A few years ago a new development popped up near my own subdivision. It was called Bradburn Village and was part of the latest urban development trend of “New Urbanist” communities. All I knew was that the houses seemed really nice (more than just “little boxes on the hillside”) and that residents would have a pub within staggering distance. Some of the more extravagant houses even had carriage house apartments, which is something that catches my eye since we live with my mother-in-law. Alas, the real estate game in Bradburn is too rich for my blood (assuming we would ever be able to sell our current house — not likely in these economic climes).
That doesn’t keep me from walking through the neighborhood (there’s open space between us and them) or stopping into the aforementioned pub for black & tans with bangers & colcannon. I still like to grab the “for sale” fliers to see what’s going for what and pine wistfully when the answers are “perfect” and “too much”.
Then I run across this: The lucky bastards have near-weekly keggers! And of course, everyone who lives there loves it. I’d really like to get a peak in their Yahoo! Group for some real scuttlebutt, but I’m guessing I’d be mostly disappointed.
That social interaction would be a double-edged sword for me, though. Part of me wants to live in a “village” where everyone knows everyone else in at least a cursory manner. The other part of me wishes everyone else would leave me the hell alone. Forever. Give me a glass of beer, though and that second part tends to get out of the way. 
As it is, I live in a nice neighborhood in my cookie cutter (though mostly well-built) house. Several of my good friends live within a ~5 mile radius. I have nearby open space in which I can make my jogging attempts. I can still take advantage of some of the amenities in Bradburn, too — I just don’t get to stagger home from the pub, so I take it easy and save the staggering for when I get home later.
Mostly I just like to look at the houses anyway.
BTW: Bradburn isn’t the only example of “New Urbanism” in my area. We also have Stapleton (at the location of Denver’s former airport), Belmar (in near-by Lakewood), Arista (coming soon in even-closer Broomfield) and probably several others. Prospect New Town, in Longmont, was the first one to catch my notice. Too bad it’s in Longmont.
Je Suis Jalouse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6szT69RbFo8
Ha. Spelling corrected. I dig that song, too.
I told my wife that I want to settle someplace where I can comfortably walk home from a pub after a few tipples. I decided on Plymouth, MA, since I like historic shit, too. A second possibility would be Old Town Alexandria, VA, which is nice, but not in Massachusetts.
As far as this Bradburn place goes, the townhouses don’t seem THAT unreasonable. Of course, 1,800 sf in Hawaii is considered ‘putting on airs’ unless you have 6 kids, while most normal people find that somewhat small.
Also, we prefer “black and amber” since it avoids bad memories.
Sure sure. But it took me long enough to train them in the differences between a b&t and a half & half (they were defaulting to Harp when you asked for a b&t!). At least they use Swithwicks instead of Bass.
I almost fulfilled Godwin’s Law just now, but 6 comments is way too few and would skew the bell curve.