4 ms·
> A lot of people much prefer living in a large space with land than squeezed into a high-rise. But it doesn't really matter what they want, because their citi
by digging 3y ago
> A lot of people much prefer living in a large space with land than squeezed into a high-rise.
But it doesn't really matter what they want, because their cities have already decided that those large lots are the only thing legally available to them on the vast majority of land and that commercial building can't be built nearby enough to walk to for the most part. There is also definitely a non-zero amount of people who only prefer that style of living because they've never experienced any other kind.
Finally, I will point out that "a large space" vs "squeezed into a high rise" is a false dichotomy for two reasons.
#1 is that apartments can be large, and standalone houses or duplexes can be small.
#2 is that high rises and SFHs aren't the only kinds of homes that are possible. the fact that such an argument is so often made is evidence of how effective the propaganda has been, that most Americans don't even know there are other options they could actually have. (Apologies if you're not American, that's definitely an assumption because this is such a common opinion here)
- jjav 3y ago> But it doesn't really matter what they want I was responding to the comment that it "is completely untrue" that there are "human preferences". Of course people have preferences. Not only is it not an edge case to have preferences, it's the norm. The idea that everyone who wants a house has been brainwashed by the car manufacturer lobby is quite an extreme position. > their cities have already decided that those large lots are the only thing legally available Where is this happening? Never seen that (but obviously I haven't lived everywhere). Here in California lots are smaller and smaller all the time, in many urban areas a large lot can't be had for any money anymore.
- digging 3y ago> I was responding to the comment that it "is completely untrue" that there are "human preferences". Ok, but I never said that > Here in California lots are smaller and smaller all the time Good, that means zoning laws are changing to allow variation