I was wasting time in front of the ‘pooter when apropos of nothing I came on this photo…
…and at the sight of that street I practically flung myself back from the desk. “Ah!” It was the nastiest thing I’ve seen so far today. (The day is young.)
Then I had a laugh at myself. On closer look that looks very like – almost exactly like – streets I’ve lived on and thought nothing of it. In fact it looks like the streets I grew up aspiring to live on.
But…oh god…all those houses in so small a space. And they’re all alike! Ah!
Reminds me of one of my favorite songs, back when I was a teenager…
Yes, I know he was a commie. Bite me.
Gag me indeed.
My sister has lived on a street something like that near Los Angeles for more than thirty years, except that the houses were already ten years old when she and her husband bought it. It’s considered a “nice” part of town, on 1/3 and (a few) 1/2 acre lots… and there are actually some architectural differences between one house and another… but none significant. And there are square miles of other tracts just like it all around them, some much newer. Out on the edges, the houses get smaller and closer together until you come to the hills, where they suddenly become larger, and on larger parcels. Those can cost a million+ dollars now.
The last few years, some of the older houses are being knocked down and tall “condo” or apartment houses are now going up on the south side of their “tract.” My sister says they don’t get nearly as much light in the living and dining room these days. How strange, since the condos are on the south side of the house. The neighbors are pretty nice still, she says, but she can see a time when they might not be. Whatever would give her that idea?
They still like it there. I can hardly stand to visit. And probably won’t ever go again. They know where I live, and they can come here from now on. Age has its privileges sometimes. 🙂 I can look to the horizon in any direction… and in most of them can’t see much sign of human habitation at all. That’s the only way for me to live.
Listened to that song a lot when I was a kid. Had the single on 45.
I grew up in a neighborhood like that – 1/4 acre lots with either ramblers or split levels. It was a good place to grow up with lots of kids nearby to play with and no traffic to speak of so the streets were ours. It wasn’t such a great place as an adult, where you could talk to the next door neighbor through our kitchen windows.
When we moved to CO, 5 acres seemed like all of God’s green earth, but even that got too small and here we are on 30 acres surrounded by Nat Forest with the nearest neighbor 2 1/2 miles away. I’m glad that there are still neighborhoods like that. It keeps people out of the forest. 😉
The suburbs: All the downsides of city life with none of the upsides. Plus more yardwork!
Upper right corner: can somebody have that poor taste in housing & decent taste in cars? Probably some hipster who thinks his ancient (like for high beams you have to stomp on the floor, man!) car is way cool. If so, enjoy, kid. You’ll learn the meaning of outrunning your brakes, lights, or both.
Lived in Warren, Michigan for a while, south of Twelve Mile, West of Mound, in a very nice little four-street neighborhood of three/four bedroom brick ranches that were all obviously off of only about two floor plans. About ten feet between houses. There were no windows in the “side” walls of any of these in the interest of “privacy”. Nice neighborhood, but we could only stand it for a couple of years.