alt Hacker News> What compels one to be tripping over their neighbour, but at the same time not wanting to engage in a community with them?
Children, among other things. Let's make this concrete.
I live ~40 minutes from Washington DC and ~30 minutes from Baltimore. I have three children.
I'd need, at minimum, a four-bedroom, two-bathroom property in the city. It will need to be zoned for a good school for obvious reasons.
The 30y mortgage on my six-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home in the suburbs is ~$3,500/month.
Can you find a condominium in either city for this price or less?
(For reference: my property value at the time of purchase was $575,000.)
> I'd need, at minimum, a four-bedroom, two-bathroom property in the city.
Check out a settler home sometime. They were tiny, one room houses that housed themselves and their eight+ children just fine. You don't need this in any way, shape, or form. I do understand why you find it desirable, though.
> It will need to be zoned for a good school for obvious reasons.
I don't live in crazy orange man land. What are the (unfortunately, not so) obvious reasons? It befuddles me that different school zones would be different in any way beyond their geographic positioning, which isn't usually a concern when it comes to schooling. I've never heard of such a thing before.
> Can you find a condominium in either city for this price or less?
What's wrong with where you already are? If you found the lack of jobs, restaurants, entertainment, healthcare, etc. in walking to be a problem, you'd have changed it already. Like we established, the only reason those things aren't found where you are is because you and your neighbours have decided you don't want it.
I just don't understand your logic as to why you don't want it, but also don't want to live in the country. What's the benefit of living where you have all the downsides of the city and all the downsides of the country all wrapped up in one?