Think about the people that you know and ask yourself how many of them fit into the “single family” model of chosen lifestyle. Perhaps you know an elderly person who doesn’t want the responsibility of maintaining a big home and would rather live with other folks in a similar situation. Maybe you know someone who doesn’t want to be married, but does want to live “in a relationship” with other people. How about a young person just starting out on her own, who is ready for some independence, but is not ready to take on homemaking on her own? What about a several generational family that wants to be close to each other, but not necessarily live in the same house?
In general, the zoning for developing residences across much of the United States is classified as “single family”; only one family may reside on any given lot. So what is a single family in the United States at the beginning of the 21 st Century?” The definition of what constitutes a family has gotten rather vague.
I sense a yearning among many people to experience life at home in a more communal way; they want to be able to share their lives more intimately with friends or like-minded people. They want to be able to share some facilities, and not be responsible for every aspect of a house unto themselves. They want to be able to find and afford their own place, which may not necessarily be a large house.
But wood is a renewable resource, right? We just need to plant more trees. The problem has been greed, an insatiable appetite for more wood, and lack of foresight. Timber companies, aided and abetted by the Forest Service, have gone after trees so voraciously that enormous ecosystems have been devastated, all across America (and in the rest of the world as well). Realizing that the source of their wealth is diminishing, the timber companies have finally started replanting trees in clear cut areas, but it is a hard go for the little saplings out there, baking in the sun.