Nowhere Land (Brit Blasts US Exurbs, "McMansions")

U.K. Guardian ^ | February 23, 2005 | Tristram Hunt

[Roccus]

Never gave Florida a thought. Too many New Yorkers! }:^)
Besides, I gotta have four seasons.

[Kieri]

First comment is that nothing lasts forever, I would think that Europe with it's overgrown and buried old villas would understand this. How many foundations of old houses lie buried beneath the dust of ages there? The second is that building and moving around is in our national character.

Ah yes, merry old England, where homeowners have to resort to GENERATIONAL mortgages in order to afford property. How many Americans would buy into a 60-year mortagage with the intention of passing it on to their kids and grandkids??

[Constantine XIII]

Eh...I thought Wyoming only had something like 250K. :P

[Constantine XIII]

It's inhabited by robot-wielding, telekinetic hermaphrodites? :D

[dog breath]

It appears I was wrong, English mortgages might last forever. :)

[Fed_up_in_PA]

For those of you who haven't read a map lately, Phoenix is in the middle of a DESERT. Translated: otherwise useless land, except for brush fires.

But then again, you are just minutes away from Tucson, the mineral collecting capital of the world. We should all be so lucky.

[blam]

This is ancient:

Bye, Bye Beringia (8,000 Year Old Site In Florida)

"At Windover, more ancient human remains were discovered than the total of all others found previously in the New World, and they were the oldest."

[Chuckster]

old Flagstaff, which specialized in fanbelt and shock absorber scams

LOL!

Well I remember!

[mtntop3]

There is nothing more beautiful than a parking lot. It bespeaks efficiency.

The only close competitor are the yards of the Exurb mini-mansions which have been declared off-limits to children doing something so primitive - so declasse - as to dig play-holes in the earth. Besides, those yards with genuine grass have been sprayed so as to prevent wildflowers weeds. And thus the children could be harmed. So it's best they stay inside where it's cool and clean, and where they can learn from the TV. Yes, it all bespeaks the efficiency - of a Brave New World.

[OldPossum]

And it was the office-park dads who delivered the White House to the Republicans. For if the industrial city was the breeding ground of progressive politics, exurbia represents the amorphous heartland of George W Bush's conservatism.

This is the real reason this Brit is so upset.

[Sun Soldier]

"Meanwhile, I'm sure Britain has an answer to everything."

My first impression of your pic was to say, "what an ugly street". But upon closer inspection, I noticed there is not one bit of litter... and I wished the people here in NC had a little more pride in their community.

As to the article... people live where they want to live in this country. If they can't afford to live where they want to live, they work and save until they can. I don't think we're in any danger of filling our land mass with suburbs any time soon... so pi$$ off mate!

[HostileTerritory]

Um, what kind of proud southerner responds to a post about South Florida with two links to Alachua County?

[Fred Nerks]

I agreed with everything you wrote up until the pi$$ off comment. What was that all about?

[LibertarianInExile]

Uh, what kind of FREEPER responds to a post addressing this one:

"Yeah, but aside from a few crackers in North Florida, EVERYBODY IN FLORIDA IS EITHER A TRANSPLANT OR A CHILD OF A TRANSPLANT! There hasn't been a "southern accent" in Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties since, like, EVER!"

And claims that's all about SOUTH Florida? The point was that there were people in Florida well before any Virginians decided the place was worth visiting if only it were drained, and certainly well before any damnYankee determined it'd be livable with a deli and better air conditioning.

And FYI, oh great judge of what is Southern, check out http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/1800/photos/geog25.jpg. South Florida used to have all of three counties, and Alachua was one of them. Anything south of Okeechobee is South Florida to a native, my dear Massabuttinski, even though we have a special place in our hearts for the hell that is Miami, and you damnYankee types consider Miami all there is in Florida worth bothering with.

[Sun Soldier]

"...up until the pi$$ off comment. What was that all about?"

Sorry Fred, that was intented for the author of the article, not you. I should have used his name but I forgot it already... ;-)

[Fred Nerks]

LOL! Glad to hear that.

[HostileTerritory]

He went on to talk about people moving to the southern counties from North Florida, such as the Grahams. It was pretty clear what was intended.

I'm sorry you have such anger for the rest of the country. Lots of people in the north have had success with yoga, tea, or calm music; maybe some of our solutions might work to lighten your stress a bit. No charge for the advice!

[Liberal Classic]

...And the minute most of them get a chance, they move to a place where they have more land and fewer noisy neighbors.

Of course. Once I am more financially established and I can afford some land, I'll buy some. Until then, I have to live within my means. For a great many people, an affordable house is going to be in a subdivision. The only thing that makes it affordable to so many people is the economy of scale. I am proud to living in a country where so many people own their own home. I am sorry that this does not meet with your highly refined sense of aesthetics. You can look down your highly refined nose at the suburbs all you want. For me, they represent the American dream.

Communities ... designed by the town-planning team...

Great. Another layer of bureaucracy and red tape to cut through when I want to build my deck. Heaven forbid that I would want to plaster my house in a neighborhood of colonial brick.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

"Without Googling, (Cheating) can anyone guess the population of the state of wyoming or that of Montana?"

I think Wyoming is now the smallest state in population, about 300,000. Alaska used to have 250,000, but has grown since then.

Montana is a little larger, about 400-500,000.

Now let me Google and find out for sure.

[Capriole]

You are missing my point. My point is that people owning their own homes, even relatively low-cost housing, does not necessitate ugliness. It's possible to have lower-cost houses that are attractive as well as convenient. It's not snobbery, as you suggest, to offer beauty, quality, and charm to buyers instead of giving them ugliness, especially when what's handsome doesn't cost any more than what's ugly.