[mmanfrin]

This isn't about a house in the woods; this is about homes in a deeply urban environment which have surrounding services and businesses that are reliant on local residents; and public services supporting both the residents and businesses that are reliant on the active use and fees/taxes generated to sustain.

Empty homes attract crime, necessitating more policing resources, empty homes do not support local businesses but drive up prices, making the area less affordable for residents and less lucrative for businesses.

The 'payment' for living in an urban environment goes beyond just the normal local taxes, it involves a participation because the resident who lives in a home in that environment contributes to the environment.

No house is an island in an urban environment (except maybe in Venice).

[prostoalex]

Participation often results the resident's (large) family moving in, with their 4-5 vehicles, increasing traffic (and pollution) and load on local services (daycare, schools, public transport, hospitals, police, fire departments), all while paying the same level of property taxes as before.

Talk to someone living in San Jose or San Francisco about their daily commute on 85 or 101. They somehow don't profess as much love for densely populated urban environments.

[hhw]

We have decent transit, and bike lanes everywhere. Unlike the US, many people are happy not to own cars and there are at least 4 major car shares and as of the last few months, a new bike share with convenient availability (albeit we're quite late to get one after Montreal and Toronto have had theirs for years). Many of those who do drive carpool. A lot of people also live right downtown, as we have far more residential buildings in our downtown core than most cities. Vancouver is a very centralized, dense, metropolitan city which probably has more in common with New York than Seattle, but much newer and cleaner.

I still get annoyed by traffic, as I can remember when there was barely any back in the 90's. But then every time I drive down to Seattle, I realize how good we have it in comparison.