driftwoody
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Take the path closer to the edge, especially if less traveled
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Post by driftwoody on Jun 16, 2019 15:58:25 GMT -8
Judging is a fun hobby, but not one I get engaged in: like stamps, or old hammers... To each his own, as long as it doesn't hurt others. However, the environmental impact of building choice times several million homes does enter the realm of judgement in a larger context.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Jun 16, 2019 16:20:32 GMT -8
And for those wider concerns we’ve got zoning laws.
Otoh My expectation is endlessly more acreage has been altered/destroyed by agricultural choices versus housing. And at least zoning attempts to address houses....
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Hungry Jack
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Post by Hungry Jack on Jun 16, 2019 16:24:28 GMT -8
I most appreciate homes that make very efficient use of space, natural light, and its surroundings. Thus, I prefer fewer interior walls in shared spaces (ie the great room off the kitchen with an adjacent dining space). Basements are generally a “must”. I think declining returns set in once you start getting beyond 3,000 sq ft for 3 beds.
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driftwoody
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Take the path closer to the edge, especially if less traveled
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Post by driftwoody on Jun 16, 2019 16:56:27 GMT -8
And for those wider concerns we’ve got zoning laws. Surely you are not suggesting that current zoning laws are based primarily on environmental impact. Individual choices add up, and are also reflected in zoning laws.
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Post by cweston on Jun 17, 2019 4:32:28 GMT -8
We also live on a lake, with a mix of very small to moderately large homes. Our house was built in the 70s, and may have been among the first in the area intended as a year-round home. It’s about 1900 sq ft.
We’re in the process of renovating an 850 sq ft outbuilding into a guest cottage. We figure, for empty nesters, a detached guest house makes more sense and is more flexible than just having a huge house.
We have always gravitated toward cozier houses. Although, our current house has an oversized living room (with windows all around), and I do find the completely uncrowded feel of it very relaxing.
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tomas
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Post by tomas on Jun 17, 2019 4:36:03 GMT -8
They are not my cup of tea, but if somebody wants to fill most of a quarter acre plot with a house that's their right. I'd rather spend my money in a different fashion, but that's just my personal choice.
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FamilySherpa
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Post by FamilySherpa on Jun 17, 2019 5:28:14 GMT -8
I'd take a well designed and crafted 2500sq ft colonial or cottage style home over a mcmansion any day.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Jun 17, 2019 5:56:42 GMT -8
To me, it's more than the size of the house. McMansions tend to be uniform (or just a couple of variations within a complex), packed together, and of low quality craftsmanship/durability. They sure look nice when they're brand new, but let me know how they're holding up in 30 years.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Jun 17, 2019 6:48:04 GMT -8
They are not my cup of tea, but if somebody wants to fill most of a quarter acre plot with a house that's their right. I'd rather spend my money in a different fashion, but that's just my personal choice. As someone who spent far too much of his precious youth mowing a corner lot lawn, front and back ( which at least we used...) I can sympathize with minimizing the landscape I gotta admit. It looks out of proportion for sure but there’s a practicality there. An urban planner coworker back at one of my early jobs had the opinion dense housing was a good thing: allowing for an aggregated park arrangement that gave everyone a far larger horizon than Individual, chopped up, plots. Yah, MacMansion or no I’d agree about the construction: above baseline structural quality is a key: perhaps even more so as we head into an era of more severe weather from what it looks like. I’m thinking of those views of Panama City: all those lightweight beach houses thst has stood for decades and decades just wiped away: one beach front house that wasn’t? Had been built to take 200 mph winds not the zoning minimum. Otoh: affordability versus longevity? Complex mix, not unlike backpacking tent/shelter choices eh?
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Jun 17, 2019 7:43:54 GMT -8
Personally, I'd be happy now with a Tiny House, maybe 600 sq ft. The only rooms that need doors are the bedroom and the bath. On second thought, since there are but 2 of us, and we sleep in the same bed, maybe no door is needed in the bedroom. If children were to be raised in a home, I'd hope for another bathroom and a separate bedroom for each gender. We currently live in a 1700 sq ft home, and I use less than half of it. I could easily get by living in a conex sized home. This one linked happens to be two 20 ft conexes linked together, but one 40 ft'er would be just fine also.
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Post by cweston on Jun 17, 2019 7:47:57 GMT -8
Personally, I'd be happy now with a Tiny House, maybe 600 sq ft. I'd be fine with a house that size, but for the lack of storage for "stuff": hiking stuff, luggage, bee-keeping stuff, christmas decorations, "toys" (kayaks, etc). As long as I had some sort of storage building, I'd be quite happy in a small/tiny house. There are definitely places in my area where the shop is larger than the house.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Jun 17, 2019 7:50:49 GMT -8
Yes, I would also need another conex for storage. I have 3 paddle craft, 2 bikes, a ton of camping gear, and some shop tools. Might need 2 conex for a shop. Could space them apart a bit and put a roof over the space, like a garage or carport.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Jun 17, 2019 7:52:17 GMT -8
Basements are generally a “must”. Interesting. In my adult life I haven't lived in a place where the soil allowed having basements. The basements of my youth were all damp and smelled funny, and only good fortune prevented them from flooding. This is a political subject, right?
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Post by cweston on Jun 17, 2019 7:58:17 GMT -8
I love unfinished basements: we've always had them until our current house. They're the perfect place for convenient storage, beer fridge, etc.
I've always tended strongly against choosing a house with a finished basement, however. It just seems like water damage is inevitable.
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Post by autumnmist on Jun 17, 2019 9:25:00 GMT -8
There are definitely places in my area where the shop is larger than the house. I had to grin at that comment. My house is like that too. There are probably more books than anything else, and I don't want to/can't part with most of them. Some I've read several times. And there's also a whole room and 2 closets devoted to fabric, yarn, patterns and everything else that goes with sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, and other assorted crafts. My father's approximately 424 square foot woodworking shed was at one time in his life where he spent most of his day; it was his home outside of the primary basics with cooking and sleeping facilities. (There actually was a bad in there though.) I've always tended strongly against choosing a house with a finished basement They do bear the brunt of some weather interactions, but they also are a secondary place to store things; mine's full of woodworking and crafting magazines. We used ours also for storage of canned goods when the whole family lived together and gardened a lot. For those who grow a lot of their own food, a pantry would be a valuable addition to a first floor. High Sierra Fan , could you elaborate on the "wider concerns" that you feel are affected by zoning laws? I'm not sure I understand what you mean. My experience with zoning is not only that a primary purpose is to segregate and establish different standards for residential, commercial, industrial and/or farm land, but there also are areas which include more than one category. Still, I think an area's planning department, sometimes with "guidance" from developers and other interested parties, is primarily the entity with the most input as to how various areas are categorized. It can be a powerful planning tool though, aggregating good areas for living, less appealing areas for industrial, and areas with desirable demographics for commercial applications. Reversing those selections could affect a community's residential and commercial growth. Two of the law firms for which I worked handled commercial real estate transactions. For clients who purchased property, demographics were the top consideration for land they selected. There are some sections in my area where the demographics aren't suitable for commercial activities, and those entities that did choose those areas have not been successful at all. Buildings have been vacant and "for rent" for years. \ Zoning and planning commissions can really guide and affect development of their arda with good or bad choices. An urban planner coworker back at one of my early jobs had the opinion dense housing was a good thing Interesting perspective. Common areas can bring a community together and promote good will and solidarity. But individual houses that are close together can mitigate that, especially if neighbors have different standards, and/or loud, noisy families.
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