The other night we were walking around the neighborhood and I was noticing how many empty lots we still have for houses (around 40 or so).  I said to my husband,

“Bradburn is such an awesome place to live, I don’t know why we aren’t totally sold out!”.  My husband said,

“Well people drive in here and say, oh my God the yards are too small and the neighbors are too close!”.  Which it totally true.  Bradburn is so different from the surrounding suburbia–all large lot subdivisions with giant, useless setbacks and large yards–I think people go into shock when they drive in here.  It got me wondering, when did we start thinking of neighbors as something negative–something we wanted to get away from as much as we could afford to–instead of positives?  Where did the prevailing idea of being far away from other people as the ideal way to live (the “American Dream”) come from?

I have to admit, the first time we drove in Bradburn I was a little taken aback by the smaller lots and how close the houses were to each other because I was so used to seeing the suburban standard.  Interestingly enough, we originally bought in here because of the architecture and because of the walkable, mixed-use aspect.  I didn’t consider neighborhood friendliness at all at the time, but after living here for 4 years, my neighbors are by far the best thing about the neighborhood.  Knowing your neighbors well has so many benefits and is to me, the largest part of what makes Bradburn special.