The 'Burbs

[mtb'n ski]

When I finished elemetary school (1997) this was a farm field. Now it is this...

[gahspidy]

Good shot. the cluttuer of houses makes for a great stock photo. Shot from a good view point.

[opus]

I agree with Gary. Very good shot from a good perspective to communicate your point. This *would* be a great stock photo.

[Seb]

When I finished elemetary school (1997) this was a farm field. Now it is this...

Same here, the extreme density of the built land speak for itself. Your composition works well and I think that the colours are interesting too.

Seb

[bobbythebandit]

By any chance have you got a pic of the land before man "improved" it. Gets message across very well. 33 years ago i moved out from Dublin city centre to live at the foot of the Dublin mountains and my family thought i was mad moving so far out.Now it is even worse than this.
Bobby

[RockinKamraKlikr]

Great shot. Is it just me or is that depressing to anyone else? I guess Im just an outdoors kinda person cause I could never live there! I think the way they all just stack up on each other is powerful and makes it look like the houses could go on forever.

[CaSousa]

Depressing was my first thought also. To make a beautiful countryside into a mass of concrete and wood.
I remember when I graduated high school and they were adding fill to a huge mass of farmland nearby. That beautiful hilltop is now a Walmart, Shop & Save, and a few other stores in between. I still think about the cows that were there when I go shopping now. I'm just glad that most of my town here in north-central Massachusetts is still mostly forest, where dirt roads are not uncommon.

Maybe it's the anthropologist in me speaking, but I would love to go back in time and see this country before it was built up... where the only roads were deer paths and primary-growth forests were everywhere.

-Chris

[mtb'n ski]

Thanks for the comments.
Bobby Ill look through my parent's photo albums, there is a good chance there is a pic of it somewhere!

[Todd Patten]

You know, they talk about the east coast being filled with sprawl, but damn this image amazes me. Admittedly, I live in NH, but when houses go up in fields and wooded areas around here, it's NOTHING like this. We at least have an acre or two. A neighborhood of 50 houses would be "big". I mean, looking at this image, I can't help but to wonder what the heck people are thinking! Were the heck does the baseball go when the little one's hit it?!?

Ironically, people who live in the neighborhood probably left the city to get away from everyone This is what Massachusettes folks do when they move up here

This is a good image. It portrays our bizzare human obsession to be congested -- then complain about it. It make me happy to look around and see trees between me an my neighbors -- even if they are only a hundred feet or so away

[Hindey]

It's just like the UK, but with bigger houses.

Great picture. I might play with the sharpness and lighting in PS a bit, but it is a good photo.

Cheers,
Chris

[opus]

This reminds me of a community in southern California, where my husband is from. We took a drive out to the hills outside of LA, and they looked just like this. Brand new gated communities claiming the wild, dry land. And then while we were out there, there were several bigger stories in the news about how people were being attacked by wild animals, mountain lions and such, INSIDE the city limits. They tied it to these communities, how the neighborhoods were encroaching on the wild spaces and squeezing the animals' habitats until they had no place to go.

Reminds me of the name of the housing development in the movie Multiplicity: "Vista De Nada" ...

CaSousa, you can catch glimpses of the old days in some of the old movies. We just caught a movie the other day, called "the Killers" (starring Ronald Reagan), and it was neat to see the cars driving down dirt roads through the woods, knowing that today that same area is most likely built to the teeth with developments. Oh, and if you ever get to L.A., go see the LaBrea Tar Pit museum. They have pictures of that whole Los Angeles basin when there wasn't much more than a village occupying the whole valley.

[Phyros]

I like the idea, but I don't like how there is a depth of field. The fact that the houses in the very back are out of focus gives it the feel of a minature toyset rather than vast ol' suburbia. I really like the lighting, though.

[chuckmoser]

This is a great photo. Last night, I just returned from Central California- Walnut Creek area to be specific. Being raised (and still living) in the Eastern Oregon desert, it amazed me how overdeveloped it was. The only bare spots are the rolling green hills, and the ONLY reason those aren't filled with kit houses is the soil is too unstable on those hills. Every square inch of land is paved and built up. It was obvious it was a really beautiful area at one time, before the population boom.
What really killed me was how the people identified with their town (such as Clayton), even though it was pretty much identical to the other towns. There's no clear separation between towns. No open spaces. I hear it's called "Generica America". Same chain stores, chain fast-food, etc. $2,000 a month (rent) for a thousand square foot house! Give me a break.
It's now happening in a nearby town here called Bend, Oregon. The cool mom and pop shops are being squeezed out by the WalMarts and 99 cent hamburger joints. It takes the personality out of a town.

In short, I think your photo captured the sprawling urban landscape taking over so much of small town America. It's sad.

-Chuck

[mtbbrian]

I like what is going on with this image.
The repetition of the houses works well.
Ditto on all the other comments too!
Brian

[mtb'n ski]

Thanks for all the comments! I'm glad I sparked a bit of a discusssion.

[FadderUri]

Reminds me of what's going on here in Metro Atlanta. Used to be that there were clear lines of demarcation between the individual cities in the metro area. Now, you can drive through all 13 counties, and never know when one city ends and a new one begins. Makes me so glad I'm leaving here in 18 months. The current trend in homebuilding is to put 4-5 3000+ square foot homes onto an acre of land. ARRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

I'm headed back to south Alabama, where I can still buy a house (in a subdivision), with a half acre lot.

[almo]

When I finished elemetary school (1997) this was a farm field. Now it is this...

When I finshed highschool in '97 there was a cow pasture that me a some friends used to hang out in and smoke and drink at night. It was beautiful land. Now it looks like your picture. Nice capture.


almo

[anew]

do you guys have planning laws over there ??

I like the composition in this pic and the colours are lovely............the subtle differences in wall paints works well with the tiled roofs. I especially like the two blue bins at the front of the house to the fore.

all these houses and not one person in sight!


congrats on the pic

anew.