Saturday, August 18, 2012

Very american

to me, this row of houses looks very american. the little fenced off yards, the wooden houses with a porch, the electricity wires...., the fire hydrant.... just as you sometimes see in the movies as well. 
the first 3 months we lived in somerville in such a house (but even bigger, it was divided in several apartments), with a front and back porch. i really liked to look around in that neighborhood. often there were yard sales in the weekend, where people just dump out all of the stuff they dont want anymore in their yard, and sell it for little money (some of our furniture we bought there). currently, no porch and no yard sales. i guess management would go crazy if we would dump out all our stuff trying to sell it to our neighbours... ;) and i guess none of our neighbours would want to buy anything. what does happen every now and then is that people put stuff out in the hallway, with a note that you can take it. although i find it  the ultimate form of laziness, i also profited from it; we now have a fancy set of wine glasses, a water boiler, a popcorn maker (i dont know why i tookt that one), a nice glass dome for pies (how do you call that? in dutch it would be a "taartstolp") and a side table.... thats also very american, i dont think dutch would just give stuff away that easily if they also could get money for it.. :), and at least they would want to get credit for it, not just leaving it in the hall anonymously until someone secretly takes it away.... 

8 comments:

biebkriebels said...

Oh yes, these houses look very american, I like them too, like a movie indeed. Funny you get your stuff from the hallway for free!

Kate said...

I have never seen a neighborhood like this in the Midwest...it must be from the East Coast. I think I'd get claustrophobia if I lived that close to my neighbors. Should make for neighborhood friendliness.

Halcyon said...

This could also be Toronto. This looks so much like a lot of streets we have around here. Especially with those old-fashioned power lines coming in to the houses. Wish they would get the modern underground kind!

Birdman said...

This image is all about Anytown, USA.

Jack said...

Oh, yes, this is a very American scene. When I was in law school, I lived in a similar Somerville neighborhood.

We call it a "glass dome for pies."

Tim said...

looks like around where we used to live (medford st)

hamilton said...

I have often gotten some useful items that were left out as 'freebies'. Yard sales are a lot of work!
This looks similar to some Hamilton neighbourhoods, too. Though we have fewer front fences.

Kay said...

I've been to more garage sales since I've lived in the Northwest than in my entire life. It seems to be part of the culture here. And since I love a bargain I've found some great stuff. They are a lot of work and they're only worth having if you have a bunch of stuff to put out. If I have stuff to let go of I give it to charity. Quick and simple.

This neighborhood looks like ones I've seen in a bunch of movies.