Lissa, I don’t see why letting people trash a neighborhood would help anyone. if a bunch of people decide they want to live in clean neighborhoods subject to certain rules, then just let them. No one is forced to live there. Those who like to live in trashy neighborhoods can go live in them but if I have paid a lot of money to not be in a trashy neighborhood I can’t see why I should now be forced to put up with trashy neighbors. (Although Kelly Bundy would be welcome any time.)
[Irritated hijack] I also want to point out that there is not necessarily anything wrong with homes being crammed together on postage-stamp lawns. In fact, many urban planners and environmental advocates say this is the way to go.[/Irritated hijack]
I’m interested in the angle here on the economics of having two parents in two separate homes (whether via single parenting or divorce). That’s a pretty huge economic decision to make, yet so many people without the means to do it go that route anyway.
I didn’t mean to suggest that I was necessarily condemning the practice. I agree with you that if people want to live in a neighborhood which has tight restrictions, more power to them. I was merely trying to describe how some neighborhoods have built-in conditions which make ownership by the poor difficult or impossible.
In turn, this makes the “American Dream” more difficult to achieve for some people. It’s hard to find “a starter home” in a “nice” neighborhood these days. It’s almost impossible to find a “starter home” in a neighborhood which was built less that 20 years ago-- they’re all around the same size, and often, too big and expensive for a family who’s buying their first home.