Tony, i would agree with you in principle that gardens and more garden space are important to people who like to garden, but we are not the majority in today's real estate market. I guess I am lucky in one respect to live in such a tightly regimented politically correct town such as the People's Republic of Berkeley, in that the zoning controls and design review ordinances are so tightly drawn that they mostly favor existing structures over new construction. Due to this fact, there are very few McMansions being built here, and although some tear downs do occur, they usually involve keeping 90% of the existing perimeter stud walls and footprint to avoid having to go before design review. As I work alot with contractors and developers, I know the drill when it comes to avoiding headaches here in Berkeley. On the other hand, there is absolutely no requirement to submit landscape plans for approval when doing such a quasi-teardown. I compare this situation to marvelous Marin County, which Michelle Dervis would always complain that you can't fart without getting a permit first. I relish the relative freedom to be creative without having to jump through all those hoops. I also agree with the poster about how difficult it would be to live within a planned unit development which spells out what color to paint your house, or what trees to plant. Just a little too rigid for my tastes, although I have certainly designed and have seen built enough such projects that I had a hand in. I would also greatly enjoy the luxury of not looking at my neighbor's house just 8 feet away, but such is life. Such close living forces one to become more creative about planting for density and screening for privacy, while not blocking one's or neighbor's sunlight. House remodeling to add double pane windows are a nice bonus to keeping outside noise outside, or Chaka Kahn at high volume from bothering the neighbors. I don't think I have ever lived anywhere, either here in California or overseas where I had the luxury of real space to garden, so I don't miss it. I would however, miss being able to enjoy being outside in the garden year round, and winters where nothing was actively growing or blooming. I should correct that last, I wouldn't really miss not having winters at all... What does all this blather have to do with the topic at hand? Just that population trends seem to agree with my personal situation, in that high density occurs where the climate is more pleasant year round, or where the cultural possibilities and scenery cause people to pick up and leave home to try living there, wherever "there" may be. Part of my personal mission is to make each client's "there" a little more like a private oasis or sanctuary, to compensate for the nonexistent elbow room between neighbors. My own backyard is such a jungle of vegetation from around the world, that I don't even see the adjoining two story apartment building anymore, although I do have to compete with these neighbors for on-street parking and all the public transit people who park in front of my house each weekday in order to take BART to the city. Still, it is still possible to park within a 100 yards of my house, as compared to living in San Francisco...

Oh, gdogni. I tried to make this short, but it can't be said in a few sound bites. Who was doing the jobs before the illegals came? They were being done. Have we been quick to buy the idea that Americans don't want to do these jobs because we, ourselves, wouldn't want to do them? Americans have done jobs for many years I wouldn't want to have to do. I would do anything I could do, if necessary, but I do have my 'druthers. I wish you could have talked with the young woman I just spent time with the other day. She was almost in tears because she was pretty sure she was going to loose her jobs because the company had just brought in a new group of illegals. She commuted 60 miles - one way - to work on the assembly line of a chicken processing plant. I've been just in the office of a processing plant and my stomach lurched from the smell. It's a job I don't want to have to do - but others have for many years. She said, in a shakey voice, 'I've just got to have this job.' The shocking thing she told me is, if this company lays someone off, not fired for reason, but laid off because of slowdowns, etc., they will only rehire you one time. That means you can be rehired, but if laid off again (because a batch of illegals come in) you are no longer 'qualified' to work for that company. By way of their hiring practices, they are creating 'unqualified' workers in the area. People know to not apply for the job again. So when the news media goes to the spokesman for that company he/she can say things like 'we just can't find qualified workers', or 'we just haven't had any applicants' or the old stand by 'no one wants to do these kinds of jobs'. Neither they nor the media are going to tell you they fixed the situation. When you see jobs being filled by illegals - the only thing that means is they have the job. It means absolutely nothing else. We don't know how many others applied for the job, and didn't get it. One thing you have to realize is that in many areas, people are aware that only illegals will be hired, and they don't even apply. I saw illegals building the houses that got built in the frenzy of the last few years. Can we assume that Americans no longer wanted to do carpentry, dry walling, electrical,plumbing, bricklaying?? I don't think so. I know a lot who wanted the jobs. They are a bargain to employers because the employers have no responsibility. They don't have to comply with overtime laws, collect and match taxes, worry about OSHA regulations, workman's comp. If one gets hurt, they are taken to the hospital and the taxpayers pay for it. The media and the politicians are not giving out the true story on this. Now the reason I mentioned illegals was the fact they are working here. Americans already are competing with them for jobs, and if things get bad, it will be even more so. There is nothing wrong with mowing lawns and bussing tables, but that is not the only jobs they are doing. We will be hampered by the fact employers will have to work within the labor laws when hiring Americans, so given the choice, they will take illegals. The illegals are also getting benefits that are going to be needed for American families who loose their jobs. Again, just because Americans aren't doing the jobs, don't assume they won't or don't want to - now - but especially in the future.

In California in the 1960s, some tracts were similar to those already posted on this thread, but there were also tracts of very MCM modern houses - Eichler in the San Francisco Bay area and other parts of California and very similar Streng house is Sacramento. On objective of the developers was to produce larger houses for the money by saving costs in areas that they felt were less important. Therefore, many of these are on slab foundations with low slope or flat roofs - the ceiling is the underside of the roof. No attic or crawl space which makes remodeling more challenging. In their original state, they brought the outside in with large windows facing back and sometimes side yards. Some also had atrium spaces. For privacy, they had no windows or only high windows for ventilation on the front. They often have pretty nice sized kitchens. They often used brick, stone and wood for an organic modern rather than a shiny lacquered or metal version of modern. Here is a link that might be useful: Examples of some Eichler houses.

Town was most important for the schools and distance from Boston (close). I wanted a Victorian with natural woodwork in my town that was originally a single family but now a 2 family that could easily be converted back to a single. It would probably be an estate sale since I couldn't afford anything else. I started to look for "my" home a year before we were ready to buy so that when the "perfect" home came on the market I was ready to pounce. A week into the initial search and a year before we were ready to buy I pounced on a 1825 brick federal home. It was structuraly sound but cosmetically challenged. The price I couldn't pass - easily converted back into a single BUT no natural woodwork. Those homes with beautiful woodwork were $300K - $400K MORE - way out of my price range. This is our forever house. I still long for natural woodwork. We stripped the doors and they're either black walnut (probably) or mahagany which I will leave natural with tung oil. We stripped some woodwork - hodgepodge of many types of wood so we painted again. I still long for that painted lady Victorian with beautiful natural woodwork inside but settled for the Federal brick home. A wing was added in 1840-1860. It was really muddled in 1914 when the house was converted into a 2 family. We gutted the kitchen and that wing (didn't want to gut all of it but ice dams and collapsing ceilings changed our mind). I had a hard time deciding on trim, door types (5 piece vs. 6 piece raised panel, etc.) Decided to go with the last major muddle - 1914. I could find the trim work as stock in the local lumber yard vs. buying knives for my 6" trim in the main house. This also helped me pick door wood type and style, flooring, etc. I let the house try to guide me in the right direction. Yes, I would like that Victorian but I love where I am now.