Why don’t Americans embrace urban living?

[Anonymous]

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

Lyon Village has all of that and access to many trails for biking/hiking/walking. My kids bike or walk to many different parks to meet friends. And we walk to stores, dentist, school, restaurants, gyms/yoga, Metro, drycleaners, etc. There are so many different parks for kids and courts for tennis, basketball, pickleball, etc in the county.

[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”

Well, those are the people who choose to live in cities. The people in New York City and London and Tokyo choose to live there. The people who want more space move out to the suburbs or countryside in England or to the suburbs or countryside in America, or to the far out suburbs and countryside wayyyy out on the rail lines in Japan.

[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”

Which sells for more, detached homes in Singapore, London, or Hong Kong or condos/apartments in Singapore, London, or Hong Kong?

[Anonymous]

In most countries around the world you’d be beaten on the spot if you behaved like some Americans do, such as thinking it’s acceptable to set up a campsite on the sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

Singapore and especially Hong Kong are oddities due to geopolitical reasons--people literally couldn't spread out without literally changing citizenship (well, until recently in HK). For many years, Hong Kong was a capitalist island surrounded by a communist state. With Singapore, if you move out of Singapore proper, you are in another country.

[Anonymous]

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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

A yard, private parking space, low crime, and good public schools.

[Anonymous]

Some people like suburban living. Some people like small towns. Some people like rural living. And yes, some of us like urban living in dense cities.

The main issue is that for some reason. the people who don't like urban living in dense cities have been put in charge of urban planning (or attempted to put themselves in charge of it) in cities. It's a mystery to me! Like if you don't like density, public transportation, shared amenities like parks, and other features of urban living, don't live in a city. I don't understand the people in DC who freak out about increased density, pedestrian-friendly street design, etc. Just move to the suburbs. They are right there and it's what you want.

Why do we need to make cities look like suburbs. Cities should be cities.

[Anonymous]

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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

A yard, private parking space, low crime, and good public schools.

So they would not be happy to live in a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people like suburban living. Some people like small towns. Some people like rural living. And yes, some of us like urban living in dense cities.

The main issue is that for some reason. the people who don't like urban living in dense cities have been put in charge of urban planning (or attempted to put themselves in charge of it) in cities. It's a mystery to me! Like if you don't like density, public transportation, shared amenities like parks, and other features of urban living, don't live in a city. I don't understand the people in DC who freak out about increased density, pedestrian-friendly street design, etc. Just move to the suburbs. They are right there and it's what you want.

Why do we need to make cities look like suburbs. Cities should be cities.

This!

[Anonymous]

I mean, more people live in cities so I'm not sure this is a fair assessment, but I see your point. I have friends who live (what to me is a nightmarish) suburban lifestyle and I think for them a lot of it is not valuing community in the same way I do and taking comfort in material things. I personally don't get it.

[Anonymous]

I'm confused by the people who want yards. I think I'd rather live right next to or very close by some awesome parks. When I was growing up, we only played in our yard until we were 6 or 7, then it was just playdates with other kids.... which you'd have to drive to in the 'burbs. My city kids walk around the block to play with their friends. Sure you need money, but DC is amazing for having close-in neighborhoods with green space and parks and being pretty safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, more people live in cities so I'm not sure this is a fair assessment, but I see your point. I have friends who live (what to me is a nightmarish) suburban lifestyle and I think for them a lot of it is not valuing community in the same way I do and taking comfort in material things. I personally don't get it.

No only 30% of people live in urban areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, more people live in cities so I'm not sure this is a fair assessment, but I see your point. I have friends who live (what to me is a nightmarish) suburban lifestyle and I think for them a lot of it is not valuing community in the same way I do and taking comfort in material things. I personally don't get it.

It’s odd you think cities have more community feel, I find the opposite

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused by the people who want yards. I think I'd rather live right next to or very close by some awesome parks. When I was growing up, we only played in our yard until we were 6 or 7, then it was just playdates with other kids.... which you'd have to drive to in the 'burbs. My city kids walk around the block to play with their friends. Sure you need money, but DC is amazing for having close-in neighborhoods with green space and parks and being pretty safe.

Suburbs have both great parks, great yards, friend to walk to.

Capture the flag, catching lightning bugs while parents visit on the deck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, more people live in cities so I'm not sure this is a fair assessment, but I see your point. I have friends who live (what to me is a nightmarish) suburban lifestyle and I think for them a lot of it is not valuing community in the same way I do and taking comfort in material things. I personally don't get it.

It’s odd you think cities have more community feel, I find the opposite

Really? Well, different experiences I guess. I grew up in Fairfax and my parents never talked to any of the neighbors. None of the neighbors seemed to talk to each other either. It was a very "each man for himself" kind of place. I played at a friend's house in the summer until I was 9 and that was it. There were no block parties, clothing swaps, school events, babysitting swaps, dinner parties, pizza parties, neighborhood holiday events like I have now living in NW DC. We are all looking out for each other. We keep each other abreast of things in the hood, at school, and fun things to do. We watch each others' kids and invite people over all the time. I know shop owners and neighbors and the librarians by name. I know many more community people by sight. Hell, I know my local politicians! I help clean up parks and flag issues for the community to deal with. I regularly see friends just walking down the street and decide to have impromptu fun. We had zero of that in Fairfax.