What kind of houses are in your neighborhood?
By dragon54u
@dragon54u (31636)
United States
December 3, 2009 8:24am CST
I was just thinking this morning as I sat out on my porch about the many different kinds of houses I saw. I used to live out west in an area where the houses all looked pretty the same. There was an HOA (Home Owners Association) that made sure that everything conformed to a certain look and I didn't like that at all.
Here, there are many different types of houses. There is an old brick house down the street that has been converted to apartments but still looks like a house. Across the street from me is a small house they call a bungalow but that looks kind of like a Swiss Chalet. There are houses with balconies, most have porches. Some are for one family and some are "doubles" where two families live side by side. Some have beautiful old fashioned windows and others have new windows, there are big porches with chairs on them and smaller porches with plants decorating them. Big ones, small ones, 2 story and 3 story houses, all different types!
I have a very interesting neighborhood due to the different types of houses. What kind of dwellings are in your neighborhood?
3 people like this
10 responses
@Downwindz (2537)
• Netherlands
4 Dec 09
Im living in a Villa area, all the houses here are privately owned by those who actually live in the houses, or maybe a single is living for rent im not sure about that. The houses are build aproximately 9years ago and have the same style. I would esitmate it to be middle class people. We live between two larger cities with a distance of 7-10 kilometres to each and they both have around 100.000 citizens living there. That is my area....
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
4 Dec 09
In my country, your area would be called a "suburb". Suburbs are very popular because they're close to most shopping but far enough from the city so there isn't such heavy traffic. However, the roads to the suburbs are often jammed because of all the people living there--in escaping the city, they've created another city! 
@Downwindz (2537)
• Netherlands
4 Dec 09
Hello Dragon, i believe then you might be able to call this city a suburb we dibt experience any heavy traffic and at the same time we are pretty close to the highways, about 5 minutes drive and we are connected to the whole highway system in the country and international too. And yet it is very silent in this area, i can just listen to the birds outside easy.
I do though believe this town here has been here for quite some years, i can see it if i go down town, there is a several houndred of years old castle located in a lake just next to the municipality office...
@uath13 (8192)
• United States
4 Dec 09
Living in Montana kinda broke me. Out there you have to actually drive to your neighbors they're that far away at times. After having so many annoying neighbors it was awesome. Now that we're back in Tennessee I made sure that they can't even find my house & are within easy rifle shot when they step onto my property .
.@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
4 Dec 09
Lucky you!! I used to fantasize about living out in the woods and it looks more attractive every year. I love my neighborhood but the next time I move, and I'm sure there will be at least one more move, I'd like to live in a more isolated place. I love hearing children laugh and play but it pains me to hear them cry and there are so many children hear that being outside is stressful.
@blogger_29 (99)
• Philippines
4 Dec 09
I live in a big subdivision, a low-cost one, for more than 10 years now. We all have the same type of houses here. What makes it different are the fences of each including the gates. One can rarely see two-story houses in the area. There are some houses being remodeled though which they turned into buildings. I am just proud we have a peaceful neighborhood around. :)
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
4 Dec 09
A peaceful neighborhood that has little crime means more than the type of houses it has. I'm glad you have a nice place to live! The place I lived before with houses all the same was very upscale and expensive (I rented) but there was a lot of crime by kids there and when I left there was gang activity and personal assaults.
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
4 Dec 09
Well, I live in one of these new complexes and there are only flats here. I like the neighbourhood and it tends to be trouble free and quiet! I guess I'm so lucky to be living where I am in that regard. I'm not too keen on these modern homes though as they don't seem as strong as the traditional bricks and mortar! I really love the way homes are built in the US. I have this kind of picture where there is so much space around one home and then further along there's the next home and the neighbours all know eachother! Is this the case or have I been watching too many melodramatic movies?
. It sounds as though there are a huge variety of different homes where you live anyhow and that is nice. Andrew
. It sounds as though there are a huge variety of different homes where you live anyhow and that is nice. Andrew1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
4 Dec 09
Your neighborhood sounds a lot like my neighborhood. The houses in our neighborhood are all very different from one another. We have houses that are ranch on a basement and then there are houses that are cape cods built on a slab. There is even one house on our block that looks like it could have been a barn in a former lifetime. Most of the houses in our neighborhood are about sixty years old and I think that each of the houses on our street have personalities that are all their own.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
4 Dec 09
That sounds like a great place to live, and so interesting! Those old houses are fascinating--have you ever noticed how beautiful the original windows can be? Some are triangular, some peaked, some round but so many are unique!
Now that you have a house, are you decorating with lights for Christmas? I'll just be doing lights around the inside windows this year, not the whole outside lights things.
@madteaparty (2748)
• Japan
4 Dec 09
My neighbourhood also has many different kinds of houses. Where I live, even if it's a city, has some parts that look more like rural areas, and I live in one of those. There are a few buildings with apartments surrounded by unifamiliar 2 floored houses, and even there's a field to cultivate. I still have to find out who's cultivating in there
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
4 Dec 09
Your neighborhood sounds very interesting! I love places like that, I don't like to be where everything is the same. The person with the field is fortunate to have it. I have a garden and my neighbors are nearly all planning gardens next year because of food prices.
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
3 Dec 09
On my side of the street and on my block, we have mainly one story brick houses. They are all about the same size, but a little different in the layout. On the other side of the street there is only one house and the rest are apartment buildings. There are 4 units in each building. If you go down a block there are a lot of 2 family homes on either side of the street. Regardless of the type of home, they are all brick.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
3 Dec 09
I like brick houses but when I was looking for a house I could not afford that type. I was so surprised last year when I was looking at pictures of the aftermath of a tornado--the new "brick" houses that the storm had damaged had torn away what was actually a facade of bricks so the houses weren't brick at all! I guess only the older ones are real.
Your neighborhood sounds very attractive!
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
3 Dec 09
hi I am in Southern Ca and would you believe this our retirement centerGold Crest is smack in the middle of the neighborhood known as Little Saigon, most all the houses are pretty uniform as they belong to one very large apartment complex all under one ownership. the houses are apartments really but look more like houses, some are one level several are two levels all look the same but the nice part is they all have nice flower beds and shrubs and most all the inhabitants are of course Vietnamese with a few Caucasians here and there. A lot of shops here are all Vietnamese with very odd names. they really are hardworking and very clean and very friendly too. rather pleasant living here in this neighborhood, very little crime if any. rarely ever see police cars around here.
round here.1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
3 Dec 09
That sounds very nice!
Isn't it strange...living in a neighborhood of immigrants is often safer than living in one consisting of natural born citizens. I admire legal immigrants, they truly want to be here and made every effort to succeed on their own, they are proud and make good neighbors.
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
3 Dec 09
Hi there my dear. Well my living area is rather sad from this point of view. All the old living blocks are of Korean design, built for lots of people with little regard for the esthetical aspect.
The newer blocks look better, but they are still high (10 floors minimum) in order to increase the number of places they can sell.
At the edge of the town, villas are being built for the richer people, but they look like junk compared to the houses in England... I love the roman style :P
1 person likes this
@olisaur (1922)
• United States
3 Dec 09
I grew up in Southern California, and all the houses looked like each others siblings; not quite exactly the same, but they all looked alike. Now I live in another state, in a pretty old neighborhood, and all the houses are pretty unique. Most of them were built in 1930-1950. Some of them have been renovated and others still have a really retro charm.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
4 Dec 09
I felt trapped when I lived in the cookie cutter neighborhood, almost like I was in an open air prison. But that's just me. Like you, I moved to a varied neighborhood and I love it. My house was built in 1928--up in the attic, one of the workmen painted his initials and the year on the rafters! Isn't it great to see such variety? I love the old architecture and these old houses were built solidly and the didn't skimp on quality or materials.
