Evolving the American Dream

28 Notes

Great Washington Post article here about evolving the American Dream beyond the concept of home ownership. Some extremely cogent points — but one thing stuck out for me. Whether you’re talking about renters or buyers, construction quality has to go up in apartment buildings. I can’t tell you how many condos I’ve looked at with just absolutely garbage construction — the kind of situation where you will definitely hear everything your neighbors do, and your closet doors will likely go flying off their tracks in no time.

I know we’re a special case in New York, and everyone is supposed to accept that noise and privacy invasions, and high prices for low quality are just part of the big city experience — but I think that’s essentially bullshit. If people paid even the slightest bit of attention to how these structures were built (instead of simply trying to do it as cheaply as possible), it would save everyone a lot of headaches… both literally and figuratively.