of LI as the rest of the country is actually interesting- you'll certainly have to look for it.
Many new suburbs though don't have history because they're so new- LI happens to have be a long long established suburb.
I'm not sure what's more "soulless" than block after block of the cookie-cutter 1950s high ranches and splits that still dot the Island. It seems to me that what goes on inside a home is what really counts, not whether the neighborhood looks beautiful architecturally.
In most LI neighborhoods there are a mix of houses.
On my block alone, you have hi-ranches, capes, splits, old colonials, center hall colonials, ranches, a new construction colonial and even a contemporary. And they all have different different styles to them and some are updated with a floor/rooms added and some are left original.
You know you live in a boring area when people line up for the opening of a crab shack 3 days in advance.
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In my neighborhood specifically, it was built by a consortium of builders, so while the houses all look like they belong together, no two are truly alike. The covenants require a minimum size (2200 sq feet I think) but other than that we have low-country capes, brick center hall colonials, 1.5 story ranch type homes, houses with porches, houses with gabled roofs, etc etc. And since the neighborhood is nearly 20 years old, and the builders took pains not to cut down every single tree, it looks even less "cookie cutter".
