4 ms·

If you can find a way to convince Americans they don't all need a yard that can easily fit 6 (japanese) houses, we'll be well on our way. I think we are on our

If you can find a way to convince Americans they don't all need a yard that can easily fit 6 (japanese) houses, we'll be well on our way. I think we are on our way there, most new developments around here have houses that are nearly the size of the lot, with a tiny back yard and smaller front yard, and little room between houses. Developers get more money by making lots small and houses big, so there’s little incentive to have the large suburban d yards that wises to be common. Of course, the houses are much larger than their Japanese counterparts. My Japanese mother in law thinks we are wealthy based on the size of our house, but we’re one of the smallest homes in the neighborhood,

bluGill 4y ago
Most people don't use their yard. They don't have more than a few flowers in the garden. 20 minutes with a push mower is enjoyable exercise but they wouldn't want it to take longer.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 4y ago
  The yard isn't necessarily there to be used in the way you mean. Often the yard is a buffer between you and your neighbor. Your noisy neighbor who smokes, swears, and plays the most disagreeable music at the highest volume late into the night. Any distance is helpful. My big problem with cities is the people.
  - kitsunesoba 4y ago
    I don't mind city life for the most part, except for the whole thing with most apartment complexes being built of cardboard, which means that every single thing your upstairs neighbor and many of the things your adjacent neighbors are doing can be heard loud and clear, and this problem plagues even newer construction. And then you have people on the street yelling, vehicles modified to be as loud as possible driving by, etc. If these buildings were properly soundproofed, in many ways I'd prefer living in the city, but as things stand the only people who get to enjoy that in cities are those at the tops of skyscrapers renting penthouse suites, all of whom reside in a plane of existence entirely separate from my own. The number one thing I've enjoyed about suburb life, particularly as a remote worker, is how much more dramatically quiet it is, primarily thanks to not sharing a wall with anybody.
    - coding123 4y ago
      This. I see so many people say, build vertical, density. Then when 80% of the people explain that everyone is fucking noisy, the vertical people don't reply.
      - bluGill 4y ago
        It is possible to build apartments that are not noisy. It costs more though.
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
  - brabel 4y ago
    I live in a house with a large yard for the exact reason you point out :). I do enjoy walking on the grass and taking care of some plants, but I didn't really need so much land if not to keep neighbours away (I used to live in an apartment where a neighbour made my life hell, never again).
- Bloating 4y ago
  I enjoy my yard, and my house. I do not like "city living". To each their own
- A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
  Eh. How people use their property is really their own business. I might disagree. I might despair. I might even tell them it is a bad idea, but how and whether a person uses the thing they buy is not up to your neighbor ( or non-neighbor for that matter ) to decide ( within reason, you will hear complaints about practicing on electric guitar or repairing your muscle car at midnight ). It is just a bad argument to use. My family member just bought a ridiculous gas-guzzler to drive even more ridiculous distance to their job and still manage to muster up courage to complain about gas prices to me. It is not the use ( or lack thereof ). It is the lack basic sense. I don't have a mega yard, because I can't afford the upkeep. If I could, I would consider it.
  - parthianshotgun 4y ago
    The issue with the megalawn is that it wastes water, a shared resource, create weed killer runoff issues and generally bad for the local flora/fauna, which again, are shared in ways which aren't obvious, and costs more carbon to sustain. It's an embarrassment of riches. To dispair and disagree is human, if you think you can't change people's minds then that's a self fulfilling prophecy. In the case of your family member sure they lack sense, but I've found for lawns at least, to lean into that and use arguments like, 'hey clovers are better because you don't need to mow and barely need to water, this means you can sit on your ass more!' (something like that).
    - bluGill 4y ago
      In large parts of the US you do not need to water you lawn as rain will provide all the water you need. You never need to put weed killer on a lawn, just a regular mowing (ideally with a reel push mower) will be enough. Most of what people call weeds are harmless biodiversity. In some parts of the US lawns are native grass, though that isn't common. Understand that most people over manage their lawns. You can get your lawn a little more green (the color, not the environmental green) with excess water and chemicals. They are not needed at all though.
      - parthianshotgun 4y ago

bluGill 4y ago

Most people don't use their yard. They don't have more than a few flowers in the garden. 20 minutes with a push mower is enjoyable exercise but they wouldn't want it to take longer.

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 4y ago
The yard isn't necessarily there to be used in the way you mean. Often the yard is a buffer between you and your neighbor. Your noisy neighbor who smokes, swears, and plays the most disagreeable music at the highest volume late into the night. Any distance is helpful. My big problem with cities is the people.
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  I don't mind city life for the most part, except for the whole thing with most apartment complexes being built of cardboard, which means that every single thing your upstairs neighbor and many of the things your adjacent neighbors are doing can be heard loud and clear, and this problem plagues even newer construction. And then you have people on the street yelling, vehicles modified to be as loud as possible driving by, etc. If these buildings were properly soundproofed, in many ways I'd prefer living in the city, but as things stand the only people who get to enjoy that in cities are those at the tops of skyscrapers renting penthouse suites, all of whom reside in a plane of existence entirely separate from my own. The number one thing I've enjoyed about suburb life, particularly as a remote worker, is how much more dramatically quiet it is, primarily thanks to not sharing a wall with anybody.
  - coding123 4y ago
    This. I see so many people say, build vertical, density. Then when 80% of the people explain that everyone is fucking noisy, the vertical people don't reply.
    - bluGill 4y ago
      It is possible to build apartments that are not noisy. It costs more though.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
- brabel 4y ago
  I live in a house with a large yard for the exact reason you point out :). I do enjoy walking on the grass and taking care of some plants, but I didn't really need so much land if not to keep neighbours away (I used to live in an apartment where a neighbour made my life hell, never again).
Bloating 4y ago
I enjoy my yard, and my house. I do not like "city living". To each their own
A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
Eh. How people use their property is really their own business. I might disagree. I might despair. I might even tell them it is a bad idea, but how and whether a person uses the thing they buy is not up to your neighbor ( or non-neighbor for that matter ) to decide ( within reason, you will hear complaints about practicing on electric guitar or repairing your muscle car at midnight ). It is just a bad argument to use. My family member just bought a ridiculous gas-guzzler to drive even more ridiculous distance to their job and still manage to muster up courage to complain about gas prices to me. It is not the use ( or lack thereof ). It is the lack basic sense. I don't have a mega yard, because I can't afford the upkeep. If I could, I would consider it.
- parthianshotgun 4y ago
  The issue with the megalawn is that it wastes water, a shared resource, create weed killer runoff issues and generally bad for the local flora/fauna, which again, are shared in ways which aren't obvious, and costs more carbon to sustain. It's an embarrassment of riches. To dispair and disagree is human, if you think you can't change people's minds then that's a self fulfilling prophecy. In the case of your family member sure they lack sense, but I've found for lawns at least, to lean into that and use arguments like, 'hey clovers are better because you don't need to mow and barely need to water, this means you can sit on your ass more!' (something like that).
  - bluGill 4y ago
    In large parts of the US you do not need to water you lawn as rain will provide all the water you need. You never need to put weed killer on a lawn, just a regular mowing (ideally with a reel push mower) will be enough. Most of what people call weeds are harmless biodiversity. In some parts of the US lawns are native grass, though that isn't common. Understand that most people over manage their lawns. You can get your lawn a little more green (the color, not the environmental green) with excess water and chemicals. They are not needed at all though.
    - parthianshotgun 4y ago