"If only we built more high-density, transit-oriented housing--which, incidentally, is not exactly thriving--the crisis could be happily resolved, he believes. This approach is echoed by big-city theoreticians like Richard Florida, who believes that both homeownership and the single-family house "has outlived its usefulness." In his "creative age," we won't have much room for either single-family homes or owners. Instead, we will be leasing our ever-more-tiny cribs--just like yuppies with their BMWs--as we wander from job to job." - Mike Reynolds from Bookmarklet

Like the Grapes of Wrath, but with a shared lawn. We are becoming serfs to our economy, not the government. - Chris Baskind

I do not believe that it is single family homes that caused the crisis that we are in, it is STUPID people spending more than they can afford to buy homes, (Condos too, not just single family homes) that caused it. I can't see how you can blame a certain type of dwelling for the crisis, nor can I see how building more high density homes would have made any difference. - Jeff P. Henderson

"we won't have much room for either single-family homes or owners." I don't know what kind of crack this guy is smoking. All you have to do is fly from SF to NY you will see that 95% of the land in the US is empty. I'm not saying that we should fill it all up with houses, but I fail to see how we are running out of room to build more dwellings. - Jeff P. Henderson

It's not so much single-family home ownership per se, but a system that pushes people into owning single-family homes even if its not particularly suitable or a person doesn't have the means to pay for it. Our government and financial and real estate industries should ensure that there are multiple types of housing options available to suit different lifestyles, and not privilege some over others. Encouraging transit-oriented development is a step in the right direction, towards a more diverse housing market. - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

Suburbs are great. You can drive more, mow your lawns, and live five feet from your neighbor even though there's miles of space around you. The homes are unique too, all built with grade A Chinese drywall that makes you sick. When your house goes under water, just leave it rotting with all the west nile mosquitoes swarming in your undrained swimming pool. It's the American dream. - Cristo

Sorry, but this is the stupidest title I've read in a while. - Alex Scoble

John, no one pushed me into any particular type of home. I had plenty of choices of home types, I chose the type that made the most sense to me for my lifestyle and budget. It is the buyers that are at fault for buying more than they can afford. - Jeff P. Henderson

Cristo, not everyone lives in New Orleans. ;-) - Jeff P. Henderson

Sorry, but homeowners buy what they can get where they can afford it. This is a systemic problem not the problem of individuals. There are so many other bigger ifs in the causal chain it's ridiculous. - Alex Scoble

So to summarize, we sort of agree that the "homeowners who should not have been homeowners" played a part in the recession. - Mike Reynolds

A small part, because why were they allowed to be homeowners in the first place and where were they allowed to buy homes? Who's really responsible? The big banks and lending institutions who decided to risk it all on subprime mortgages. The city planners who decided that uncontrolled growth was a good thing (not to mention the fact that city planners have been planning based on a 1960s economy way past when that has made sense). You know who's not responsible for this? The average homeowner. The average person in the US didn't create this mess. It was the people who control the system that made this mess and that is not us. - Alex Scoble

Alex, one other way to state that is that an excess of global capital had to find somewhere to go. Deregulation in the US provided the means. - Mike Reynolds

No one forced people to buy a $700K home for zero down with a option ARM. The instant gratification, over-consumption culture *was* a main reason for the housing crisis. The banks were allowed to meet that need - which shouldn't have happened. But make no mistake, the desire was there. And if more Americans understood credit and finances they should have turned those down. But they didn't. And the homeowners benefiting from the valuations just whistled dixie. (Gee, you don't see people who bought in the early 90s complaining about Prop 13 do you?) No, there are a lot of things people don't like to stare down, but they're true. I'd like to think that slasher flicks, MMA and the general violence wasn't something we desired, but it is ... and so we get those things. Me? I don't go to slasher flicks, I don't watch MMA and I didn't buy a ridiculously overpriced house and enslave myself to debt. Personal responsibility *MUST* be returned to our society. - AJ Kohn

+1 AJ Kohn - Robert Kenney