bigger is better

At least it has always seemed to be the way it was.

Dad owned a Ford when he was young but when he became more successful that Ford evolved into a larger and heavier Mercury and maybe into a Lincoln eventually.

Or it could have been Chevy -- Buick -- Cadillac. Or given some sort of pseudo humility, it might have still been a Buick, but the model that was indistinguishable from a Caddy except for the name tags.

Remember the cars of the late 50’s and 60’s. Big and bigger, huge and hugger.

Then (this is my version) Mercedes came along. A smaller package, a lighter car, but with better engineering, better fit and more comfortable goodies in and out. Slowly our ideas changed.

Now if you want a luxury car you look at a Lexus or an Infinity or even a Cadillac that are quite small by comparison with the old Cads and Olds.

I have been driving my dodge pickup around Portland, but I have switched back to Linda’s Jeep. They get the same gas mileage, no big deal there, but that jeep is much smaller and a LOT easier to park and maneuver and just as comfortable.

So. . .

I predict. . .

Houses will go like cars. Size will be less of an advantage, less of a bragging right . Houses will get smaller and more useful and more practical. The issue may be a bit about cost, but not entirely. That Mini Cooper is not cheep, yet they sell. The Smart car is tiny, sells for a pretty good hunk and only gets 40 mpg. There are Honda cars that do that well and seat 4. But small is beginning to be cool.

There is a certain bragging right to small cars now, and it will increase.

A small house has less places to put things, so you have less stuff, It is easier to clean, because there is less of it. Taxes are lower, maintenance is less. It is an easier to live with package.

Do I suggest we will all live in tiny houses? No. But already the average size of new houses are getting smaller.

All houses are made of the same stuff. It is hard to say that a big house is better made. The basic materials are all the same. The sexy do dads may be different. Granite rather than laminate. Wood windows. The stuff you might be able to see are upgraded, what you cannot see is not.

That is how I see our future. Smaller, more compact housing, and if designed carefully better in every way. And that leaves us with the importance of good artists and designers in our lives.

It is not the length of our lives that matters but the quality. Same concept.

Enough soap box.