This is a video response to Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburbia (and moved to the Netherlands instead) by the YouTube user Not Just Bikes

   • Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburb...  


   • Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburb...  
It turns out, most people, especially kids, actually prefer condos (owned apartment) because they enjoy the frequent, daily social interaction with their neighbors. No wonder why wealthy countries in the densely populated Europe consistently rank higher in happiness and life satisfaction than the spacious US, Canada, and Australia despite the vast majority of people in Europe (except the UK, Ireland, and Nordic countries) being "stuck" in apartments their whole life, with most living in historic city center buildings with shops on the ground floor similar to tenements, but with a high build quality and are clean and well-maintained.

This also explains why wealthy merchants in Europe in the pre-elevator age, who also owned the entire building, lived right above their shop and totally accepted having their tenants live right on top of them. I also found out aristocrats in Europe escaped to the country just to escape the filth of horse manure and not to escape the crowds. No wonder why there are so many abandoned mansions in the European countryside now. I always thought the urge for space and independence was an innate genetic psychological trait for white people, but apparently it is just a culturally-acquired trait in British-descended societies. This also explains why even British-descended people go to parties so much and why they're willing to pay so much to attend a concert or football game.

The main determining factor whether they're happy/satisfied or not is whether they get to keep their apartment as their permanent home, whether they are ensured they'll only pay reasonable prices, and whether they can have comprehensive rights to their apartment or not (such as making permanent renovations and pets) -- in other words, housing stability with desirable conditions (excluding lack of yard). The funny thing is, they don't even have to be a homeowner to be happy there because the vast majority of them rent even though they could afford to buy the apartment they live in, yet practically everyone there is happy. That's because, it turns out, it's standard practice there for people to be able to permanently renovate their rented apartments and live there for decades. The law in most European countries actually prohibits landlords from prohibiting pets, strictly controls rent increases, and prohibits landlords from evicting tenants if they behave well.

Now I don't have to feel sad at all about the minority of people in the US who paid so much for a condo, nor do I have to feel sad about the majority of Europeans living in rental apartments their entire life, because now they apparently prefer it and do not feel ripped off at all. It turns out, people (in general) thrive rather than suffer when packed together, as long as the conditions (excluding spaciousness) are good. One less big distraction for me again. 😁 I have OCD, PDD, and Asperger's, which is why I'm easily distracted. This doesn't change my preference for a huge yard all around my single-family house though. This huge message has been written in and saved to my notes before posting here of course.


end screen: 1998-2003 Toyota Sienna Crash Test Commercial Canada, where the YouTube user Not Just Bikes was originally from