which one is the eyesore? - Page 3

Not sure exactly, but I think it has something to do with keeping the streets free from parked cars. Though, a driveway would accomplish this just as well as a garage, so, I really don't know. Of course, it's possible that there really is no actual logic behind it at all.

I find 99% of US houses extremely ugly. Most of them would be considered a poor people country cottage in Europe and not a well built at that.
I lived in many old (80-100 y.o.) houses in US as well as owned a few new constructions and all of them old or new were made by retarded, blind children with hands growing out of their asses.
The only explanation I have is that Americans are essentially a nation of nomads without permanent home, thus they consider every house as temporary.

I think there is some truth to this, althouth it's a bit of an overexageration. Back in the old country, a house would be built so that many generations could live there. It would be built out of brick and mortar with clay roofing tiles. There would be no wood or drywall used in building the house. Here in America, kids generally want to buy their own house at some point and do not want to live in the house that their parents lived in. So, houses are built kind of cheap.

The upshot is that everyone can own their own house and live on their own at some point. That, after all, is the American dream.

Also, the way American houses are constructed makes them pretty sturdy. It also makes them much easier to repair. It's a lot easier to patch up drywall, then to repear a crack in a brick/stucco wall.

Personally I have no problem with attached garages. We get a fair ammount of snow here, and its nice not having to walk across the yard to go start the car, not to mention if its recessed in the ayrd you have to fence the yard off, and have to open a gate to go in and out {at least I would as I have a dog that I don't want to wander the neighborhood}.

I don't think anyone is complaining about attached garages except in the case where they make-up 2/3 of the front of the house. Imo, Side-entry garages are much more attractive, in general. It's a money issue though. For side-entry you need a lot that's big enough, and many people just can't afford to buy anything other than the standard house pictured above.

The upshot is that everyone can own their own house and live on their own at some point. That, after all, is the American dream.
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odoreater, I'm not sure everyone in America will be able to own their own home. Many people will be lucky to scrape together a down payment. But I understand your sentiment.

I wouldn`t complain too much about the housing in America.

The following are examples of the average, typical houses in Japan:

This one is the most typical example I could find quickly. The lot size, and the way the design has no direction is what you see all over the place. You won`t see many garages in average Japanese homes. They park their cars in the little empty space in front of the house. This house has parking for 3 cars



Here`s a typical example of a cheapo modern house. There are really a lot of modern design houses in Japan, but they are mostly cheap, ugly attempts. Modern is very popular in Japan and you see it all over the place, much more than in America.



Of course there are some nice designs (old and modern) in more wealthy neighborhoods, but the above are just examples of the very average, middle income home.

Do you have to get 70-year mortgage to finance this atrocity?

I think that the main part of the problem (price to value ratio in housing) is the fact that banks don't ask for enough down payment from potential buyers. Thus, prices allowed to be ballooned to ridiculous proportions and quality is not a top concern, since you can get as much virtual money form the bank as speculators want.

Actually, Yes!

In the past 30 years was typical, but now people are signing up for mortgages that are paid throughout 2 generations. In other words, the father buys the house and the family/son continues to pay off the mortgage way beyond 30 years.

Of course, this system is more popular in a country like Japan where many generations live in the same house, even at the same time (like grandfather, father, son`s family)

Yea I know, my Q was rethorical.
Do you have extra low financing rates (around 2%) in Japan?

Where are these located? I can't imagine they're in Tokyo.

Those (at least the top one) look more like bad city planning than bad houses.

Those are just random images I found on the net. I don`t know exactly where they are located.

The houses and the terrible neighborhoods pictured, are what you would find in a typical suburb of Tokyo, or even some residential parts of Tokyo.

Unfortunately,unlike the cool metropolis that you see in the heart of Tokyo, this is what the typical residential area looks like.

You can get a 20 yr. mortgage at 3.0%. With the nuclearization of families, it is no longer the case that generations will live together. Increasingly, people are marrying later and wanting to have their own private lives.

The scenario you describe was common before the bubble burst.