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Comment by vogt | Hacker News Reader

I would prefer we did not do that. Just personally. As an introvert and someone with a general distaste for being around most of the public, I'll keep my not-so-dense living situation. Whether it's mixed income, mixed familial structures, cultures, the last thing I ever want to be - if I can avoid it - is on living on top of people.

Speaking only for myself - and yes, I am keenly aware of the injustices many groups have faced here over the years - at least some of the American dream was to create an environment for both of us to share these mutually exclusive stances in harmony. I am grateful for the ability of some percentage of Americans to have more space between their neighbors than simply one wall, even if that percentage is much smaller than it ought to be. And I grow increasingly resentful of the mechanisms both internal and external that keep that number so small.

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The natural response to this might be that, of course, you should be able to live on an SFZ lot with a big yard and lots of distance from your neighbors. You just shouldn't be able to enforce that condition within walking distance of Palo Alto.

I agree. I’m not even defending Marc here, which seems to be how my comment is perceived so obviously I didn’t articulate the way I wanted to. I was responding to the GP’s sentiment of density becoming the new desired standard. I’d prefer availability of less dense neighborhoods in at least some capacity.

As an introvert myself, I quite prefer Density to Over-crowding. There's a difference[1]!

Millenials moving back in with their parents because there isnt enough housing is the true introvert nightmare playing out right now tbh.

[1] https://twitter.com/cayimby/status/1259679621785759744?s=20&...

You can make your choice without laws forbidding others from making a different choice.

I’n not advocating for that, it was pretty clear in my OP.

That's fine if you can afford it. Don't want appartments buildings around you? Buy the land

Right. And then the obvious continuation: and if you can't afford it, maybe you're trying to hoard space in an area where too many people want to live, and you need to move further out.

Don't want a pig rendering plant around you? Buy the land

Yes

Have you tried living in rural areas close to surbubia? Can get your own large property which no one will come near, no randoms walking down the street, and lots of privacy.

Yes, that is where I have lived most of my life - grew up in a town of about 4000 people. In Massachusetts though, so calling it “rural” feels a bit of a stretch, haha. But definitely feels as you described.

Just because you live close to others doesn't mean you have to interact with any of them.

Not in my experience. If my neighbor now has a house party, I don’t hear it. Not so anytime I lived in an apartment. In an apartment building my dogs would have to be taken to a community dog park (often small and neglected in many apartment complexes). They have their own small yard here to do that in, and I don’t have to deal with people who bring an entire breakfast meal to the dog park and start fights. I like barriers between me and others.

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