Post-Suburbia: Bigness

"Today's suburb is tomorrow's urban fabric." - Andrew Blauvelt

In the preface to "Worlds Away and the World Next Door," Andrew Blauvelt reviews the state of suburbia today. The Sagamore

Hills and Oak Grove neighborhoods represent his argument that the "very definition [of the suburb] hinges on both its physical

proximity to as well as its cultural distance from the city."

Many infill homes

tower over original, smaller dwellings in a "...kind of bigness you can't ignore..."

As post-World War II neighborhoods located relatively close to the city, Oak Grove and Sagamore Hills attract many

who prefer to shorten their commute while enjoying a suburban feel. The landscape of the neighborhoods is changing,

with supersized dwellings in between small ranch homes originally built in the 50s and 60s.

Instead of tearing down to build anew, some of the original ranches (above) have "personalized" additions to increase their size and compete with their larger neighbors (shown below.)

One wonders if it was the original inhabitants below planted the bamboo to deflect from their excessively large neighbor.

Two infill homes are flanked by bamboo to create a barrier with the rest of the smaller, original dwellings.