On lot houses and suburban development

“If you buy a small house, you are assured your children will leave you perhaps even sooner than they should, for at once they will learn never to associate home with pleasure.”

Though this is a funny way and harsh way to put it - it is sadly the truth today. I also can’t help but wonder whether kids growing up in these “neighborhoods” aren’t missing out on the pleasures we had growing up from the lack of a true sense of community. No neighborhood football games, impromptu soccer, or just plain bike rides through the neighborhoods as neighbors that actually care look over the playing kids. This then makes me wonder about the kind of morals this generation will have as they watch their parents have purely transactional relationships with the neighbors.

On the side of the typical ticky-tack houses and suburban development is, in my opinion: new urbanism communities. Now, I know that this has its own challenges and downfall. I am aware that new urbanism creates a superficial feel (I think The Truman Show) - it is more on the surface and the communities created are really not that diverse. With that being said, I do think that the values they are trying to achieve are a step in the right direction. Elements like: walkable blocks and streets, housing and shopping in close proximity, and accessible public spaces are what make a neighborhood ‘human-scale’ after all.