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>I usually assume that this USA-specific "missing middle" of dense housing is a result of car culture and the suburban nightmare we've created across the countr
by rhapsodic 4y ago
>I usually assume that this USA-specific "missing middle" of dense housing is a result of car culture and the suburban nightmare we've created across the country
I suspect the layout of European farming communities is a holdover from feudalism, when serfs worked the land on behalf of the lord of the manor, who owned all the land.
They probably found conditions in the New World much more desirable, where they could own their own farm. And when they owned their own farm, they probably found it much more convenient to live close to the fields and barns and livestock that they also owned.
- ghaff 4y agoI live in an old New England farm town in a house from the early 1800s. (The town was founded in 1653.) Looking at maps from the 1800s, it was always pretty spread out. There is a small town green with a couple old churches, library, cemetery, and town hall. And there used to be some mills along the river. But it was mostly fairly spread out farming. As you suggest, in England and I assume other areas of Europe there would be a more distinct village with a place dating to that time.