Pinned
I Got Up Today and Started Thinking About The Way Houses and Cars Have Changed.
One of the reasons I picked my 1st home was the way it was built. It was majority brick/stone around all four corners of the house. This detail was important to me, I live in a part of the country where tornados have been historically destructive and left terrible aftermaths. I needed something that would keep me in, and the elements out. Though it had been drywalled over in renovations before my purchase, there was a fireplace in both the kitchen and in the master bedroom. It was a nod to the olden days before central heating, when during a cold night each occupier of a room was on their own. The basement was definitely dark and old-school scary, but there was a whole other exit out of it should I ever be trapped down there because of a tornado- up and through the cellar doors. And even during my broke summer months when I could not afford to turn on my air conditioning for long, I didnt suffer to an extreme degree because the ceilings were high. This was not a large house at all- it didnt even properly reach 1400 square feet. But because of the layout and the materials used, for some reason it seemed bigger than the newer houses that literally dwarf it in size. When did things begin to change? I was taking a look at the milestones we look forward to purchasing in our lives, and wondered... how much of it has turned into just large possessions with diminishing returns? And how can we change that back?
Cars and homes remind me of each other the way they've undergone so many interesting changes throughout the decades. Depending on who you ask, both have become way more aesthetically pleasing. But it is sometimes at the caveat of the value of their utility. Where there was heavy steel and boxy body styles are now pretty, shiny plexiglass with rounded and almost bubble like exteriors. Gone are the muted and rich jewel tones and cold gray and blue colors, now cars are frequently every shade of the rainbow and endlessly sparkly. And the old cars call to mind the old houses. Even an old-school sedan from the 60's and 70's was roomy enough to build a tiny home in there (I'm kidding). After surveying the way that both have changed it makes me feel like the build of our necessities changed to be more affordable for the buyer, but even that is a volatile term. If you have a bit of luck, no damaging change will happen to either thing (house or car) and you keep both for a good part of your life. But if you're not so lucky, you will have to replace one or both. And their build is often the determining factor. What's more important: small updates and repairs frequently, or larger, more expensive fixes or even replacements in a longer amount of time?
Per why.org, new houses are comprised majority wood and vinyl siding with a dab of brick on the outside to make it pleasing. This change started from a desire for something new cosmetically from houses and then never went back as the costs for the old materials rose. The wood frame is covered with metal, the way that brick and wood used to be paired to create a foundation. The article doesn't state this but I am willing to bet that it is the same makeup in houses across the country. I question how that holds up when it comes to unique weather problems in each region. When it comes to cars, their makeup was changed for much the same reason as houses: cosmetic desirability and a nod to climate change. The cars people purchase went from heavy steel and titaniums, to aluminum, carbon fiber and plastics. This was so the car could work the same or better, weigh less, and be more attractive. The added plus were that the materials used were better for the environment, much like the wood and new materials provided a more sound alternative to the brick-burning needed for old houses. The issue of newer cars vs older and the preferred makeup of your own is harder to get around unless you're good at building/handling cars and have the disposable income to purchase what you want. So for now, I'll just focus on houses. How do we get back to getting inside homes that won't be subject to disintegration after a weather event, without breaking the bank for having to get it custom made like an older one? How do we get into a home that isn't a diminishing return OR a rental?
I think it is to start migrating to less densely populated places where older, larger homes are plentiful and still standing. The more rural areas. Using money to renovate and insulate instead of saving for a newer, more expensive home that may not hold up the same. A reason I think this is because It will be a test/exercise for community building. With the way the economy is going it will be harder and harder to survive without community. Yes rural places are more boring, but there is more opportunity to mold your surroundings to how you want them to be and live somewhere sturdy to prepare for the years to come at an affordable price. So many cities are ghost towns now and could use presence, presences that have left for big cities. But alot of the houses in these big cities are unable to stand up to our changing weather patterns for the future. I dont know what the next wave of houses and cars will look like in the coming decades (beside the fact I think they'll be smaller) but I think hunkering down in the face of possible recessions and depressions will require investment with returns. That could look like taking the old and turning it into your new.
