Do you ever wonder where the neighborhoods went that held the picket fences,
window boxes brimming with flowers, uniquely designed houses, sidewalks,
canopied streets shaded with 100 year old oak trees, front porches, swings
and homes placed close enough so that neighbors can be neighbors?
In our fast paced, electronic, motorized world a simpler way of live is
one that many desire. Often times, our worlds are so hectic shuffling
from here to there, responding to this e-mail or that voice mail that
we don't even know what we are missing. We don't make the time to sit
down, relax and soul search. However, we are a very visual generation
and know what we like instantaneously when we see it. Everyone reacts
to memories of a simpler day and time. Memories of our childhood, running
from house to house, and our parents, visiting over the fence or on a
collective front porch, sends a rush of calmness and serenity through
our bodies.
You can see snapshots of this vision in various and sundry neighborhoods
across America. Many of these neighborhoods are in old, established areas
in small towns or nestled within thriving metropolitan areas.
However, occasionally peppered across America you will find new construction
neighborhoods that capture the essence of a lifestyle that people desperately
need in this fast paced world that we live in. The homes look like they
have been there for years. The architecture is varied and unique. There
are sidewalks that lead not only to the neighbors but to the park, a restaurant,
the neighborhood school and a store. After school, in the evenings and
on the weekends the front porches are filled with people. At a glance
it is hard to know who actually lives where because it is one big happy
family. The lawns are lush, the window boxes are cared for and the hanging
baskets are full and flowing.
These neighborhoods don't just happen. These neighborhoods are dreamed
up and painstakingly brought to fruition by contractors and developers
that care. These neighborhoods are orchestrated down to the last curb
appeal detail to lure like-minded individuals to buy... to be a part of
more than just a real estate investment... even more than the purchase of a home. If the contractors
and developers do their jobs well, with pure reasons in mind, the money
will come. In fact, these are typically the same developers and contractors
in which the houses are sold prior to them even breaking ground. They
have a reputation for quality construction but more importantly for perpetuating the American dream at a deeper level.
Our homes should be havens and respites from the busyness of everyday
life. Our homes and neighborhoods are where we need to get rejuvenated
to face the next day. Of course, it matters what type of people and families
inhabit these homes but ideals, attitudes and good values are contagious.
It has been said "if you build it...they will come". "They"
are the people looking for a taste of a simpler day, a Norman Rockwell
type-setting, a taste of the Leave it to Beaver life.
The challenge is on for all residential contractors and developers to
dig deep within themselves to do more than build houses but embrace the
growth of a dream that all families have...much like the growth of the
array of colorful flowers filling the window boxes on each home!
Article is written by Catherine Wilson, Interior Designer
and owner of Mind Your Manors, Inc. makers of No Rot window boxes and
planters. Visit http://www.windowboxesetc.com
to learn more about Mind Your Manors, Inc. window boxes and planters
