Somebody has suggested that the country has plenty of space for housing. The problem, they believe, is a perceived desire for large lots and houses versus smaller lots and houses. Large houses make more money for builders and perhaps for sellers later on, it is suggested. Yet few families need large houses (unless they are the increasingly rare multi-generational family.)

The ability of some to work online while living physically away from traditional job centers adds to current ideas about where a home is supposed to be.

My housing history has included a variety of housing. I grew up in a close in city suburb with varying size houses and lots. My father commuted to his job in the city by bus. Our house was on a small plat, but my parents kept a lot on one side as a possible investment. It’s still there with the current owners of my childhood home.

Since then, I have lived in about as many varieties of built housing as is possible in a life time. I have lived in a typical suburban small house as well as in apartments and in a condo.

After joining the U.S. foreign service, my housing varied even more. In less developed countries, I sometimes lived in a compact embassy housing compound. In a first world country, I rented my own housing, a small apartment. In a failing north African country, I lived in a mansion because the U.S. embassy was able to rent it cheaply when the country’s well-off fled political turmoil. (I only stayed a few months before the embassy was drawn down due to the turmoil.)

Currently, my husband and I live in our own home, on the top two floors while we rent the bottom apartment. It’s on a small lot, close to our small town’s restaurants, stores, churches, city hall, and post office. Near our house, a community group is building small housing intended for those working in the lesser paying jobs of the area.

I consider the current location the best of any we’ve lived in. The answer, I believe, is community, encouraged by smaller housing.

We often are fixated on housing when perhaps community is a more important need.