I think I consume just about enough, thanks. Anyway, "it" doesn't have any agency whatsoever here. This house exists. It was built 50 years ago. I think you're barking up the wrong tree. If you want to talk about the forces that are generating the exurbs, maybe you'll get a fair hearing. But bitching about a 2000 ft^2 house in one of the most progressive cities in the country isn't going to get you very far.
> It requires more energy to heat or cool than a smaller place.
Are you sure? Even if the smaller place has a less efficient heating system (mine is very new, very efficient, very cheap to run)? Even if the smaller place doesn't have any passive heating/cooling features (mine has both)? Do you have any idea what my house is like or what it's energy profile is?
> It ties up excess resources that larger groups could use more
> efficiently.
This sounds bogus. If you could actually assign the "use of resources" to a physical space (I don't think you can), I'm convinced that more people in my house would consume more resources (and generate more trash, more car trips, etc.).
> It required more materials to build, will be more to
> dispose of when it finally fails.
Now you're really stretching it. You said you have 4 empty rooms in your 1200 ft^2 place; I have 4 rooms TOTAL in my place. You've probably got way more building material in your place than I do. I have like three interior walls. I have no attic, basement, or garage. Again: this is arbitrary, you have no idea what my house is like.
> It is more time consuming and expensive to clean and maintain.
Says who? It's easier and cheaper to clean and maintain than the 1200 ft^2 loft I moved out of three years ago. And it's way easier and cheaper than any of the sub-600 ft^2 places I had when I lived in Manhattan.
> Its excess in all ways.
I love absolute statements. They are my favorite ones to bet against.
> Fly to work?? You can't avoid that?
Unfortunately, not at this point. But I'm doing my part to keep various airlines out of Chapter 7 :-)
> We can stop it.
Good luck. You and Michael Dawson should get together and talk about how great it would be if everyone lived in closets and there weren't any cars on the street.
Oh, and:
> The most wonderfully designed place I've ever been in was my
> grandmother's apartment on East 46th St. in Manhattan.
Yeah, it doesn't consume much resource for someone to live in Manhattan.
Sheesh.
/jordan