4 ms·
> lack of community in their lives when so many people live in isolated areas. Isolated areas, or at least small towns, tend to have much stronger communities
by baron_harkonnen 6y ago
> lack of community in their lives when so many people live in isolated areas.
Isolated areas, or at least small towns, tend to have much stronger communities than I've found in cities. Anytime I've lived in a city most "communities" that evolve tend to revolve around work.
Live in a small town for a few years and you'll likely be part of multiple small communities interested in different things. I used to live in a pretty isolated smallish city and knew almost all of the owners of every restaurant I ate at and store I visited. I was active in a range of different communities with many different interests.
If you live in some extremely isolated area, like out in rural Maine, you'll likely be at least acquaintances with literally every person in town. The grocery store clerk and the owner of the town lumber yard will know something about you, at see you as part of their community. When you go grocery shopping it's rare to see only strangers.
Every apartment I've lived in in cities I've only vaguely known my neighbors, but in my first move to the suburbs I was instantly greeted by everyone around me, we exchanged numbers and had a small party.
My experience is that, generally speaking, community increases with the distance from the city center. One particular exception would be a dead zone in certain mass produced suburbs (the ring of death around Denver CO. being a good example).
- tjr225 6y ago> My experience is that, generally speaking, community increases with the distance from the city center. My experience has been the opposite. Moreover, in a large city, I get to choose my community as opposed to being forced into being in one due to mere proximity.
- ivanhoe 6y ago> I get to choose my community This is a key, in a city you need to be proactive about it, or if not interested you can fully avoid any interaction and no one cares. In small places, you have to interact at least a little with people around you, or you'll be labeled as a weirdo. And also you're more often in need of someone helping you with something, as not everything is around the corner and readily available like in big cities.
- aiisjustanif 6y agoAnecdotally, Texans as an example like their privacy, more 10/12 foot fences I’ve ever seen. The father you move into the suburbs, the more people value privacy in Texas is seems. In general, American suburbs infrastructure-wise were built more for cars than people or other transit mechanisms.
- lazypenguin 6y agoI live in Texas and recently went to Missouri, I was absolutely flabbergasted that there were almost literally zero fences! Whole neighborhoods were just house after house and lawns in between. Was quite a refreshing new experience for me.
- ip26 6y ago12 foot fence? That's got to at least double the cost. It’s hard for me to understand people who go to such tremendous lengths to hide from the world. Like my old neighbors who closed every blind in the house the day they moved in and never opened them again. I don’t care what people do in their house... but that’s weird.
- mcguire 6y agoHonestly, growing up and living in Texas for 40 years, I've never seen more than an 8' fence, and that once. Most are 6'.
- aiisjustanif 6y agoI really should have clarified since I was thinking of my bias view of Fort Worth where we don't have city ordinances that prevent fences over 4ft in the front yard and 9ft in back yards like Dallas.
- aiisjustanif 6y agoPeople love fences so much, In 2015 Dallas made 9ft the maximum, Houston is 8 ft. In both the more wealthy suburbs can get permit exceptions for 10ft. Fort Worth you can see 12ft and 10ft more so, due to no restrictions. Austin seems to care about this a bit less, but I think it might be due to terrain. In general a fence increases home value usually in most Texas cities.
- simple_phrases 6y agoI've had the exact opposite experience to the point that this post feels like a rose-tinted glorification of small town life.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]