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Interesting, thanks for the pointers. Now that I think of it, I think Saudi Arabia and UAE may be added to that list.
by klabb3 4y ago
Interesting, thanks for the pointers. Now that I think of it, I think Saudi Arabia and UAE may be added to that list.
- alephnerd 4y agoYep! They also prefer suburban tract housing. Also in Ireland and UK in my experience (my coworkers in the London office all moved to Reading, MK, Newbury, etc once they started familes). Amsterdam as well after visiting another cousin in Amsteveel, and Aahrus and Espoo to meet a buddy of mine who went to Aarhus Universitet and started at Nokia
- TMWNN 4y ago>(my coworkers in the London office all moved to Reading, MK, Newbury, etc once they started familes This goes back a long time. The stockbroker belt/home counties as where commuters into London live has been a thing for more than a century, since railways then automobiles made this practical. The attitude klabb3 mentioned of "Europeans don't want American suburbs" is, as I think he is realizing, nonsense. No matter where, no matter who, the majority of people prefer detached homes with lawns if they can afford them. (I speak as among the minority who prefers dense living.)
- klabb3 4y ago> No matter where, no matter who, the majority of people prefer detached homes with lawns if they can afford them. Eh. Yes, people want ponies. Suburbia does indeed optimize for this parameter, but they sacrifice almost every other. Single family houses with lawns is nothing new in Europe, but most of them are rural. I'd still defend that for the vast majority of Europeans the attraction of American suburbia is very low. Most choose to live in apartments in dense cities that are most attractive near the center. "Walkable" is a term i first heard in the US, that is quite meaningless in Europe, for a reason.