For most of my life I've lived in the city in a Northeast Philadelphia row house. Having grown up in one smaller than the one I eventually bought, I felt reasonably comfortable, until my wife and I had our second child. We recently moved from the city to a nearby suburb into a single house. Though we've been here but a short time, I already appreciate the significant differences
between my old city row house and new suburban home.
My row house was uncomfortably cramped for my family of two adults and two children. Though it was a three bedroom house, the rooms were quite small. My youngest daughter's room, for example, measured only 10' x 11' ; and the single bathroom we all shared was so congested that we couldn't fit a clothes hamper into it and close the door. Also, since there were houses on either side of ours, light entered the house from only two sides, one of them
north. As a result, the house was always dark and depressing, especially in the winter. Finally, there was no land available for recreation. In the rear of the
house was a short concrete driveway leading to the garage; and in the front of the house was a 5' by 11' patio. Although it accommodated a few lawn chairs and a small table, there was no room for the children to play or for
private evening conversation, since neighbors were only a few feet away.
On the other hand, the house to which we recently moved has four bedrooms, the smallest of which is 15' x 13'. The master bedroom is 22' x 30' with its own private bath. The main bath has two sinks, an oversize bathtub and the clothes hamper that we couldn't fit at our former...