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317 comments on DrumBeat: August 7, 2006

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Mad Maxout on August 7, 2006 - 10:12pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
A few months ago, I came close to buying a condo in the suburbs. Why I decided against it was a lack of bars in walking distance. Bars are my mode of choice for being at all social, sub-optimal as it is. But it's better than nothing.

And that's the problem. The suburbs are about like a lunar colony where the homes serve as habitats and the cars as the spacecraft. You can't walk anywhere in the suburbs any more than you can walk on the moon without a spacesuit. That's becuse everything in the asphalt desert is too bloody far away. I lived briefly in the suburbs before what seemed to be a mass extinction of bars. Now, it would be some lonely stuff out there.

Why the mass extinction of bars? The automobile is a good suspect. With DUI being dangerous, and fiercer crackdowns to get these morons off the road, people gave up on going to the local bar. So, they close up.

It's little wonder the coffee shop cropped up. But people are too busy to socialise there thanks to laptops. Also, if you're already an insomniac, a coffee shop is a poor choice anyways even without laptop proliferation.

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fleam on August 8, 2006 - 1:25am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Maxout this is where you really need to read Kunstler on the evolution of US housing, the house with no garage at all unless it was the house of wealthy ppl then it had a carriage house in back. When cars evolved and started to displace people at the dominent US life-form, you first had houses with a garage in back, small and almost out of sight, to a larger garage about the same distance from the curb as the house, to today's "snout house" with the garage right out in front, and the front door almost an afterthought - which after all an entrance for people would be. The people only seem to exist to support the cars.

I wish I could find this..... in the 70s they had a 2nd version of The Mickey Mouse Club show on TV, with some neat re-runs of some of the funkiest Disney cartoons, one was about cars, and was from a sort of "space alien visiting Earth" perspective, it was eerie, the space alien's conclusion was that cars were the dominent life form and humans seemed to be a sort of parasite on the cars.....

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Leanan on August 8, 2006 - 8:52am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I hate the garage in front of the house design.  It's ugly, IMO.

However, there is a reason for it.  The garage is put between the house and the street in order to shelter the living space from street noise.

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fallout on August 8, 2006 - 10:09am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Unfortunately, what it proclaims to the world is that "Cars Live Here!"  
The actual human-occupied portion appears increasingly secondary, little more than an add on in the back. An architectural nightmare.
The importance of the automobile in US culture cannot be overstated.
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odograph on August 8, 2006 - 10:35am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Well, in detached housing the alternatives are garages in front, or alleys in back.  I think in general I like alleys less ...
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Leanan on August 8, 2006 - 10:51am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
And garages are often huge today.  Three, four, six bays and more.  Craziness.  I know people who have two-car garages at the front of the thouse, and build another two or three bay garage in back.  

Personally, I'm fond of the "breezeway."  A little screened or windowed porch that connects the garage to the house.  You can sit out there in summer, and put the beer there to keep cold in winter.  :)

My parents' garage is in back of the house, connected to the kitchen.  But I think that's partly because of the association rules of the subdivision they live in.  You cannot leave your garage door open if it can be seen from the street.  So people turn the garage sideways and put it in the backyard.

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Dryki on August 8, 2006 - 10:11pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Chris Alexander in "A Pattern Language" makes a strong case about doorways, transitions and entrances. No, the garage is there first and foremost because that is how people come into their home. It IS the front door. It's not there to block noise from the street. I'm one of those Mainers with a garage too useful to park a car in - in other words it's full of trash and treasure. My ex lives in one of those developments where cars have to sleep in the garage. That's her front door, an oil-stained concrete slab. I have to walk outside past the roses, peony and herbs. Sometimes in the rain.

My bike, OTOH, lives in the house, in the front entryway. Hers is hanging up with flat tires in the garage.

cfm

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Magnus Redin on August 9, 2006 - 3:45am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I thought the front door were the one intended for visitors. Seems lonely to have your garage as the front door.

Its quite common that a door closer to the kitchen is the most used door even if it isent the front door.

Cultural difference?

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Magnus Redin on August 8, 2006 - 6:50am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Is not Starbucs etc an example of exactly the kind of trend needed to create more social meeting places? Even if people are bringing their lapatop "TV" with them, its a lot better then staying at home. Btw, I realy should take my laptop to a coffe shop. ;-)

And I prefer insomnia before alcoholism any day even if both are realy bad for your driving.

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