Seconding Arborvitae for your area (I'm in northern Illinois, about an hour from you). Proper name: northern white-cedar --- Cupressaceae Thuja occidentalis L Cultivars: 'Aurea' - A golden globe that needs little shearing. 'Boisbraind' - A plant 10 feet tall with dark green, burn resistant foliage. 'Brabant' - This cultivar tends to form one central leader thus minimizing stem damage from winter snows. 'Brandon' - A fast-growing, cone-shaped plant about 15 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Reported as suitable for use on harsh sites. 'Chalet' - A narrow plant with a rounded top and lime- green foliage. It will be 10 to 15 feet tall. 'Compact American' - A compact, pyramidal form reaching a height of 25 feet and a spread of 8 feet. 'Danica' - A slow-growing, compact globe with dark green foliage. 'Degroot's Spire' - A narrow, columnar form. 'Douglasii Pyramidalis' - A dense, columnar form with twisted dark green foliage. 'Elegantissima' - A slow-growing, dense plant with yellow branch tips. 'Filiformis' - A pendulous plant with long, thread-like branchlets and bright green new growth. 'George Peabody' - A broad, upright plant with yellow foliage. The foliage becomes more orange in winter. 'Gold Cargo' - A cultivar with gold foliage that is reported to resist winterburn. The plant can be 25 feet tall and 6 feet wide. 'Golden' - A broad, upright form with bright yellow new growth. 'Golden Globe' - A uniform oval with foliage a soft yellow. 'Hetz Midget' - A slow-growing, compact plant. 'Hetz Wintergreen' - A narrow, upright form reaching a height of 60 feet. 'Holmstrup' - Dark green foliage that holds its color in winter. Broadly pyramidal. 'Little Gem' - A globe-shaped plant reaching a height of about 3 feet. 'Little Giant' - A slow-growing, globe-shaped plant with bright green foliage all year. 'Masonic' - Pyramidal form about 25 feet tall and 5 feet wide. 'Niagara Compact' - A globe-shaped plant more compact than 'Woodwardii'. 'Nigra' - A symmetrical form with good dark green foliage color. 'Pendula' - An open, weeping form with dark green foliage. 'Pygmy Globe' - A dwarf, globe-shaped plant with bright green foliage. Needs little shearing. 'Pyramidalis' - A narrow, columnar plant often used for screens. 'Rheingold' - Yellow foliage that becomes orange yellow in winter. 'Sherman' - A pyramidal form reaching a height of 30 feet and a spread of 12 feet. 'Sherwood Moss' - A dwarf plant 4 to 6 feet tall. 'Smaragd' ('Emerald') - Narrow habit with glossy green summer color. Reported as resistant to spider mites. Plants will be about 15 feet tall and 4 feet wide. 'Sudworthii' - Upright, broad plant with yellow foliage. 'Sunkist' - A compact, broad plant with orange-yellow foliage. 'Techny' ('Mission') - A fast-growing plant with dark green foliage. Usually about 15 feet tall. 'Tiny Tim' - A compact, upright mounding plant. 'Umbraculifera' - A rounded, irregular plant, nearly 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide. 'Unicorn' - A narrowly compact plant with dark green foliage. 'Wareana' - A slow-growing, broadly upright plant. 'Wintergreen' - A pyramidal form reaching a height of 30 feet that retains good green color in winter. 'Woodwardii' - A rounded form that retains its shape without shearing. 'Yellow Ribbon' - A narrow, upright habit is combined with yellow foliage all year.

The Southern Magnolia, no matter which variety will struggle in zone 6. We have tried it in White Plains NY, zone 6B,.. We covered it with burlap in winter. Never bloomed, but survived. Then a hard winter came and every Southern Magnolia died. We now live on Amelia Island in Florida. The Magnolia's grow wild, And to 80'+, but the leaves do burn badly if we get a hurricane, and ocean spray hits them. They will come back, but very slowly. Here on the Island the deciduous Magnolia's do not survive.. this is an Evergreen Maritime environment.. It's so much better to stick to plants that will survive without coverings and hopes. Folks here plant Coconut palms, and they do well until we get a rare 30 degree night, then they are all dead. So far here on AI, in the last 10 years we have not received any temperatures below 30 degrees, and that was for 2 hours. Off Island, and in to interior Florida nights can go down to 20 degrees, a few times a year. Plan for the coldest temperature, and never get disapointed.

Another "yes and no" vote here. First, we have to define "old" house. Most of us here think of an "historical" home as being 1930s or before, built with care and a hope for longevity. Some here have homes constructed as early as the 1700s. But your friend's position on "old house" may encompass far more structures -- poorly constructed tenant/mill housing, post-war cottages with no intrinsic value, poory built 1970s "contemporary" structures . . . Do we find value in those simply because they exist and therefore require no new construction tax on the environment? That being said, I don't agree with his position that tearing down all old substandard (in his opinion) housing and replacing with new will result in a net gain in efficiency. It's just not possible, as there is too much housing stock out there. I think when we -- posters on an "old house" forum and therefore assumedly gung-ho if not fanatical on all things old and architectural -- think about people who own old houses, we picture ourselves. We picture our quaint neighborhoods and settings with loads of other folks just like us, stripping paint off trim, jackhammering concrete and removing vinyl siding. We are a minority. What we DON'T picture is the vast majority of folks who own old homes. They own them for various reasons. They inherited them, they liked the location, or most likely -- the price was right. After all, the homeowner on the lowest end of the buying power scale will almost always have an older house. Newer houses, by virtue of simple inflation and the tendency of the market to increase value usually, stagnate at worst will seldom if ever sell for less than they cost to build. So they remain unaffordable for the bottom-end buyer. He ends up with an "older" home by default. And if someone is stretching to make the house payment, maintenance and upgrades becomes an issue. And when cost is an issue, this work is either delayed, or done in the least expensive manner possible. The homes are shelter to many folks, not a statement. And many of them have become rental property, which is another post unto itself. This is the struggle we have in my current neighborhood. Yes, it is difficult to maintain the momentum in our historical association when abesntee landlords, renters who couldn't care less, and residents with "questionable" home improvement skills and plans seem to thwart us at every turn. As for recycling, I don't think it has anything to do with where a person lives. I think making the decision to "bring back" an historic home automaically qualifies you as an activist to some degree -- you buck the conventional wisdom of moving to the 'burbs, you're making a statement. I think an "activist" is more likely to do he heavy lifting like recycling and composting. But, there are plenty of recyclers in certain suburban areas, too. After all, a lot of those folks are a lot like us, but just want to be able to put their kids in public school (sad but true).

So many existing cities with good public transport are already "15-min". My MIL was blind and hard of hearing and managed to live on her own in NYC after FIL passed as she was able to walk...she had the grocery store on one corner, several restaurants where she would get her dinners to go, the bank on another corner, the post office around the block. She could take buses or cabs to get to further locations and did very well for herself. She knew all the shopkeepers and they knew her and would help her with making change, picking out grocery items, etc. None of that would've been possible for her in the burbs. But what I find interesting is the term "city" that may be part of the objection. In a way, 15 min areas are being developed here around dying malls. The mall owners, realizing the death of retail due to e-tail are now building apartments and condos on mall properties and the malls are being converted to more than just retail to include other things such as restaurants, medical offices, grocery stores and fitness centers...the idea being that people who live close to the mall will walk there and find all the services they need on a regular basis....better access to services for them...more customers for the mall....a win-win.