Why Image is Everything

Before I lived in New York, I loved the movie Miracle on 34th Street. I loved all the clothes that the little girl wore, I loved the magic of the mall Santa, and of course, the classic love story. However, as I grew older I realized that it had one big problem: apartments are seen as a horrible place to live, while houses are seen as havens for families. I know that people like houses because of their obsession with land they rarely farm, but depicting apartments as holes of horror is the reason why there is such a negative emphasis on cities. As Sprite used to say in its commercials, image is everything.

Kids are seen as not living in real homes when they live in apartments, even though they do as much as if not more of the same stuff kids who live in houses do. The nice thing about apartments is that kids can walk to their friends' houses without having to be driven, which means that all they have to do is ask instead of interrupting parental activities, such as paying bills, or work. Houses also cost more than apartments (not all apartments, but most), so parents have to work hard to afford houses that require lawns to be mowed, roofs to be replaced, and plumbing to be fixed on a regular basis. Urban citizens can take the bus to avoid traffic, meaning that many people can be less stressed and more personable as they come to work instead of reeling from the jerks who cut them off, or changed lanes without signalling, etc. People tend to think that cities are full of criminals, but few of those people actually spend time walking around in cities because they commute to and from work, and stay away from people other than coworkers most of the time.

Of course, what could be better than a nice, quiet suburb? There are empty streets, so there is no possibility of child predators or burglaries. There are lawns, so that children can avoid the dirty parks, "dangerous adults," and the other "bad children." No one can walk to any businesses which contributes to a number of health problems even according the University of Texas at Austin, but who cares when driving is king? The point in the image is that suburbs are safer, which means that there are no criminals, and all the people are worthwhile.

To be fair, it is Texas, and I know people who have farms, and who need land because they have horses, cattle, and all the rest. There really are people who have lots of land because they had community resources like observatories, or they have youth camping trips that they sponsor. This post is not for those people. This is for people who have a lot of land because they think it will fulfill them in some way as a person, and for those who think that having a home is a sign of maturity. Homes are big pieces of debt that may not necessarily lead to prosperity or happiness. Families are families wherever they live, and no one's maturity is determined by the ownership of assets.