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The Unused Backyard?


GRDadof3

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Hate to see you leave the city, beergeek. Other than lot width (sounds like you're on 40 or less right now...)...are schools a big factor in your decision? Wildflower's three architectural plans look nice, at least in the drawings. Nice to see modest sq. ft in a new development....two of the three at arond 1100. What's that work out to per sq ft? $125?
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My wife and I live on a 70x120 corner lot in a newly developed cookie cutter neighborhood on the NW side. Overlooking our tiny backyard is a 26' long deck coming off the second floor where I grill all the time. However, since I love landscaping, and since we have none, I am doing our house this summer. I can't wait! Once we're finished with that, the wife and I both want a place we can sit in the back, either with the fire pit or talk with the neighbors.

I can't give a % on how much we use the yard, but between my garden, grilling, and hanging out (we're both late 20's, DINK's), I'd say quite extensively.

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Kudos to you urban pioneer's, sfloria and twoshort! Your places are coming along nicely. I love fixing up our old house and yard!

We spend a ton of time on our yard, and are looking forward to playing there with the kids. We have a coveted double lot, which is about 75 x 125 (that's a lot here folks). Our side yard really is another lot that was never built on. We've put in tons of perennials, a Japanese maple and a Triumph Elm (hope I made the right choice on that). Grow Elm Grow!!!

Growing up on the NE side we wore our yard, and our neighbor

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I was renting a place in Eastown that had a tiny back yard chock full of weeds and sycamores (which are essentially tall weeds). Went back there and tore out the sycamores, planted some grass, built a small little patio (admittedly, not the best in the world), and even created a small pond. The end result was a space where I could hang out with my friends and dogs, grill, and generally just relax. I used that thing ALL the time.

Now I'm in Chicago and own a condo. My "back yard" is a patio on the fourth floor overlooking a small alley. I dream of the day when I can actually buy a place so my son can run around outside (and maybe I can get another dog?). Tinkering around in a little garden or doing landscaping can be so cathartic!

So, um, I guess I'm saying I'm "pro back yard"?

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Southern CA is a much different environment. First, a middle class family in a suburban, southern CA is unlikely to have a large backyard to begin with from what I've seen. You're more likely to see a 2000 sq. ft home costing over $500k on a < 1/4 acre lot. Second, most homes there don't have a basement, so many end up using their garages as storage instead.
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  • 2 weeks later...

We use our backyard from the time the snow melts until it falls again. Half of the yard is grass, half is planting beds as we are avid gardeners. No hardscaping or deck and no plans for any. Charcoal grill, small garden shed, non-motorized mower, hammock, wood table and benches. Awesome place.

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I don't disagree with much of what has been said in this thread about people using back yards less and less in this age of television based entertainment - but I find myself realizing that I and my family must be a huge exception. My reply will touch on many individual comments made above:

First, we use our backyard every day almost year round. Our kids use it like crazy. The sandbox is filled with toys (I am watching my son play in it as I write this). We have a climbing wall, swings, picnic table and all the trappings of a playground placed safely within sight of our kitchen window - and the entire neighborhood of kids is in our backyard daily - often for 6-8 hrs per day in the summer. We've even tried to be sustainable in that I snooped around to find old tractor tires for them to climb on and discovered that farm cooperatives actually have to pay fees to properly dispose of old tires (or they circumvent environmental guidelines and let them pile up in their backlots) - - so I offered to take a handful of giant tires off their hands and have embedded them in our playground - giving them new life. And... I already have several families lined up to take ownership of these tires after my kids are grown and I am done with them! This seems at least a little "sustainable" compared to seeing them piled along US131 near Wayland.

The disappearing sound of the traditional wood screen door banging? Very much still here at our place! I even did a little work on ours so it sounded more like the one I remember growing up - squeaky springs and all. It bangs all summer long as kids of all ages run in and out asking for snacks. This sound has an almost therapeutic effect on me.

We do have computers like everyone else, but thanks to wireless, we don't hide ourselves away indoors when we use them. I work at home and spend half my computer time out on the deck during the summer. The wife and I enjoy a walk around our garden and a little internet streaming music on our deck every evening.

Most of our deck furniture is wood - I've made it all myself - and a portion of it I made using lumber I milled from old trees that have fallen down in our backyard. Very little big-box-bought petroleum based plastic furniture here. We also burn our own firewood (no transporting infected Ash or Elm for us) - again from dead or fallen trees in our own backyard.

In addition to our neighbors gathering with us regularly in our backyard, we entertain fairly often and visitors rarely come over without spending plentiful time in our backyard - truth be known it's partly because our house is just plain tiny inside - and having to use our large backyard instead of a mcmansion to entertain is AOK by us.

I don't write this to say we're model citizens - as much as to make the point that some of us actually do celebrate and use the heck out of our backyards. In our case it is underscored by the fact that now that I work from home I can now often go 2-3 days without ever turning my car on! Hence my backyard is as far as I travel many days. As such, I love the walks I take each day to "get out" and stretch my legs or to wander outdoors as I speak with clients on my cell phone.

Until last December, I still had separate office space downtown (had it for 23 years) - and loved every urban facet of it (and would love to go back to it some day when my kids are grown) - but for me and for my family the most direct route to simplifying our lives and diminishing our impact on the planet was to consolidate here at home. And we are loving every square inch of it, especially our backyard filled with neighbors, friends and children.

My kids may sum it up better than me when we occasionally have friends from closer to the "city" visit: when these friends ask "where do you play? I don't see any video games" - my kids don't hesitate to answer "we don't have video games - we have a great backyard!! Sometimes we just play with sticks and dig in the mud!"

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...

First, we use our backyard every day almost year round. Our kids use it like crazy. The sandbox is filled with toys (I am watching my son play in it as I write this). We have a climbing wall, swings, picnic table and all the trappings of a playground placed safely within sight of our kitchen window - and the entire neighborhood of kids is in our backyard daily - often for 6-8 hrs per day in the summer. We've even tried to be sustainable in that I snooped around to find old tractor tires for them to climb on and discovered that farm cooperatives actually have to pay fees to properly dispose of old tires (or they circumvent environmental guidelines and let them pile up in their backlots) - - so I offered to take a handful of giant tires off their hands and have embedded them in our playground - giving them new life. And... I already have several families lined up to take ownership of these tires after my kids are grown and I am done with them! This seems at least a little "sustainable" compared to seeing them piled along US131 near Wayland....

In addition to our neighbors gathering with us regularly in our backyard, we entertain fairly often and visitors rarely come over without spending plentiful time in our backyard - truth be known it's partly because our house is just plain tiny inside - and having to use our large backyard instead of a mcmansion to entertain is AOK by us.

...And we are loving every square inch of it, especially our backyard filled with neighbors, friends and children....

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