I am a pretty responsible dude but nothing has made me as invested in my community, surroundings, etc as owning a home. I always loved the US but once we bought the house I really understood it on the next level.
Apartments are great for single people and retirees. Families should have a house with a back yard and a drive way. It's our dream.
And with respect, as another commenter stated, that's your dream. There's a lot of options in between that just don't exist right now in most of the country.
May I ask why?
My cousins growing up lived near the core of a small city and visiting them was like a breath of fresh air. So many fun activities nearby, things you could walk to, way more people to meet.
Where I grew up I was basically stuck on just my street unless I could convince my parents to drive me somewhere, and even when I had that there was nowhere interesting to go.
I guess when I was like <10 years old it didn’t really matter, but the older I got the worse it was. I’d never move back to a suburb personally, and I certainly wouldn’t raise kids there.
And even if they could in most bedroom towns, there's nothing to do.
For me, I'd live in the country or the city never the suburbs.
I had to beg my parents to take me anywhere. My kids just leave the house and find friends or say hi to neighbors. No effort on our part and they get to be free.
What a problem to have. Wow.
There is a reason the rents on nice urban apartments in good areas would easily cover the mortgage in an average suburb, yet are still in high demand.
Most renters want to own because owning is cheaper. Renters live in houses too... It's not like home renters are less likely to want to own.
I know a family who rents a lovely house in a super nice neighborhood... They still want to own.
Example: 2 years ago we bought a house on Long Island, near NYC. If we were willing to live 30 minutes further east, the same house would cost half. If we were willing to live in a few nice part of Cleveland, the same house would go down by half again. And if we wanted to live right outside of Cleveland, it'd drop by half again.
Point being that things can get VERY affordable if you are willing to be creative and flexible with location. Which is easier now than ever with WFH. I also think boomers will start moving out soon and there'll be plenty inventory. Housing will be fine.
The problem now is that we don’t give people the choice when only single family homes are allowed. Some people like apartments. Some people prefer location and would take whatever gets them there. Some people just need the cheapest housing.
- unsupervised play
- mixed age un-chaperoned interaction
- have my children be raised by a village
I find most people's American suburban life is sort of an isolated existence. People have 3 or 4 people they know on the block. For us, there were numerous homes we could stop by as kids, and we were susceptible to policing from all adults in the vicinity. It was a real community experience - not isolated encounters here and there.
Want to go to a park? Well that's a 10 minute drive.
How about friends? Better hope I like my 3 neighbors (I didn't). Another 15 minute drive
My family and I live in a large apartment. My son has friends he can walk to see, a park he can walk to and we can relax in, and even a store where he can get treats with his allowance. I'm not his driver and he's more locked into the community than I ever was. All I knew in my community was who had a feud with who over a tree crossing into their yard.
There are a lot of households without children and not that many apartments—-especially higher end ones in nice places.
Allow some more of those to built so single people, retirees, and so-inclined others can move into them and that will free up houses with yards and white picket fences for families that want them.
My empty nester parents have no apartment options if they want to stay in the same community where they’ve lived for decades.