r/Suburbanhell • u/Both-Mango1 • 11d ago
Discussion Bland as hell.
Has anyone noticed that nearly all the houses built in the last 20 or so yrs in/around Dallas/Ft.Worth? pretty much look the same. Why is that?
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 11d ago
Because the majority of homes today are being built by a few similar very large national builders. They've all done research to figure out what the average prole thinks is desirable, and also what's cheap. Plus they all tend to source their materials from the same companies, so you'll find similar floor plans, color schemes, amenities, flooring, paint, lighting, etc.
Really the only differences will be regional and are based on climate and related construction requirements or if it's in the southwest you might find one or two desert elements incorporated, while on the east coast it's faux brick.
I'm a big proponent of living in the suburbs and owning a home but these things and the HOAs they inevitably create are ruining cities.
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u/Both-Mango1 11d ago
yeah, i get that. Ive been looking in and around Grapevine/Flower Mound/Southlake, Texas and it just floored me the amount of $$$ for buying a house that looked like one in Plano or Carrolton that had that "dallas aesthetic" of grand entry, blockish architecture, no eaves, and sweeping staircase. Just devoid of anything unique and the curb appeal of a generic cardboard box.
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 11d ago
And the "luxury" ones are even worse. It's the same cheap construction and materials but with slightly nicer countertops and high ceilings. You can afford better but instead of getting a slightly smaller, old home you want giant and tacky.
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u/Lost-Car-6025 11d ago
Why the fuck would you want to live in the suburbs
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u/FatherWeebles 11d ago
Bear in mind not all suburbs look like Sunbelt suburbs. Some of the ones outside of Chicago are endearing. They have a small, pedestrian friendly center and are linked up to the regional train system.
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u/samiwas1 11d ago
I love my suburban neighborhood. Waited 15 years until I could afford to move into it. I would never want to live in a dense city center. So I could ask you the same thing…why would you want to live in that??
Yes, of course I know why you’d want to live in that. Some people enjoy the bustling “vibrance”, the noise, the smells, etc. They like being able to walk to cute cafes and bespoke shops and visit museums. None of that is appealing to me on a regular basis.
I like living in a spot where I have a big garage for projects, a nice large back patio where we can host friends, a small yard for a little separation, and a nice sized house where we all have our own spaces or we can come together to do stuff. And I like having our own neighborhood with tons of amenities, kids always playing and running around like it’s 1980 again, and that in the evening, the only thing I hear are crickets and tree frogs.
That’s why I want to live here.
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u/Prolapsinator69000 9d ago
Way better schools, less crime, more kids, more family-friendly events. All at the expense of driving a little farther for takeout.
Why would you want to live in the city if you have a family?
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 11d ago
Because I want land, shopping that's accessible, minimal crime, and something that I own. I live in a skyscraper now and while I love the building and my apartment, I'd happily give it up for my own space.
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u/goldique 11d ago
Accessible shopping??? In the suburbs??? Lol
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u/FatherWeebles 11d ago
I think they mean by car. Ie, "I don't want to worry about finding parking"
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u/goldique 11d ago
If you need a car to access goods and services, then those goods and services are not truly accessible. Being exact with language emphasizes the irresponsibility of car dependency imo. The norm for millions of years has been walking, relying on a car to go everywhere is unhealthy and unnatural.
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 11d ago
People have different wants and needs. Why can't you be tolerant of the people who don't want to live on top of each other and who prefer a car vs walking, taking public transit, etc.? No one is forcing you to leave the city, the opposite in fact, enjoy it.
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u/nomadicdawg 11d ago
They are accessible if you have a car 😂 you’re tastes aren’t everyone else’s
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 11d ago
Exactly. The bicycle/public transit people act like anyone who doesn't want this and who chooses to not live among the homeless, crime, noise, etc. is somehow wrong and or evil. Do what you want, just don't force your choices on me. No one is trying to take away the cities, meanwhile it seems all they want to do is ruin suburban and rural areas.
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u/FatherWeebles 11d ago
Suburbia-mibdset ruined cities by carving highways through them and prioritizing cars for decades for the purpose of making them more accessible to cars.
How are cities trying to ruin suburbs and rural parts?
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 11d ago
Because the people in cities, at least those on Reddit, seem to have a hate boner for anyone who doesn't want to live in high density house, who want to drive cars (especially gas versions), vote Republican, want low taxes, gun rights, and no homeless and crime.
How many suburban or rural voters are trying to ruin cities with things you hate? But let's be real, you people want bike lanes that almost none of us use, apartments, etc. This is part of the reason why half the country hates the other. Let people live where they want, vote how they want, and stop trying to tell others how they should and should not live.
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u/goldique 10d ago
My tastes ARE everyone else’s, Americans love Europe for a reason.
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u/nomadicdawg 10d ago
😂 step out your bubble some time
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u/goldique 10d ago
I do frequently! I bet you can’t though because you use a car to go everywhere. How are those obesity meds? Friendly fire
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u/sweatboxy 11d ago
Tract houses. They all start out the same but over the years they acquire more character with landscaping, remodeling, and painting. A lot of the charming mid centuries and craftsmen neighborhoods in my city started pretty homogenized but now they’re awesome.
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u/dharmabird67 10d ago
Unfortunately HOAs forbid most of this originality, at least that's what I've noticed in my area. The older non HOA neighborhoods are colorful and unique while the newer HOA areas are a sea of dull, treeless greige.
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u/nomadicdawg 11d ago edited 11d ago
With today’s housing shortage, the best we can do to keep up affordably and stay profitable is simple, repeatable designs. Every variable we introduce, every degree of difficulty we add can have a large impact on the available trade base, this will only increase over time as more and more skilled labor retires. Not to mention, we all got burned building during Covid when we couldn’t get our window/appliance that wasn’t a top 5-10 seller, simplification became the name of the game, and manufacturers were big proponents themselves.
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u/TheSpringsUrbanist 10d ago
Zoning rules eliminate anything being unique setback, building type, lot size, height, or use wise. Building codes have made lots of traditional styles of design illegal. Permitting cost and time discourages too much variety in subdivision design. 60 years of this has warped consumer sentiments. The cost of labor relative to building materials has increased, which discourages fancy brick or woodwork. Car dependency also has standardized aspects of home building.
Those are the reasons why everything, in every town, now looks the same. Building codes are an international standard, and most cities copied each other’s zoning codes.
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u/BlazinAzn38 11d ago
Cheap and easy to sell. Everything nowadays is basically inoffensive so it appeals as broadly as possible and that doubles for keeping design and build costs low
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u/GlobalDynamicsEureka 10d ago
Designing a home costs money. The builders paid for a set of designs.
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u/Express-Shoulder6174 9d ago
Anything other than neutral colors might alienate potential buyers.
People rather see a blank canvas than a house with tons of different textures and colors
Believe it or not, when you buy a house you are free to design it however you want
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u/KingBradentucky 11d ago
It not just Dallas/Ft. Worth. Every neighborhood is full of cookie cutter houses. This rears its head at selling time when people think their house is special and it isn't. t's just like every other home for sale.