One con would be if one structure caught on fire, the next door structure would have a good chance of catching on fire also, unless the adjacent wall(s) were constructed in such a manner that it was fireproof.

Parking is something else to consider. With homes that close, a child's birthday party/holiday gathering could congest the entire street. :-O

Sounds like you live in Chicago. Yes natural light is diminished and you (or me) would have window blinds. Luxury home is not really built 6' away.

Ken

I grew up in Chicago, as the poster above mentioned it's tight. I will list a couple of my experiences so here it goes

1. Parking is always an issue, scuffed up front and rear bumpers on your cars.

2. Very little privacy, I moved my blinds and can see neighbors cooking in their kitchen on one side and people watching tv on the other side.

3. Noise, noise, noise people coming and going kids yelling etc.

4. No views, just brick walls and neighbors windows.

5. Taxes were high but then its Chicago everything is expensive.

6. Association dues $ can't do anything structual to your place without permission.

7. Good neighbors and BAD neighbors, you are either in heaven or hell, you mentioned luxury maybe you'll get lucky with neighbors.

There is more but I'll leave it at that. My final thought if you want to read into it, I will never buy a condo/townhouse ever again :-) that should tell you something, good luck thebigad

Have you ever been to San Francisco? Although the houses are standalone, they are essentially attached. I lived there for 37 years, always loved it. Highly desirable cities around the world, with very expensive real estate, are constructed this way. It's urban living and not for everyone but millions of people consider it absolutely normal. Depending on your preferred lifestyle it can be fantastic or suffocating.

Do an Airbnb of something as similar as possible for a weekend and report back.

That contractor is ONLY trying to MAXIMIZE PROFIT PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are trying to RIP people off!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As much as I've seen in the last few years, this is marketing complete BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's gotten insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They build 3 story high for the cheapest-ed building and charge the max!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To make the MOST profit!!!!!!

"I assume we will have decent construction."

Never, ever assume!! Cost does not always reflect luxury, and luxury does not guarantee quality.

These are great comments. The home is intown Atlanta. We would have 6' on the sides, but front may be greenspace if we get a desirable lot and back would be an alley for garage access, then another row of homes. We like the low maintenance aspect and great schools, but agree that many of the comments above make this home less desirable than what we first thought. The airBNB suggestion is a smart one. We toured a similar new construction in the area yesterday and were astonished. It's like being on a movie set. And you could literally see what the neighbor is doing in front of you unless they had curtains drawn.

Also keep in mind that a weekend in one of these might not give you the full experience. My neighborhood is super quiet on the weekends, and quite lively in the early mornings and evenings during the week with all the coming and going from school and work.

It really depends on how much the privacy thing would bother you, and what your other priorities are. Do you want space for a small garden? And area to play catch with the kids? Or is all of that secondary to a great location with easy access to a park and grocery stores, etc?

Buy a condo or townhouse. Since the privacy will be identical to only having 6 feet. At least with the condo you will have zero maintenance.

This kind of home is not for me, but it became very popular in areas in my city over the last 10-15 years. And yes, it was done to maximize for profit for builders, but also bc people wanted to live in those areas and they valued large homes over yards and green space.

You keep mentioning schools but no age of your kids, so I'll encourage you to think about their needs a little more than just the school.

I have a good friend who moved into a similar setup to be in a certain school zone. But she is now regretting it b/c her boy has NO space to run and play. They never have company b/c a 3-story is not conducive to children playing inside, and there's no room outside. Sure they go to parks often, but it's not nearly as convenient as opening your back door and letting your kids run around in the yard.

All my other friends who live in and love that type of housing are either pre-kids, post-kids or no kids.

Six feet is close?

Depends where you're coming from.

When I lived downtown, that would have been loads of space!

(I built one home three feet from the property line; the neighbour was a foot away from the property line.)

You want urban life? Unless you're a hedge fund gazillionaire or an "A" lister, there are compromises.

The biggest question marks are what is the neighbourhood like, and who will be attracted to the new homes.

Millions of people around the world successfully raise children in apartments, townhomes, and attached homes, and have done so forever -- New York, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, London, Tokyo, etc. etc. etc. I grew up in a high density city with attached homes and apartments built many decades ago. The place was swimming with kids. My current house, located in a medium density city, was built in 1928. At most it's six feet from my neighbor's home. Our local schools are bursting at the seams. The kids do what my friends and I did -- they play in the park, the schoolyard, and in the street. They ride their bikes or walk to school, shoot hoops in the driveway and jump rope on the sidewalk.

I've lived in urban apartments, townhomes, attached houses and detached houses, homes on large suburban lots and rural acreage. Privacy has not been a big issue with any of them. I've found that the design of the home and how it's sited has a much bigger impact on privacy than the size of the property.

Dense urban development encourages bike, pedestrian and transit use and discourages single occupancy vehicles. A pedestrian-friendly environment encourages a sense of community. They are more efficient to build and maintain (water, sewer, roads, utilities, etc.).

No doubt dense urban living isn't everybody's cup of tea, but millions of us all over the world wouldn't have it any other way.

Are you sure about the 6-feet dimension?

Yes, I'm sure re the 6 ft separation. Per the city-filed site plan.

I would rather have a brownstone with no space between than 6 feet with windows that look into my neighbors house.

About pros and cons, I don’t really think there aren’t any that aren’t obvious anyways.

There used to be this massive apartment complex across the street of where I live, next to a large development from the 1960s with single family homes, Wonder Years style, with nice yards.

Then they knocked down the apartment buildings and replaced them with these zero lot detached three story single family homes. Very nice homes but I thought, weird, 2x the price of a home with a yard next doors. They sold out in no time so I guess the cons don’t really bother buyers.

How long do you think living in a 3-level home will be desirable? How long will you enjoy climbing and descending 3-levels of stairs?

tiggerlgh has a point.

I think it's always a matter of what you're prioritizing. Upsides, obviously, include not a lot of outdoor maintenance. And a lot of people like that. Especially if, even in a "good" location" a couple hours of your day are eaten by your commute.

It might be worth sitting down and making a pro/con list for YOU of that property versus whatever your other choice might be. Not in a vacuum, but compared to another option that you are also considering. Very seldom is there a "perfect." Often it's a matter of which of two option is BETTER.

Yes, we're doing the pros/cons list, and this thread has helped us clarify those (to the extent they matter to us). For example, we don't mind the three stories. We see it as keeping us fit/healthy (although our aging parents might disagree when they visit).

Related question - if you are in a dense community, and they have an open greenspace/courtyard, would you want your property to abut it? It seems like it would be good in the sense that you reduce some privacy issues, your kids can play in front within sight. Cons would be that neighbors would always be outside your home enjoying the space and that may or may not be something we want.

As a rule of thumb, I don't know that it's wise to be buying into a new development on the front end of it.

I’d walk away and keep looking. Find a place with a yard for your kids.

Yes, I'd personally opt for abutting the green space. It will make your lot feel larger, improve your view and afford you more privacy. You can more easily get to know your neighbors, have playmates for your kids, organize neighborhood events, etc. OTOH, If neighbors and noise are an issue for you, look father out in the suburbs. Depends on your priorities,

plan shows 6 ft between proposed structures.

Most building codes require an exterior wall that close to another building to be 2 hour fire rated (or be of fire proof construction), window openings in the wall to have automatic fire shutters and the buildings to be fully sprinklered. There's a good reason for these requirements: there could be a conflagration too large for the neighboring fire departments to handle.

Ultimately we decided that location was more important to us than space. Urban living or otherwise close in (walking distance to restaurants, stores, recreation and even medical, and short drive to schools and other amenities, including ball fields and an abundance of city parks). usually comes at a trade off at almost any price range. While we aren't truly urban, because we live in a resort area, we do want to be close to all the area has to offer. We really thought this out. Our land budget was around 400,000. At that price point options were .35 to .5 acre lots close in, with the smaller being in the best location, but also having some community green space. The other options were further out 3-10 acreas but a snowy 10 to 25 minute drive to skiings, groceries, etc. We chose close in and don!t regret it. But we are a multigenerational family in a side by side duplex. Closest neighbors are out DDm DGS andDSIL (on the other side of the common wall. On our side we'reabout 35' from next door neighbor to the east (and because of their less deep building envelopes preserved very nice view in that direction from our bedroom and bath). On the kids side, their neighbor is about 20' away and the werecareful with windows on that side (west).

This works for us, but YMMV.

even at a higher price range there would be the same type trade offs, simply because there are previous few larger lots close in and none as well located as ours. Land nearby is a finite resource.

So, one of the options to get more privacy is to buy a lot near the retention "pond." I've read up that this is a bad idea overall, even with promises of nice landscaping and fencing for safety issues. Any thoughts?

"...So, one of the options to get more privacy is to buy a lot near the retention "pond." I've read up that this is a bad idea overall, even with promises of nice landscaping and fencing for safety issues. Any thoughts?..."

How much and how often does it rain? Do alligators and water mocassins bother you?

As these are luxury homes, I assume we will have decent construction.

Assume nothing. I've seen 2 and 3 million dollar homes with poor construction.

I own a vacation home that has about 20 feet between homes and that was a tough adjustment coming from 1 acre lots at my other home.

6 feet seems awfully tight to me. I understand you may have no better options but that's just too tight. I'd almost rather have a nice townhome than a SFH only 6' apart.

Are you in mosquito country? If so, I'd avoid the detention pond.

We are 3’ away from our neighbours, it can be annoying (lack of light/light coming from neighbours directly in to our bedroom at night, similarly, a game playing teen right beside our bed while we are trying to sleep, no view, stagnant air, no heat from sun etc.) it can be comforting after a fashion as well (safety, knowing they are doing ok because we like them, hearing our other neighbours kids having freakout tantrums and running down the halls meaning we are vicariously sharing their lives for good and ill, having nearby house and pet sitters, having people to borrow an egg from etc.)

They usually spray for mosquitos but the geese can be a poopy pain in the squawking butt. Ask me how I know! :)

Also wanted to say that we bought this place partially because it had a wild undeveloped yard which I thought was a kids paradise. Well it turned out my kid is not very outdoorsy, doesn’t like exerting himself or getting dirty. Seems like kids now don’t spend a lot of time playing in yards. We do have a massive park 2 min from here and a really good school yard, there are lots of recreation programs we can tap into, which is often more what older kids seem to want to do anyways.

J Williams - Even with being in a detached home, you can hear your neighbors so well, per comments above. That sucks. A lot of folks above are saying that they would rather be in a brownstone/townhome than only have a 3 or 6 ft separation. I hear that brownstones/townhomes these days have good construction so that you barely hear your neighbor through the common wall. Thoughts?

A few thoughts.

- This type of neighborhood is quite normal outside of the U.S. (6.5' or 2m apart is typical). I've many friends in The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Germany that live in similar neighborhoods and they quite like it. They've an option of larger yards farther out but prefer the better location. More later...

- You can call it builder profit or providing a better place at a lower cost for consumers. Land is expensive and land in a good or great location is even more expensive. Most people don't need and do not benefit from huge yards so this provides an option to get a nice house without all of the land expense.

- If this neighborhood is located within walking/biking distance of good schools, grocery, pharmacy and places to eat then there is even greater cost savings in not having to drive as much ($0.58 - 1.98/mi in the U.S.) and which is also healthier. Many families in such neighborhoods determine that they only need one car (becoming extremely popular among millennials, Y's and some boomers) which saves even more money.

- Houses 6' apart can actually get considerable light in through the windows on the narrow space side and it makes the interior massively better than townhome style construction with no side windows.

We are attached on one side, I can’t remember if the wall was rebuilt and insulated, but it is only a plastered wall, it is not overwhelming, the sound transference inside (running feet), unlike one place we lived in where you could hear whether or not your neighbours had plastic or paper grocery bags or if they got mail (you could hear envelopes ripping), or if they had a boyfriend in the shower with them lol. You do hear stuff in backyards for sure, and when doors and windows are open. I grew up in a townhouse and we could hear people going up and down stairs, and we really had no private space outside. I find my parents suburban house annoying because the bedroom I was given when we moved there overlooks the neighbours dining room, it felt like you were on show and really not in a good way if you forgot to put a blanket up or something. 6’ is not bad, you will get more light and air than 3’. A significant number of homes here are the identical plan but mirror image, so that is one issue, ie. our bedroom window upstairs directly faces our neighbours.

I have lived in attached, semi-attached, detached but barely, large suburban lots and acreage. Noise can be a problem with any of them (roosters, machinery, colicky babies, barking dogs, party central, unmuffled vehicles, aircraft, etc.), but haven't had much of a problem overall. The most annoying noise issues have been in apartments with neighbors above, where you can hear every footstep, the TV and other sounds you'r rather not hear.