Urban Discoveries Baltimore

I moved to Baltimore from the suburbs.  Not the county or Glen Burnie, but from real Midwestern suburbs, the sort that are featured in articles about McMansions and sprawl.  While I had a good time growing up there, it just isn’t what I want anymore.  I want to live in cities because they’re close to work, play and culture.  And if that means giving up a few of the comforts of suburbia, well, strip malls were never that great.

One of the things that moving into the city may mean for a lot of people is giving up some square footage.  (No McMansions in Hampden.)  Suburbs have more space, true, but it’s not the space you have, it’s what you do with it.  Recently we came across an article in USA Today discussing a new trend: smaller, smarter homes.  Partly brought on by the economic crisis, average square footage for a new home under construction fell last year – for the first time in ten years! – from 2,629 in the second quarter to 2,343 in the fourth quarter.

There are, of course, more reasons than just money to move into a smaller space in the city.  Work, play and culture, as mentioned above.  Environmentalism , the chance to renovate your own home having a reason to buy the ridiculously cute kitchen-in-an-armoire all stand up as quality reasons, too.  And since the average size of the American family has been shrinking since the Baby Boomers, most people could probably get by on a little less space.  Plus, with the abundance of Baltimore rowhouses available, there’s always going to be one that catches your fancy and deserves your love.

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