1365 sats \ 5 replies \ @grayruby 14 Feb \ on: Why do we all have lawns? culture
Front lawn is purely aesthetic. Back lawn is for dog and kids. Lots of usage. I suppose if you eliminated front lawns you could build multi family shoeboxes instead of single family homes on the same lot but then people would live in multi family shoe boxes.
Just move out of the city.
i’d imagine the ratio of lawn space to total property space is even higher as one ventures out of the city.
i’m thinking about a small suburb for example where people don’t quite own farms, but their lawns require sitting mowers for regular maintenance.
i don’t mean to say lawns shouldn’t exist at all, just that the ratio of land usage to total benefit seems to be way off for most people. likely even more “off” in the suburbs than on downtown city streets.
reply
But obviously people don't wish to move to these places or the housing would be getting bid up and people with huge lots would sell off their properties or part of their land for development if there was enough economic incentive. Trying to maximize the ratio of land usage to total benefit to force the market to demand shoeboxes is pretty much just communism.
Maybe communism is a stretch but trying to solve a housing crisis caused by fiat money and government intervention with more government intervention is like trying to solve your heroin addiction by switching to meth.
reply
reply
No, small homes are great.
I consider condos and townhomes to be shoeboxes.
My point is who gets to decide what is the optimal use of land and who gives them the authority. If the market demands condos and townhomes because they are more affordable then so be it. If the market is incentivizing people with huge lots to subdivide so be it, but I don't like the idea of "we are the government and we are here to fix housing for you".
How the government solves housing crises:
"The concept of communal apartments grew in Russia and the Soviet Union as a response to a housing crisis in urban areas; authorities presented them as the product of the 'new collective vision of the future'.
reply
Multi family shoeboxes are terrible for property values
reply