ValuyMost Americans would rather live in a big house in a car-based community than a small house in a walking-based community.
TheReturnOfPEBI think that it is because many Americans have no experience with the other as a lifestyle.
I’ve had it both ways, and there’s nothing that compares to having your own house and land with privacy away from noisy neighbors.
When I lived in a city there were more things to do, and I could bike to work, but the crowding feels like a social prison. Also I saw some people get shot, and thieves stole things from my porch repeatedly.
KoboldCoterieI grew up in exactly that kind of environment; really, the land (and the wildlife that comes with it) is the bit I miss the most. I’d take a very modest house on a decent plot of land in the middle of the woods to living in a city.
LibertyLizardI want to live in a modest house within walking distance of downtown and unspoiled wilderness. How do make this happen?
NYC, next to central park?
Oh sure let me just ask my parents for a small loan of a million dollars so I can afford rent.
Also Central Park is not exactly unspoiled wilderness. It is nice but not quite what I wanted.
Look for an older town, built out before cars.
I have a lot of that where I live
- walkable downtown, centered on a train station - settled since 1600s, bedroom community of a major city
- first zone for single family homes so I do have a small yard/driveway/basement yet still walkable to center of town
- I got one of the “new” houses, built in 1946 out of very solid materials, with a usable basement, yard, and driveway. For example, my own EV charging
- just a few blocks away is a sizable reservation of undeveloped land and a six mile loop of ridge trail - we occasionally get coyotes that presumably live there
btsaxSuch as? I feel like New England is like 90% sprawling suburbs like the rest of the country.
Also by downtown I do mean a real downtown with actual amenities.
A lot of bigger cities do have car-dependent sprawl around an unaffordable city center like Portland, Hartford, Burlington etc but a lot of the smaller towns are much more walkable and community-oriented, where you can probably afford a quarter acre lot within walking distance of a downtown. Brattleboro is a good example but getting pricey, Bennington maybe, Hanover NH, Montpelier, Farmington ME etc.
You’re not going to find Boston-level amenities in i.e. Brattleboro but you’ll get a minimum of a coffee shop or two, a brewery, a few good restaurants, shops, etc. plus small-town community and an affordable home
PedestrianError 
@LibertyLizard @btsax Look at the MBTA commuter rail map (or NJ Transit, SEPTA around Philadelphia, or Metra around Chicago). A lot of the regional rail stops are in or near historic downtowns that provide some downtown amenities plus rail access to the bigger city. Houses near those downtowns are generally more expensive than sprawlier suburbs but cheaper than the central city.
Yeah that’s probably the closest that exists honestly.