Why don’t Americans embrace urban living?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why the obsession with huge houses 3 miles away from everything. Why not access to parks, trails, restaurants, schools, grocery stores, socializing in coffee shops, biking etc?

The American obsession with SFH is unsustainable environmental, financially (impossible to maintain long exburban roads) and mentally

We do embrace it, and that's why its so expensive to live in urban cores.

Yep, exactly. And a lot of the people who move out of the cities WOULD live there if they could afford to do so.

A lot more people can afford to than actually do, they just refuse to live in a condo

Why should I live in a condo?

Don’t unless you want to, but that’s because you reject urban living. Plenty of reasons to live in the city core where a condo may be the only housing option.

[Anonymous]

Because of the neighbors, obviously. If you can afford the most expensive neighborhoods it’s great. If you can’t, it’s not good at all. You get all the hassles and none of the convenience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:80+% of Americans live in cities...

Nope it’s 30% ish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why the obsession with huge houses 3 miles away from everything. Why not access to parks, trails, restaurants, schools, grocery stores, socializing in coffee shops, biking etc?

The American obsession with SFH is unsustainable environmental, financially (impossible to maintain long exburban roads) and mentally

We do embrace it, and that's why its so expensive to live in urban cores.

Yep, exactly. And a lot of the people who move out of the cities WOULD live there if they could afford to do so.

A lot more people can afford to than actually do, they just refuse to live in a condo

Why should I live in a condo?

Don’t unless you want to, but that’s because you reject urban living. Plenty of reasons to live in the city core where a condo may be the only housing option.

I get it, but I prefer my three acres.

[Anonymous]

The public school situation in a lot of cities is really grim. And while many people want to live in the city and could afford to live there, private schooling is out of reach for them (and if there are urban magnets, they tend to be really hard to get into, even for good students).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why the obsession with huge houses 3 miles away from everything. Why not access to parks, trails, restaurants, schools, grocery stores, socializing in coffee shops, biking etc?

The American obsession with SFH is unsustainable environmental, financially (impossible to maintain long exburban roads) and mentally

I don’t want to live within a 3 mile radius.

I like to hike, go to many different parks.

I don’t like or have a huge house, it’s just a normal house.

I’d rather socialize at my house or a park … I don’t get coffee shops. $5 for a coffee is stupid and can’t believe people even do that.

Restaurants are not healthy. I love to cook.

I have more amenities in the burbs and people are not on top of each other.

[Anonymous]

For whatever reason, folks in Singapore, London, Hong Kong don’t seem to have these hang-ups about “the neighbors,” “living on top of one another” or “sharing walls”

[Anonymous]

My SFH has a walk score of 97. I have access to all of that.

[Anonymous]

We all pay for suburbanite pollution every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For whatever reason, folks in Singapore, London, Hong Kong don’t seem to have these hang-ups about “the neighbors,” “living on top of one another” or “sharing walls”

Neither do folks in New York City! What's your point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why the obsession with huge houses 3 miles away from everything. Why not access to parks, trails, restaurants, schools, grocery stores, socializing in coffee shops, biking etc?

The American obsession with SFH is unsustainable environmental, financially (impossible to maintain long exburban roads) and mentally

We do embrace it, and that's why its so expensive to live in urban cores.

Yep, exactly. And a lot of the people who move out of the cities WOULD live there if they could afford to do so.

A lot more people can afford to than actually do, they just refuse to live in a condo

Why should I live in a condo?

Don’t unless you want to, but that’s because you reject urban living. Plenty of reasons to live in the city core where a condo may be the only housing option.

Plenty of people would be happy to live in a city, but want a yard. Look at the price that anything in a major city with green space sells for

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For whatever reason, folks in Singapore, London, Hong Kong don’t seem to have these hang-ups about “the neighbors,” “living on top of one another” or “sharing walls”

that's because they largely don't have the breadth of choices that we have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We all pay for suburbanite pollution every day.

I drive a hybrid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For whatever reason, folks in Singapore, London, Hong Kong don’t seem to have these hang-ups about “the neighbors,” “living on top of one another” or “sharing walls”

If folks in those places could afford a single family home, they would choose one. My relatives are in London and they would prefer a detached SFM. It is just not affordable to normal people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why the obsession with huge houses 3 miles away from everything. Why not access to parks, trails, restaurants, schools, grocery stores, socializing in coffee shops, biking etc?

The American obsession with SFH is unsustainable environmental, financially (impossible to maintain long exburban roads) and mentally

I'm half a mile from great trails, and less than a mile from everything else you list. I'm also a half mile from my kids' school and a quarter mile from a neighborhood pool that my kids' summer revolves around. Nothing that you list is incompatible with the suburbs