Millennials: the house you grew up in vs. your house now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My house is probably the same square footage but it’s a tall skinny townhouse with no yard versus a single story house on a quarter acre. It’s impossible to compare but I think we did ok. Eventually I would love a yard but I'm happy with this is my 30s.

I went from a townhouse to a SFH with a small yard last year (a pandemic purchase so we would have outdoors space for our kids). I have to say, so far with toddlers, the yard is overrated. It's just something to mow and weed. Still, I love the house and deck and patio, so I'm happy overall, but I could do without so much yard.

For us: A nearby park >>> big lawn. We got a row house with a big deck and patio near a park. We did a yard once, never again.

Totally disagree, and science agrees with me: green spaces are extremely therapeutic. Especially now working from home, being able to escape to my own oasis anytime I want, multiple times a day (I spent lots of $$ on trees and landscaping to make it nice), is priceless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quality over quantity here. Considerably smaller, but in a much better location. I would not be able to live in the isolated, wooded cul-de-sac that I grew up on. Now we're smaller (townhouse) but can walk to everything. The quality of life is infinitely better.

+1. I grew up in a brand new 3,000 square foot house in Florida. Current house is 2,300 square feet. My kids walk to school, playgrounds, Starbucks, etc. You couldn’t pay me to move back home, which was walkable to nothing and I was dependent on my parents to drive me everywhere and anywhere I needed to go. My kids are having a much better childhood than I did.

Yup, nothing like a walkable Starbucks to improve your kids quality of life. The only thing kids care about being walkable is their friends' houses.

My teenager would love to be able to walk to Starbucks

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a beautiful rural area in a big modern house my parents had built that overlooked mountain ranges. There were lots of neighborhood kids to run around with and explore the woods and backroads. I live in a dense part of dc that was gentrifying but is now dangerous again. My kids are 10 and 13 and were born here. I would love a more suburban location with more kids their age. There are a lot of babies and toddlers where we live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a beautiful rural area in a big modern house my parents had built that overlooked mountain ranges. There were lots of neighborhood kids to run around with and explore the woods and backroads. I live in a dense part of dc that was gentrifying but is now dangerous again. My kids are 10 and 13 and were born here. I would love a more suburban location with more kids their age. There are a lot of babies and toddlers where we live.

I’m curious where you grew up, because it sounds idyllic. I want that for my kids!

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a gorgeous home in Woodley Park and now live in crappy 1950s housing outside the beltway. We have the same profession my parents did (federal government employees)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a gorgeous home in Woodley Park and now live in crappy 1950s housing outside the beltway. We have the same profession my parents did (federal government employees)

Oh and yes it sucks and I hate it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My house is probably the same square footage but it’s a tall skinny townhouse with no yard versus a single story house on a quarter acre. It’s impossible to compare but I think we did ok. Eventually I would love a yard but I'm happy with this is my 30s.

I went from a townhouse to a SFH with a small yard last year (a pandemic purchase so we would have outdoors space for our kids). I have to say, so far with toddlers, the yard is overrated. It's just something to mow and weed. Still, I love the house and deck and patio, so I'm happy overall, but I could do without so much yard.

For us: A nearby park >>> big lawn. We got a row house with a big deck and patio near a park. We did a yard once, never again.

Totally disagree, and science agrees with me: green spaces are extremely therapeutic. Especially now working from home, being able to escape to my own oasis anytime I want, multiple times a day (I spent lots of $$ on trees and landscaping to make it nice), is priceless.

Green spaces are great. I think the debate is whether or not we need to own/maintain that space ourselves and how big it needs to be? I have a small townhouse with a little yard, a couple nice trees, and some hostas, that look out on a walking path. When it isn't too buggy, it's a lovely place to sit and enjoy nature, plus I get to see my neighbors as they walk by, and I don't have to own a lawn mower. I don't think a larger private backyard would give me that much more therapeutic bang for my buck.

[Anonymous]

Growing up we lived all around the country and in nice homes. I think my home is comparable to the best home we lived in. I’m 37.

[Anonymous]

My house is bigger than the one I grew up in PA, but the yard is much, much smaller.

My town was also way more boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a gorgeous home in Woodley Park and now live in crappy 1950s housing outside the beltway. We have the same profession my parents did (federal government employees)

Oh and yes it sucks and I hate it

What is the solution? Moving some government agencies out of the area like they attempted with the FDA? Salaries can’t be bumped up by much, like, ever. Any answers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a gorgeous home in Woodley Park and now live in crappy 1950s housing outside the beltway. We have the same profession my parents did (federal government employees)

Oh and yes it sucks and I hate it

What is the solution? Moving some government agencies out of the area like they attempted with the FDA? Salaries can’t be bumped up by much, like, ever. Any answers?

Yes. Letting more feds work from field offices or remotely instead of in DC could be another solution.

[Anonymous]

I grew up very well off but parents were more about show than savings. We are rich.

I grew up in a huge house in potomac that was very nice but interior decorated by my mother. The landscaping was always out of the budget and very minimal. We have an even larger house in probably the best dc neighborhood, meticulously designed and with immaculate landscaping.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a nice 4 bedroom colonial in a nice neighborhood. BUT, I lived in the exurban Midwest and there was nothing to do in my area. The overall area is very aging - especially now but also when I was a kid - very white, very average middle class, about an hour from the nearest major city which is a still a 3rd tier city. I wish I had grown up in this area instead. Now I live in a small 3 bedroom townhome but with all the stuff to do in this area, I like it a lot more! I look at real estate listings in my hometown and even closer to the city where I grew up and sometimes get jealous that I could live in a nice house there for like $500k or even less, but there’s no way I’d move back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My house is probably the same square footage but it’s a tall skinny townhouse with no yard versus a single story house on a quarter acre. It’s impossible to compare but I think we did ok. Eventually I would love a yard but I'm happy with this is my 30s.

I went from a townhouse to a SFH with a small yard last year (a pandemic purchase so we would have outdoors space for our kids). I have to say, so far with toddlers, the yard is overrated. It's just something to mow and weed. Still, I love the house and deck and patio, so I'm happy overall, but I could do without so much yard.

For us: A nearby park >>> big lawn. We got a row house with a big deck and patio near a park. We did a yard once, never again.

Totally disagree, and science agrees with me: green spaces are extremely therapeutic. Especially now working from home, being able to escape to my own oasis anytime I want, multiple times a day (I spent lots of $$ on trees and landscaping to make it nice), is priceless.

I am lucky enough to have both. We have a very large yard for the city, probably would hold 4 homes in another neighborhood and he have a very large park across the street that we could walk for miles if we wanted to explore it in its entirety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a gorgeous home in Woodley Park and now live in crappy 1950s housing outside the beltway. We have the same profession my parents did (federal government employees)

Oh and yes it sucks and I hate it

What is the solution? Moving some government agencies out of the area like they attempted with the FDA? Salaries can’t be bumped up by much, like, ever. Any answers?

Yes. Letting more feds work from field offices or remotely instead of in DC could be another solution.

I'd love this. I already had to move to the far exurbs as a worker for a land management agency notorious for low pay/undergrading. I'm pretty typical for someone my age, although my retirement aged and even Gen X peers have lovely homes in nice close in locations. If I could just get a desk at the closest field site to my home it would be huge. But an administrative headache, I'm sure.