Big Homes, Many Homes

It's unavoidable in the South Puget Sound region. Look around you, or go for a drive, and you'll see plenty of evidence. No, not Bigfoot -- growth. Vast tracts are cleared of forest or brush, roads paved, and soon many, MANY houses pop up on the brown dirt. The housing market is booming, and developers are scrambling to get in on the action, often with big houses on small lots. They argue for convenience ("minimal yard care!"), though the comments on a recent Olympian article suggest the public is split on this kind of housing.

Readers point out some obvious drawbacks of this kind of big-home, high-density housing: more polluted runoff to rivers and streams, a lack of private outdoor space, reduction in wildlife habitat, and a "sameness" to the homes being built. The latter issue is certainly exacrebated by the fact that homebuilders are becoming larger, and fewer. In In 1990, Centrex was the nation's largest builder, closing on 7,549 houses. By 2000, the largest builder was Pulet, which closed on a whopping 36,200 houses. (source)

Still, builders are finding willing buyers for these homes. Is this kind of development happening in your area? Do you see more benefits or drawbacks? Are there other kinds of development that can accomodate the demand for housing and still respect neighborhood esthetics and the environment? The Olympia Master Builders have some guidelines for building green, several of which address some of the issues ignored in cookie-cutter developments. Issues like home orientation relative to the Sun, investing in efficiency and quality, and generally thinking longer term about the home and its residents' needs.

The conversation continues...