Why The U.S. Builds Houses Wrong

[@khelifimohamedzakaria776]

As an architect from another country I never understood why houses in Texas ( a state known for tornadoes) are built over and over again with wood ? why don't use concrete / steel / brick / stones like the rest of the world ? does it cost less ?

[@tanmaysingh267]

Provides better insulation against cold than brick aslo wood houses are cheaper than brick ones in us(I'm from Brooklyn, NY)

[@tanmaysingh267]

Usa citizens have tight budget for building a house.brick house will destroy your budget in usa

[@xxxxMonkeyGirlxxxx]

Because it’s cheaper. That’s the only reason why. We have the same problem in Florida where the northern part got destroyed and the state tried to get the building codes changed to be the same that is used in south Florida and the residents up there threw a fit because they could not afford to rebuild if they had to make their homes stand up to a category 5 hurricane

[@tanmaysingh267]

They are fancy toooooo

[@xxxxMonkeyGirlxxxx]

@@tanmaysingh267 you can use concrete and insulate for cold weather. Texas choose to not only build homes out of wood but not insulate in order to save money and that’s why so many houses were colder inside then the temperature outside.

[@AnnisAdventures]

Some older US homes were actually made mostly out of brick, which is why they are still around

[@AnnisAdventures]

@Nícolas not normally, at least not as a means of structure or for practical reasons. You see it sometimes on the front exteriors of houses for aesthetics, but no, most houses are made with bases of concrete, a few structural steel beams in the floors, walls, and ceilings, but everything else is wood, insulation, or drywall. And there will be 1 or 2 fireproof doors, usually the storm doors connecting to the garage or front porch. Usually. Some houses don’t even have that.

[@AnnisAdventures]

@Nícolas well considering severe storms aren’t that frequent in most parts of the US, they are strong enough to hold up against most things. I mean think about Japan. Wooden houses were actually better for earthquakes because instead of breaking they would sway with it and give a little. However against tornadoes and hurricanes or fires, they go down pretty easily

[@raymondkidwell7135]

@@AnnisAdventures In Florida they have to reinforce the wood with metal ties everywhere. It holds up pretty well to a hurricane except for the roofing shingles, but you can get a tin roof in that case. In the old days most of the houses were concrete block in south florida. They still make a few new homes with concrete block but usually too cheap for it. Yep 95% of the time the houses are slapped together as cheap as possible to maximize profit. 100 years ago there were a lot of brick buildings but the number is less than 1% now days other than using a brick veneer for looks. Concrete block is cheaper and actually stronger. I saw a lot of 100 year old brick buildings in Cincinnati where the mortar was crumbling between the bricks. Even some of the bricks themselves being fragile to a lesser extent. Technically you should probably put new mortar around the cracks every 50 years or so but no one ever does that kind of maintenance.

[@Worldofourown2024]

My 100 year old apartment building is externally brick, but very heavy wood frame construction on the inside. Old European style built by Polish immigrants escape the Pogroms between the world wars. Brick, stone, and European variety are so horrible and scary during Earthquake like I experienced last year then the one like my mind next to it burnt last May just still remaining so securely boarded up with fire escape ladders removed to this day with no work nor plan going on. Another urban blight that could have been really nice, but ruined by a homeless lunatic while the landlord just keeps is a big sarcophagus. The big stone cathedrals and other old stone buildings all have cracks and structural integrity issues going on. Work is being done on the cathedral, but not the old apartment while rents just go up. Mine went up by $100 a month yet we get far less maintenance the past year with a much lower quality of life. Not much housing on offer...

[@SK-lt1so]

Lots of old houses in NE made of wood. Just don't build wood houses in the dry brush-land of California. Not hard

[@ProctorsGamble]

My German family asking why we build houses out of sticks in a tornado area. The only wood in a German house is the roof rafters and sometimes the doors. Their exterior walls are 14-18” thick masonry. Tornado damage pictures fascinate them with all the sticks and insulation.

[@Tekashiixine-bm8oc]

I have some questions for your German family...

[@muhammedkeser7064]

18 inch tich masonry? where is that haha. 18 cm?

[@muhammedkeser7064]

@@ProctorsGamble the link you send is just a picture, no information there. From the way looks of them, they are max 12inch= 30 cm thickness.

[@TheDwightMamba]

Germany is good at building bunkers, so I'm not surprised.

[@martini380]

@Tony Scofield No, in the US 20% of the Energy comes from Renewable Sources, while its over 40% in germany

[@bd3825]

It's always so amusing to me as an outsider. These people build a "house" in 10 days and put it on the market for $500k. Just hilarious!

[@sportsfan1717]

The land is where the money is, not the house structure. The exact same house model can have a price difference of millions of dollars depending on the location.

[@rochester212]

WTF, took me two months just to get the walls up but wait....it's a brick house.

[@sirjohnahayfalcon]

Bass you should start building then duhh

[@beshossstra2807]

We build homes and doesn’t take 10 days. Let me know which company does that. I would be happy to get in touch with them.

[@PrivateUsername]

@@beshossstra2807 Some of the prefab or offsite jobbers do. Of course, that usually doesn't include foundation/slab time, but still.

[@braderickson9996]

Why? Money. This is America, man. It's always about the money...always. What else.

[@_taste]

Americans also want everything now and the nicest looking thing. Average person is just as greedy as the people making the house.

[@bweaver760]

YEP!

[@qingcleosampson5842]

And we the people they want to control bc it’s really not about the money, it’s them depopulating us so they can really get control

[@raymondkidwell7135]

Have you ever been into a house or apartment built in the 1950s or earlier? The quality was much higher with the exception back then they often had little or no insulation. Now days 99% of the houses are slapped together in a week using substandard materials- such as particle board, paper thin drywall etc. Then they charge insane amounts of money for the house because it looks good- they put a nice coat of paint on all the cardboard walls and such. I was living in an apartment built in the 1950s. It had a fireplace, but also the inside wall was solid brick. My neighbor could blast their music and I didn't hear it. The brick wall was a great sound insulator and also about impossible to damage. It had the original stove and fridge from the 50s still worked. The owner replaced them with some generic made in china stove and fridge just because it looked newer. Within a few months neither of them worked. All my food spoiled when the brand new fridge stopped working. Meanwhile the still functioning 1950s fridge was thrown to the curb. I'm too poor to afford a house but if I bought one I would do a custom build and make sure they use good materials and build it right. That's about the only way you'll get something of quality.

[@jg29064]

AMEN.

[@dirtycommie2877]

Working at FEMA for 4 years has taught me that Americans don't wanna be told what to do: Where they can live, how they can build, etc. But they expect, and in many case DEMAND, that the federal govt bails them out 2, 3, 4 times over. Quite an interesting thing to witness.

[@davidturner4076]

al least homes in America are cheap and the homelessness rate is low, when compared to most of Europe.

[@sageallure]

And they don't want to pay taxes to fund FEMA! Make it, make sense.

[@nishantahvan]

We use cement and stones, so our house survive for next 100 years.

[@lpdude2005]

I live in Norway. 90% are built in wood - but they are super solid and can withstand enormous weight loads and many of them, especially churches can stand for 900 years Hehe.

[@fbyi2940]

@@lpdude2005 Norway don't have dangerous natural disasters

[@lpdude2005]

@@fbyi2940 But neither does 90% of the US. We have many hurricanes every year. Half the country in length was closed, last week - but the houses are standing. We also have hurricanes on the mountain, so we are prevented from East to West. The same with forest fires - but we have faster reactions. Here, things go largely wrong with cars and trucks

[@agees924]

There’s a reason all the oldest castles in the world are stone. Still standing several hundred years plus! Also much lower risks for water damage. Because just a little water getting into wooden walls is enough to totally trash a house once mold starts growing.

[@frankjunker743]

A colleague of mine lives in a house that is 600 years old. The wolf is still huffing and puffing.

[@ruynobrega6918]

Amazing that "should we stop building flammabe houses?" still is a valid question in the US lmao.

[@ninjazzrhythm400]

It's the bottom line developers are after. They dont care about home that would last or that would stand disasters.

[@rockets4kids]

@@ninjazzrhythm400 Jay Leno has a great story about a guy who built a concrete bunker to protect one of his million dollar cars in the event of wildfire. The bunker survived the wildfire but the heat inside was still enough to melt the car.

[@larsbee]

coz we want XXXL houses for almost no money...

[@ec6052]

Wtf are you going to build with to make it non flammable? Asbestos? Or how about Silicon? Price of wood houses are so cheap these days why not use something more expensive.. said no one in this Millennium.

[@sandycharlton8669]

When fiberglass reaches 1400 degree,s it explodes do you remember camera,s from 40 years ago with the little flash cubes the flash cubes where made from fiberglass most insulation is fiberglass

[@AutismFamilyChannel]

I've helped with remodel projects on homes from the 1930's, 1970's, 1980's and current. It's amazing to see how developers started cutting corners over the decades. The saying "they don't build them like they used to" very much applies to current housing.

[@chrisdubs121]

Yea but I live in canada and finding moldy newspaper as insulation in a 30's house with no vapor barrier isnt quality in my mind. I do new construction now and the houses are much better

[@AutismFamilyChannel]

@@chrisdubs121 Makes me wonder what was happening in Canada in the 30's lol. On the homes I've seen there's been heavy duty plaster wall sandwiched in between heavy duty brick (the real kind, not the faux brick) and those walls were built like a tank. In many cases the plumbing still worked (not too shabby for nearly 100 year old plumbing) and the only issue was the electric, but that makes sense why that would be out of date. Today's homes (in America) are basically 2x4's and drywall. Some devs even skimp on insulation if it suits them. It's like the 3 little pigs story. The pig who made his home of bricks didn't have any issues. That is interesting about the newspaper in the walls. I haven't heard of that before.

[@garcjr]

And modern developers charge you top dollar for subpar work.

[@chrisdubs121]

I mean most homes here were built by the people who owned them and yea definitely better materials. As I was saying though theres a reason for codes now. I remember as a kid when half of the projects in toronto went up in smoke and everyone died cause the walls were to air tight with no fire escape. Realistically hundreds of people died in their sleep without the hope of survival

[@AutismFamilyChannel]

@@chrisdubs121 Indeed, some things better, some things worse. It would be nice to see a combination of best practices from both eras ;)

[@brycelaw4950]

If your house catches fire from the outside in I dont see much use for interior sprinklers. Also, when a forest fire goes through an area the demand on the water supply to fight the fire often reduces water pressure drastically diminishing sprinkler effectiveness

[@sarahsnyder8557]

Yes, you are 100% correct. Also, the residential fire sprinklers they install in single-family homes are "life safety" sprinklers designed only to slow down the fire long enough for people to get out of the house. They won't actually put out or even control the fire (water is usually drawn from a domestic line with inadequate pressure/flow), and will do little to mitigate property damage. But if a kid accidentally hits one while roughhousing indoors, they will do thousands of dollars of water damage in about thirty seconds.

[@camerontaylor7471]

Was thinking along the same lines!

[@hibikime-we7sx]

To mention new pipes are made out of pvc and plastic that can melt in the heat

[@bigbuilder10]

Gotta put a water tank on the rough of all houses. I’d be curious the effect building down would have. Heat rises, so I’d imagine basements are largely untouched by a forest fire (assuming what’s on top of the basement doesn’t just collapse down into).

[@notyourmomyousnowflake3533]

this is true for typical scenarios. however there are some advanced sprinkler systems that don't sprinkle water, but rather a fire suppressant, and this chemical is housed independently.

[@tech8222]

It's like people never read The Three Little Pigs

[@Protectedbikelanes]

I feel like it's a comprehension issue the most 😔

[@OttoMatieque]

yeah - I saw a story where they are re-introducing wolves in several states!

[@syberawa7429]

People don´t recognize that it is all a giant fraud. The huge wood and palm shacks the Amazon natives live in are way more durable than those fire hazards that the BB Wolf blows down on the first puff.

[@gorilladisco9108]

Because GOVERNMENT provide them with insurance whenever their building is damaged. Stossel made a video about how he buy a house on a flood plain. And guess what? It flooded. Then he apply for government "insurance" and have it rebuilt at no cost to him, and he like it better because now he has a new built house.

[@fnorgen]

@@gorilladisco9108 Not just an American thing. It frustrates me when a house sitting on a river floodplain is flooded and destroyed(big shocker), and then repaired/rebuilt on the same foundations. And then this just keeps repeating every 10-30 years or so. I scream into the void: "If you are so determined to live right there then please rebuild your house on stilts you morons!"

[@VenezuelaNow]

It's cheaper to build a house out of wood when you want huge square feet... and that is the problem

[@nhanNguyen-wo8fy]

Termites ang fungus agree with you!

[@jeangulfran]

The walls are made of wood ahahahah wtf is this. Clown fiesta.

[@Protectedbikelanes]

It's more like particle board

[@bicycles-as-far-as-im-aliv5725]

That only part of the problem not all of it

[@walterbrunswick]

100% agree and 100% tired of these ugly useless McMansions

[@LukasDiSparrowOfficial]

Come to European and learn how to build houses. We dont make paper houses.

[@canaldofred2366]

Thats why you live in miniscule shoeboxes.

[@karthikarvindcs]

@@canaldofred2366 at least that doesnt fly away or freeze or burn down

[@muaddib7685]

Compare cost of home in US and Europe. European cost waaaaaay more.

[@ThekillingGoku]

@@canaldofred2366 New York and Tokyo are calling! I've barely ever seen anything as small as in some of those major cities. And in those cities it also costs a fortune for a chicken den appartement.

[@canaldofred2366]

@@ThekillingGoku guess what homes are made of in NY? Yes, brick and concrete.

[@billgatesleavingyamomshous8177]

So me living in a van down by the river is the right choice. Do you hear that Dad!?!

[@Shibamc]

Classic Chris Farley.

[@Tekashiixine-bm8oc]

Guy living in a van by the river does so due to the abundance of free water to mix his heroin with, Son.

[@frankmundo4300]

@@Tekashiixine-bm8oc bold to assume a heroin addict can afford a van let alone gas

[@Tekashiixine-bm8oc]

@@frankmundo4300 Makes one wonder what else he's doing while living in that van, down by the river

[@garygoldstein327]

Does it float up right? Dad? Where are the ores to rowe the van ashore? Seems the river crested while we were alseep last night... No! Son don't do that!!! But Dad, if I drill holes into the bottom of our Van we can let the water out....

[@SebastianTheGreat]

It’s never good to lead off a story with “this is the biggest housing boom since 2006”

[@brunopimenta8204]

Seems like Wall street investors know something is going to hit, so they start spending money on real estate

[@flipnotrab]

LOL! I thought SAME THING when she said “2006”.. Funny how “artificial pricing” of homes is making a comeback 🤔🙄

[@gratefulgal6416]

millions of people LOST their homes because of 2006 ! Mortgage scamdemic. 😕

[@MaximGhost]

foreshadowing

[@Tadfafty]

Also the largest separation between rich and poor since the 1920s.

[@jonntischnabel4918]

"nobody wants to live in fireproof houses" 😂😂😂 mmmmm. Ok. Well, I and everyone I know in the UK lives in a house made from masonry, and I'm sure we can just about cope with this terrible inconvenience 😂

[@terrywhite6249]

Are the roofs entirely fireproof? Is there any wood trim on homes? Most homes in Southern California have a stucco type exterior but they still burn since the embers get up under the roof and into the wood structure supporting the roof. It doesn't matter if the sides are or aren't masonry when a wooden roof starts burning and setting everything inside on fire.

[@francescocerioni8939]

@@terrywhite6249 we don't use wood, he nust told you

[@BB-oq2mt]

But does it get hot where y’all live

[@szubareg7485]

@@BB-oq2mt Yes.

[@renaissanceman4054]

Diiiiiiiiiidn't loads of people burn to death in a UK tower like 5 years ago

[@sct4040]

Every workday for about a month, I watched this house went up in my neighborhood. I was intrigued cause it was being built with a cement block foundation and cement block exterior walls first, then the interior. That was a solid built house. It was built by East Asian Indian Americans. That's how a house should be built.

[@suen5006]

Not necessarily. Could crumble in an earthquake in certain areas. In our area cement block retains too much moisture, constant mold problems.

[@Worldofourown2024]

Awesome. I love how foreign immigrants contribute to our country and how we learn so much by being friends and seeing how they make their American Dream come true. I knew quite a few good Chinese, Korean, and lots of others from around the world here and abroad over the years enjoying most of them since I was a kid. I remember this family from Spain back in the early 80's in Missouri who'd just invite us kids into her kitchen saying repeatably, 'hallo, you want pop uh pop corn? and smiling bigly. She was so sweetthroughout

[@montiellopezbeatriz4796]

@@suen5006 yes but why are you so worried about earthquakes? i dont remember any big one in your country but there are many hurricanes and tornados

[@DanJackielz]

That's how houses are built outside of the US, except in third world countries.

[@howardchambers9679]

@@suen5006 which is why in the UK we have a cavity between the outer and inner walls, usually filled with waterproof insulation. It's not rocket science...

[@АлександрКолесник-д9ц]

Finally, people start to understand that with quality and price of houses in us something wrong.

[@FatherFH]

Yes... a sprinkler is going to save my house made out of different types of cardboard from burning down to the ground.

[@rudysalcido8187]

Then dont build it out of cardboard

[@Raytheon2]

Sprinkler will give you time to exit the house if fire does start. Silver lining

[@MaskinJunior]

I don't ether think the sprinkler is a good idea. In most cases the water-damage from a house fire is worse than the fire damage when it comes to repairs. So it is better to have a good fire extinguisher and a good fire alert system.

[@signalfire6]

If you built a house back in the year ZERO (Jesus' time) by the odds the house would have only had a fire once in all that time. Just don't build in California's fire hazard zones (with their Santa Ana winds) and you'll be fine. Don't build in hurricane areas or low lying flood zones (listed on every real estate listing) and you'll avoid 99% of hazards right there. Want to live in 'nice' weather like Cali or Floriduh? Pay the price in higher insurance premiums and likelihood of constant evacuations. Your choice, as always it's a roll of the dice.

[@FatherFH]

Houses should be made out of bricks and concrete with minimal use of wood. This way if you do have a fire only the furniture and your other combustible belongings burn but the structure stays unless the fire gets too hot to compromise the structure. In Canada we cant do this because it gets way to cold but in florida there is no reason not to do this.

[@harveysmith100]

As a British bricklayer I find it fascinating how you build in the USA. In areas that are regularly hit by hurricanes you continue to build out of timber. In other areas that are susceptible to fires you continue to build out of timber. Your codes are way behind Europe.

[@harveysmith100]

@@VGSEAS Not sure what has happened, growing up in the seventies my dad would always say, "What happens in America we will get in ten years time." He was right, you were ten years in front of Britain at least. His generation idolised America and everything American. I started visiting America in the nineties, there were still things you had that I couldn't get back home. Now I wonder where America is going, or not going.

[@StevenHughes-hr5hp]

Wood houses in south Florida are old. Building codes encourage concrete block construction. Strictly due to the threat of hurricanes.

[@Cc75757]

So basically corporate greed won’t build safer houses because it will affect the profit margins. The American way.

[@ozzitor8]

Bingo!

[@TheUrbanEpicure]

America has been a hyper-capitalist hell-hole for the past 25 years already. I grew up in Europe admiring the USA, now I just laugh at them, happily pay 55% taxes on my salary and $400,000 for a starter home but get soooo much more in return.

[@henryab2700]

@@TheUrbanEpicure as a European I completely agree when I was young I always thought that USA was some kind of paradise but then I discovered that you need to pay two grand for an ambulance.

[@blueoval250]

Corporate greed? How does corporate greed decide how a person decides to build their house?

[@NAUM1]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2HNl6FsZquHfbM

[@peterksenic8579]

In central Europe, much of homes are built by bricks or concrete. It is very rare to see house from wood here. Many times, room takes fire, but many times house could be saved, because of solid building materials, only one or several rooms need to rebuild, sometimes the damage is not huge, because if your walls does not burn, inside furniture will burn out without any serious damage to the structure of the house. It depends on what is inside and how much. Also such houses not burn as fast as wooden ones. Also houses build from concrete or bricks are better against sudden strong winds, or floods.

[@Worldofourown2024]

They went to the great hard work of stone constructions out terrible fire experiences like we still endure in America. I lost my brother in 2009 in a wood house fire and an uncle back in the 70's. Our houses built right after WW2 up to this day are mostly such horrible fire hazards. London learned this punishingly painful hard lesson way back in 1666 and The Monument, a single pillar, stands to this day.

[@Christian-qq9ys]

I went to an architecture school in Austria and wood houses aren’t that rare, but we have good methods for our houses to withstand fire and fast wind, you just have to find the right wood and spray.

[@peterksenic8579]

@@Christian-qq9ys I understand, you build wooden houses for lifetime of one person, while we have tendency to build for the lifetime of more generations. Our houses do not rot, cant be eaten by insects, and also we do not use so much wood, because it is more friendly to forests.

[@Christian-qq9ys]

@@peterksenic8579 but you can replant trees

[@peterksenic8579]

@@Christian-qq9ys Yes, that is why the forests of the world are fading away. We can replant them. Funny excuse.

[@TheBooban]

Makes me think of the century old tsunami warning stones in japan that say “don’t build here!”.

[@Mrbfgray]

Multi-century high water markers.

[@juniorsir9521]

It’s Business I guess with the US having houses built like cardboards now. The overall infrastructure has gone low over the years. Many overpasses have been collapsing often times killing people. Where is money going to?

[@TheBooban]

@@juniorsir9521 money going to CHYNA.

[@panachevitz]

@@TheBooban The wrestler? I guess she could use it....

[@Mrbfgray]

@@juniorsir9521 Houses are built far better than ever in the US.

[@charlo90952]

the house i live in in Italy was built in the 1700s. it's built of river stone, with massive timber beams to support the Roman tile roof. modern Italian houses are reinforced concrete frame with thermal brick infill. many of them have a pitched 4 inch concrete slab as the roof. there is usually no exposed wood under the eaves. the quality of everything is a much higher standard than US. i lived in various houses and trailers in US over the last 30 years. it's a real eye opener coming to Italy and seeing the quality of everything. no pvc siding or windows here at all. doors and windows built of wood or metal are all of a very high standard compared with the crappy aluminum sliders in so many US homes even now. half of Florida lives in manufactured homes and trailers. if they last 25 years you're lucky.

[@ihavenoideawhatimdoing4]

My home was built in 1955

[@choncord]

@@ihavenoideawhatimdoing4 my home was built I. 1867 out of stone.

[@ihavenoideawhatimdoing4]

@@choncord mines I think mixed with wood and concrete

[@mackenziegray2090]

It's also more expensive to live in Italy. Ever hear "you get what you paid for"?

[@LoneTiger]

Here's an idea, I live in Mexico, here we build houses out of bricks, concrete and cement with rock foundations. Residential fires or floods, and the house is still standing just fine. Turns out, of the 3 little piggies, the smart one moved across the border, while the other two stayed in the USA. 🤣

[@LoneTiger]

@@robier Typo fixed, ty. 👍

[@Rysander1]

It's probably because the other 2 didn't want to be murdered by the cartels.

[@carloszenteno]

@@Rysander1 Nope, it probably was because the other two wanted to killed themselves stuffing their lungs and arteries with all kinds of drugs, illegal or legal, it doesn't matter. The thing is to escape from reality of living in the "best" country in the world.

[@calamityjean1525]

"Residential fires or floods, and the house is still standing just fine." That's nice. How well does it stand up to earthquakes?

[@LoneTiger]

@@calamityjean1525 Depends on the region but overall they do very well with little to no damage, older buildings, usually historical ones are the ones that suffer the most.

[@alexanderleuchte5132]

Here in Germany these "houses" wouldn't even be approved as sheds or chicken coops lol

[@Hawijack]

Visiting Italy last year I noticed the quality of the windows in the renovated Airbnb we were staying at. We have nothing like that in the United States windows are bought at Lowe’s or Home Depot and rot away in just a few years. Some sort of a planned obsolescence. Americans need to get it together.

[@nathanhollins5010]

As an American that lived in Germany. Y’all can have those tiny ass houses with no yards and closets that aren’t built into the wall because it gets taxed as an extra room.

[@alexanderleuchte5132]

@@nathanhollins5010 Our grandparents tried to do something against the population density and get as much space as you have but that project backfired a bit lol

[@dragstar8127]

@L M Yeah I really enjoy paying 700k for a 1500 sqft house while in usa I get 3000sqft nice house for 300k

[@Minifutzi_o.O]

@@dragstar8127 Dann bist du definitiv obere Mittelschicht. Sag das jdn der dort im Macces oder Walmart arbeitet.

[@gentillydanny]

Here in south Louisiana I never understood the explosion of slab foundation houses. The colonists in the 18th and 19th centuries understood that floods come and go, that mud will not provide stable support for slabs but they built cookie cutter slab houses by the thousands from the fifties till today. My house is 90 years old and has been through many storms including the floods of Katrina and Rita yet still stands, a little weary but good enough for another 50 or more years. It's built on pilings and above ground level.

[@Worldofourown2024]

A friend in Arkansas has a slab house right on the Arkansas river and it's flooded out many times. The 2nd level is like a real house, but the lower is concrete slab they just squeegee the water and shovel river mud out of when it needs restored. It's only used as a 2nd house to fish, camp, party, and goof off. A tornado would be so horrible there. And my brother lives in a tiny house now that's a red barn shed after losing his trailer last year. He had to move that out of Pine Bluff in the country for tiny cheap houses are illegal despite having bought the property at city auction. Pilings is like stilts for flood areas like common in tropical countries? It sounds almost like a classic hut. Visiting Louisiana for a Mardi Gras was like going to another country to me. A splash of classical Europe in an old very poor country is what it looked like to me. Pretty cool place from a cultural perspective, but hard living for most of you guys.

[@gentillydanny]

@@Worldofourown2024 --- Pilings are made by driving piles, which look like phone poles, into the ground at regular intervals. They are hammered into the ground with a large, tall machine called a pile driver that has a weight that's lifted up and then dropped on the pile, pushing it further down into the soft ground. After it's been pounded in each pile is topped off with concrete blocks or in older houses like this they used bricks, building it up anywhere from 18 inches on up to ten or twenty feet after which they can lay the sills for the floor. A lot of the houses here are like your friends, up high, the bottom either left open or closed in as a garage or a separate apartment. You're right, they are built like the huts you'd see in countries where it's likely to flood often, although I'm not sure if they use some form of pilings when they build. South of the city is St. Bernard parish and in the southern-most part of St. Bernard is Delacroix Island, otherwise known as the End Of The World to people here. La. Hwy 39 south all the way to the end is Delacroix, a town built on piles, some in the water on each side of the road. Many of the houses are between 20 to 30 feet up on piles and the space underneath is where they keep their fishing boats and equipment or park their cars and trucks. Be sure you have a tank full of gas if you decide to go down there! Delacroix is beyond the flood walls and where the highway goes through the walls there are massive gates that are closed when storms threaten. After you pass through the gates the land becomes eerie and desolate, with dead trees and occasionally weird ruins of buildings that the floods have taken out over the years. If you Google it you can see pictures of this cool place. Anyway, New Orleans is now 303 years old and sinking due to soil subsidence and rising sea levels. It works on my nerves when storms threaten because who needs that, right?

[@Worldofourown2024]

@@gentillydanny I'd like that to have a boat and fish swimming around where you can just cast your rod and feel, but the storms would freak me out too much. Tornadoes and storms are just so scary.

[@gentillydanny]

@@Worldofourown2024 Well, I'm no fisherman but I'm sure enough wary of storms. Frankly, I don't even like fish, especially shellfish. Weird, I know, for someone born here but there it is. My parents were from elsewhere but met here during World War 2 doing defense work. My siblings and I are first generation New Orleanians. My dad was from Alabama, My mom from Ohio; neither grew up with a taste for seafood. Are you from Arkansas?

[@lewisdoherty7621]

I'm originally from Baton Rouge and I am now living in Hammond. I have seen those pier houses done wrong. The builders merely laid the piers and beams out on a grid, built a floor for the whole house and then never took into an account where the loads from the walls would end up. So the walls carrying the weight from the second floor pushed down on places where there were no piers directly under them and the floors bowed up. I'm sure over time the walls would push down through the floors and there would be a cascading push through. With the mushy soils and substantial difference between the weight of the different piers were supporting would cause them to subside at different rates causing problems. A construction engineer from New Orleans told me his big problem was keeping the weight of buildings low so they wouldn't sink.

[@giorgos2466]

POV: You came here from Emma’s video

[@jryde421]

So us building code is outdated and/or is half ass "safe".

[@antonfarquar8799]

the inspectors get paid off

[@iridiumhydrogen8420]

Correct !

[@gorilladisco9108]

More like they piled up regulation after regulation and each regulation may be at odds with each others, creating a lot of loopholes where people can exploit to have government (hence the taxpayers) to pay for repair if those houses are destroyed by natural causes. Stossel made a video about how he buy a house on a flood plain. And guess what? It get flooded. Then he apply for government "insurance" and have it rebuilt at no cost to him, and he like it better because now he has a new built house.

[@sshawarma]

@Papercup Right! If you want a "resilient" house, then you have to pay for it. Otherwise you get a higher risk house. This is simply supply and demand like you said.

[@zakiducky]

The US is a _very_ big country with decentralized regulations. Some areas have very poor codes and enforcements, some have codes and enforcement mechanisms amongst the most stringent in the world. It’s too simplistic to say the whole country is one or the other. For example, most single family home construction in the southern US would never fly in the North, and would be considered criminally subpar to even the lowest quality, cheapest builders in the North. And even that is a generalization.

[@makatron]

When the whole house is flammable what would you expect? Why would you build a paper house if tornadoes or hurricanes are a thing where you live, makes zero sense. Here in the Caribbean it's concrete and so far houses do fine with constant storms.

[@ceu160193]

Wood can be made less flammable by infusing wood with fire-retardant compounds, but it makes construction more expensive.

[@ShidaiTaino]

@@ceu160193 Why do you want to cover your house in PFAS

[@liberaltears1714]

The Caribbean has lots of wood shack style homes that get destroyed every time theirs a hurricane

[@ttuliorancao]

@@ceu160193 even with all those treatments it's still wood. You can't compare wood to brick and mortar on fire resistance departments

[@makatron]

@@liberaltears1714 here only extremely poor people live in wood houses though

[@reddyudaybhaskar3639]

U.S citizens always gives importance to LIFESTYLE products than reality thats why they built this type of vulnerable homes

[@jqyu]

Where do you live peasant?

[@sarahsnyder8557]

Yes, because the LIFESTYLE we like is living in houses not apartments. The average price of a 2,000 sq. ft. home in America is $236,000. That same home in Germany would cost $757,020. I'd rather take my chances with the "vulnerable" American home that I can actually afford.

[@ActivWorld]

@@sarahsnyder8557 This is not true at all bye-

[@ActivWorld]

@@jqyu looks like an angry american that isnt able to stand facts

[@jqyu]

@@ActivWorld I m the worst type too, I m financially well to do, lived 11 years aboard, and have travelled to over 50 countries

[@beowulf555]

Looking at the title, I thought they’d say we finally need to stop using trees to build houses and use brick and mortor. Instead, they are talking about houses without windows.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

... brick and mortar* ... and you can built safe houses from wood. You just need better quality wood and more sophisticated construction.

[@evannibbe9375]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 Or you can get the company in New York that can 3D print houses really quickly out of concrete.

[@aoeu256]

@@evannibbe9375 3d printers shouldn't be used to print houses... they should be used to 3d print printers that 3d print houses hahaha.

[@fairytaledollpatterns7258]

@@aoeu256 reprap in a nutshell.

[@charlesbrown4483]

@@evannibbe9375 Ah yes, a moist ass concrete house which costs almost as much as it did to get the materials delivered. Only $2,300,000!

[@jameswest4819]

People need to recognize that he attic venting in most homes actually sucks the nearby fire into the attics. Once that occurs the game is over.

[@patmcbride9853]

That only happens when the fire is fed by fuel really close to the house. A failure to establish a defensible space.

[@jameswest4819]

@@patmcbride9853 Whole neighborhoods burnt down while the trees nearby did not. The house next door is fuel and fire travels farther than you think.

[@jameswest4819]

@@patmcbride9853 The building codes have recently been changed because of fire transmission through the vents.

[@angelgjr1999]

@@patmcbride9853 Yup. They need to make houses with 10-20 feet of gravel or some fireproof material to avoid fires from getting into the house. And sprinkler systems around the property make sense too.

[@RoMayDrako]

@@angelgjr1999 making roofs out of asphalt or Clay/Concreate tiles are some of the best materials found to stand the longest against fires. Placing mesh over attic vents and eaves no greater then 1/8th inch have been found to prevent sparks and ember entry. There is now fire resistant paint yet everyone is looking for cheap and easy rather then long lasting and expensive.

[@kylebelcina]

Ever wonder how houses are built so quick? Shortcuts

[@devilishirv]

I work in garage doors so I see how quick these houses are built

[@donm2067]

And Osha violations

[@yumri4]

kind of. Every part is a module now. It is almost all built off site then brought in for the house. The long part is when they have to put in a new foundation. IF you are building walls from the timber to the actual wall you might get a better building but it will take more time. I am pretty sure you can find a solid piece of wood at home depot that is used in home construction either for the entire wall or the wall to go between the supports. The 2nd longest part is putting in the wireing the 3rd is the supports needed for the house to stand.

[@electrikoptik]

As a european, I can't imagine living in a house built out of plywood.

[@canaldofred2366]

Thats why europeans live in brick/concrete shoeboxes while americans/australians/canadians have 2000 sq ft homes.

[@TheTCOLL]

@@canaldofred2366 maybe Americans. Canadians need to pay millions to get a large home.

[@heaven140]

@@TheTCOLL Not really, Canadian homes are that much more expensive than American Houses

[@TheTCOLL]

@@heaven140 I live in Canada. Smaller community with about 90,000 people. You can’t get a home for under 600k. Apartments and townhomes going for 500k+. Then you can talk about the big cities...

[@canaldofred2366]

@@TheTCOLL maybe they earn more too? Idk

[@RehmanKhan4u]

Emma sent me here.

[@Alex-im7hf]

I've been in construction most my life. I also have family on both sides of the financial spectrum. Most people can barely afford a house these days and if they do, it locks them down in one location. housing has jumped in pricing drastically, if I remember right some where over 200% since the 1950s. this is the same thing for college and cars with the values increase of over 200% since the 50s as well. people say its due to inflation but the pay is not increasing at a rate to match the cost.

[@joansparky4439]

its because the zero lower bound problem causes money to become a monopoly which extorts profits. Once economic growth falls below 2-3% YoY everything else (except for the capital holders) loses in this 'game'.. real wages, social security, public spending, etc.. The ZLB comes from an accounting error upon creating fiat currency. And no, commodity currencies baked by gold are even worse, they don't even master the boom times and cause recessions right then and there.

[@1lyxbollyvykn714]

the FED is your biggest problem. Imagine if suddenly most countries trade with their currencies the dollar would plummet. Although I'm not american it's just strange to me that americans always call an enemy outside but it's your goverment that put you in danger by printing money. I assume most americans hate big goverment yet the US government may be the biggest goverment on earth capable of espionage and tracking almost everyone. No country has such a big goverment capable of doing almost everything maybe the only one china because russia may be dangerous but they are poor. I also think on how americans don't want socialism yet the US has the largest welfare system in the entire world.

[@joevignolor4u949]

@@1lyxbollyvykn714 You are absolutely right. The banking system is the root cause of America's problems. The money printing causes constant upward pressure on prices. Then wages and incomes are deliberately suppressed. This creates a gap that ends up requiring more and more debt to fill. People end up being wage slaves who have to buy food with credit cards. It's all a big scheme to make some people rich at the expense of everyone else. The printed money is also used to finance the surveillance apparatus, the bloated military and the prison system, all of which keeps anyone who might object or resist under control. However, it can't last forever. Eventually the people will no longer be able to bear the cost of their own enslavement. And we are well on our way to that.

[@muhammedkeser7064]

@@joevignolor4u949 you are right about what you described but the outcome won't be like that. The system will change a bit but will keep going in the same way. Rich will get richer, as always.

[@joevignolor4u949]

@@muhammedkeser7064 It won't go on forever. The landscape of history is littered with the wreckage of failed empires. The American empire will be no different.

[@user-tt7kj7jm9x]

I live in Argentina, I think that it's the 3rd or 4th country when it comes to tornadoes and my house was caught in the middle of one back in the 90s, the windows broke but the structure still stands until today, we never had to do anything else except for painting and maybe some anti-humidity coating. I saw the price of bricks in the U.S and building just one room with bricks costs the same as an entire house of wood panelling. Crazy how bricks are cheaper in a 3rd world country.

[@1lyxbollyvykn714]

la cuestion es que los estadounidenses no compran casas para toda la vida las compran para 5 años o menos y luego vuelven a comprar y no es costumbre de ellos heredar casas. En cambio en latam y el mundo de afuera una casa es una inversion de toda la vida ya que es grande y no se puede hacer cada 5 años. Si construimos en concreto y acero es porque esas casas en la mentalidad del latinoamericano supongo son casas que deben ser para una vida o para mucho tiempo. El gringo las ves como bienes de consumo tal como si fuera comprar un carro cada 5 años. Saludos desde Peru

[@Righteous69]

@@1lyxbollyvykn714 ok amigo understood from India .

[@thereminpitchknob4059]

It's a racket. Most everything is in the US.

[@allahbole]

How proud that one woman was to talk about the NFIP scam. Such nonsense.

[@stevepowsinger733]

What’s a racket? Too broad a claim.

[@fidanasimpson5465]

Even in South Africa, the houses are constructed out of concrete and the walls are plastered. The roofs are made out of Terra Cotta tiles. Impossible to burn down a house because of an accident or the fire spreading from another house.

[@laker6943]

That “fireproof “ house they modeled had no windows on the sides! Yeah, that’s a house I want to live in!

[@jwarmstrong]

That's a cave with a back door...

[@simohayha6164]

They want everyone leaving in ugly little pod house's owing nothing and being happy about it.

[@coldfusionwaffles]

Put a lock in backwards and it's a gulag!

[@gabrielgarcia7554]

I mean it’s either that, or your entire investment goes up in flames. Your choice man.

[@jwarmstrong]

@@gabrielgarcia7554 The land doesn't burn & depending on the kind of foundation about 1/3 of the structure is saved there. Of course this is when you have no fire insurance.

[@johnsonslawnserviceministr4038]

Just a Little advice don’t buy a newer home find an older home from the 40s that’s in good shape they last much longer because they were built with quality Craftsman’s ship newer homes are built for speed not quality you can always remodel an older home and it be in better shape than a newer house The major problem with new construction is there’s no quality control home inspection and city building inspectors are paid off too often to overlook this is a major problem in our housing market give you there’s a few builders out there that still give good quality but there are far in between

[@chrisdubs121]

Unless you dont wanna get into asbestos I'd say 70s 80s homes are the tight timeframe

[@kabloosh699]

@@chrisdubs121 I got a house built in 79. Definitely has a much more unique and sturdy feeling than a modern home. A lot of modern homes just feel so institutional and cookie cutter with their design. You can look at new developments and they all look like they are assembled using the same 5 pieces they just move them around a bit and then paint the houses different colors, except for the interiors. Nothing but white and grey, but you can always just paint the walls.

[@EmmanuelMess]

survivor's bias?

[@yit555]

I agree. I own a 1912 American Foursquare, it’s a tank. Built with limestone foundation, wood everywhere else, and quality craftsmanship. It’s made it over 100 years, no reason it won’t continue to survive.

[@TheRealVivia]

Big facts. I’ve seen houses go up in my neighborhood in about 2-3 weeks. It’s weird af since they LOOK so flimsy and also are literal sardine cans.

[@Dimasphotographer]

When I moved to the US I was horrified how apartments and homes were built. It looks like a wood structure wrapped in plastic... I lived in California and I was wondering that was related to earthquakes... In Brazil everything is cement or concrete, you cannot cut a hole in the wall with a knife... when we bought are first property we choose a brick one and inserted sprinkles on it... Hope this new “trend” keep going...

[@addisonshealy7411]

That is because that is the material most available and easiest way to build for them. Brazil doesn't have water or sewer infrastructure for most of the population so I think I'll take my "wood house" with a working toilet

[@fjuris3116]

@@addisonshealy7411 Wtf are you taking about, have you ever been to brazil?

[@Artemis096]

@@addisonshealy7411 what does access to sewers has to do with better houses and housing material? have you ever lived in a cement and concrete house? DON'T let your ego overshadow your conscience..

[@addisonshealy7411]

america.cgtn.com/2018/10/09/lack-of-sewage-and-sanitation-services-spread-disease-in-brazil#:~:text=About%20a%20third%20of%20the,proper%20sewage%20and%20sanitation%20systems.&text=Last%20year%2C%20nearly%2035%2Dpercent,%2C%20parasites%2C%20cholera%20and%20leptospirosis. It is real

[@addisonshealy7411]

@@Artemis096 im in the construction business. I'm an engineer, I know what I'm talking about lol the only one with a ego is the person who has no concept of building material and practices 👍

[@emilyl.575]

Anyone Else here from Emma’s Video?

[@alizethegreat]

Meee

[@long_fellow]

We used to build houses with wood in Europe as well Back in the middle ages

[@tetrabromobisphenol]

Heavy timber frame homes do not catch on fire easily like the el cheapo balloon frame homes that are popular here in the US. There is nothing wrong with wood if you do things the right way instead of cutting corners.

[@asicdathens]

@@tetrabromobisphenol Notre Dame's wooden roof was the heaviest of the heavy timbers and burned like tinder

[@tetrabromobisphenol]

@@asicdathens: Talk about a strange nonsequitor example to give. In 800 years, the only time it manages to burn is when negligent restoration "experts" managed to pile a bunch of sawdust, debris, electrical cords, etc on scaffolding surrounding it. That structure has been struck by lighting God knows how many times and never once caught fire. Anything that is recklessly abused can be made to burn, that doesn't have any bearing on normal use cases.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

All over Europe, many houses are still built out of wood. It's in the quality of the wood, the many other materials around it and construction techniques that make the difference.

[@lionflame21]

@@asicdathens but still the walls survived.

[@senorbautista6143]

Now, let’s talk about using concrete power poles!

[@danielsoeller]

IN Germany we dig in, our power lines

[@miles5600]

@@danielsoeller in the netherlands we have it all underground and don't have any issues but yeah the us needs and is gonna upgrade a lot of things like the power in texas and infra

[@Protectedbikelanes]

Some places in the US has them in the ground. A select few have solar

[@miles5600]

@@Protectedbikelanes yes i know and it's hard to place them underground in someplaces cause of hard ground and rocks and costs more but i heard on the news that they are upgrading the wooden power poles.

[@Protectedbikelanes]

@@miles5600 they need to do solar in those areas imo

[@FedericoTesta1]

If fire comes from outside, sprinklers can't help much. Outer skin must be fireproof and people need to clean their rain drainage from dirt. And of course build far enough from a forest.

[@cindylong624]

Keep bushes and trees far away from the house.

[@DanielLee89501]

I fought wild fires for 33 years. It’s not as if the information isn’t out there. Build house exteriors to resist fire. Concrete fiber board is just one option. Build defendable space around your home. Give firefighters a chance to save your home in the event of fire.

[@HenryPaulThe3rd]

The problem is California refuses to manage their forests which leads to these massive fires

[@danielrb6989]

Have you people ever considered bricks and concrete instead of wood? Hey, maybe that helps eh!?

[@CarlosGomez-ck9el]

That was exactly what I thought this video would be about, I guess I overestimated them

[@tacocat1714]

Wood is more environmentally friendly compared to concrete and when put together correctly it has the same or even better fire resistance than concrete and steel.

[@highonsmog]

Earthquakes in CA, Utah and several other fire prone states prevents the use of any people crushing materials.

[@mrlaydback11]

@Daniel RB. Very True. However, it also depends on local ordinaces and building codes that can prevent someone from doing that.

[@tallthinkev]

@@tacocat1714 When first built, maybe, however how long will that house last? There are houses round my way that have been standing, and still lived in, for 500 years

[@maxheadrom3088]

I'm from Brazil and most houses here are made of masonry blocks and concrete paste to join them. In the south of Brazil wooden houses are more common - the region has plenty of wood (now in plantations) and it's cold. It's also very humid and I can't remember about any fire incidents. Houses are built usually with a red clay cooked block that has holes in it to make them lighter. They are cheaper than whole blocks but are not, IMHO, adequate to our climate since homes will get too hot during the day and cool rapidly when, during the autumn, for instance, temperatures drop too much during the night. They are also not very good for sound insulation. Before that, the whole block was used (a brick) - outside walls using the full length and inside walls using the width. Those houses are much more comfortable and energy efficient. Before that, however, they used big mud bricks, not cooked, manufactured in site - those where the best houses from a comfort point of view. (I never lived in one but only visited). Roofs are built over a wood structure and are usually with baked clay tiles - they have to be changed only after several decades. I do understand labor cost is much lower in Brazil and perhaps these methods would not be economically viable in the US. I would love to see a video about how houses are built in different places around the world and some comments about building, maintenance and energy costs. Thanks!

[@ttuliorancao]

I would add that the roof of the Brazilian homes are usually made of a concrete slab and over that a structure of wood with roof tiles to protect the concrete from water infiltration from the rain

[@ProctorsGamble]

My German family asking why we build houses out of sticks in a tornado area. The only wood in a German house is the roof rafters and sometimes the doors. Their exterior walls are 14-18” thick masonry. Tornado damage pictures fascinate them with all the sticks and insulation.

[@timmy7201]

00:26 - "Their first question is not do you have sprinklers in this building..." Then there is me, who rejected an affordable apartment because it was 8 stories up without an emergency fire escape...

[@alexc2265]

Things to consider!

[@timmy7201]

​@@alexc2265 Especially when their are smokers inside the building that own their apartment instead of renting it. Wouldn't be the first time one falls asleep and drops their cigarette on a carpet, bed, sofa, ... I'm on the first story in my current apartment, jumping out of the window is still 3 meters (10 feet) high but at least doable. Just imagine being stuck in a building 8 floors high, knowing the options are either suffocating or burning to death... :-/

[@zacharyradford5552]

Or wet a sheet and just start running. Humans are surprisingly fire resistant it the plastic cloths we wear that catch fire and then burn our skin. Not saying we could swim in a volcano or stand in a fire.

[@timmy7201]

@@zacharyradford5552 Yeah, you can probably do that if you notice the fire early on. Once the fire has spread enough, the hallway is probably filled with smoke and you're going to have a hard time running down stairs you can't see. Once you're passed 1 to 3 minutes you faint from suffocation. My uncle is a firefighter and he even recommends to leave the keys inside the door lock at night, or put them on the floor next to the door. Never put them inside a wall mounted key-box, as smoke rises you won't be able to find that box anymore in a stressed state and you're stuck. For my parents three story house, my uncle bought an fire escape rope ladder neatly folded in a box. In case of fire they can hook two O-rings to hooks under the windowsill and throw the whole box out of the window to create an escape route. If he visits and finds a room without smoke detector installed he will nag about it endlessly and even bring one himself after a week. He doesn't talk much about his work anymore, the whole family thinks he once lost a victim as questions are mostly answered with silence and an horrific look.

[@isabellatoledo5619]

POV: you’re here from Emma chamberlain’s video

[@skellurip]

how to reduce fire risk, remove windows from home "I was born in darkness I didn't see the light until I was already a man"

[@apokalipsx25]

Im from Estonia and i could never understand: Why they build houses out of wood in a hurricane area ? In living in Tartu and a huge river goes trough the city, but we never had flooding problems. In soviet times they simply build a tunnel the same size as the river, just underground to get rid of the water. Soviet way to solve problems ))

[@panyako]

I'm from Kenya, East Africa and I have never understood it either. None of my friends who have lived in America have been able to give a satisfactory explanation. My impression is that its mostly to keep costs down as wood is cheaper than stone/mortar in the US

[@Crystal-iu1yt]

I'm from Trinidad and Tobago and I wondered about that as well. Why would you build a wooden house if you regularly have hurricanes and tornadoes?

[@noobie1890]

So what happens when the tunnel collapses? Your whole town caves in....

[@panyako]

@@Crystal-iu1yt ikr?

[@lionflame21]

Same thing here in the Philippines. We prefer using cement blocks instead.

[@jeremykelly3633]

Demand didn’t change. Home prices spiked because of record low inventory. Simple as that.

[@ozzitor8]

Only sensible person in this forum. Thank you!

[@SanDiegoFreddy]

Record low inventory because of higher demand due to record low interest rates.

[@jeremykelly3633]

SanDiegoFreddy • Close but not quite. Low interest rates have played a role in keeping the buyer demand steady. Inventory has been on a steady decline for years; the foreclosure moratorium helped accentuate the housing shortage in 2020.

[@professordogwood8985]

I don't have the stats in front of me but I do know that in England the issue wasn't inventory so much as hoarding. A whole lot of boomers held many second houses they would rent out as an investment. This practice would keep supply away from the market of prospective homebuyers. That being said Mr. Kelly, I don't see much wrong with building more houses provided they're built right.

[@TheUrbanEpicure]

Inventory? Houses are TVs. You mean supply.

[@johanlabuschagne5245]

Houses should be built from bricks and concrete

[@rodU65]

Like most of the world. But also it will increase the cost and prices

[@jakaranda127]

@@rodU65 quality over quantity

[@Personnenenparle]

Not on unstable ground, not where there is earthquakes.

[@hehexd69420]

Pros for Bricks and Concrete: "Disaster" proof, last a long time without deteriorating, does not affect structural integrity when a house fire occurs Cons: Expensive, takes longer to build, harder to make major modifications. As someone who lives in East Asia, all the houses here are bricks and concrete, since we have yearly occurrences of earthquakes and typhoon, but the downside is that the house prices here are extremely high, not only because of the wealth gap, but also the costs of building one.

[@DRCrimeCircle]

Trust me not good for cold places you will require huge amounts of heating

[@lw3269]

This is why I never buy a new build home. Older homes are built like a rock.

[@blake102989]

That's why you have one custom built

[@ihavenoideawhatimdoing4]

Partick The stars house last longer than most houses these days

[@annoyedok321]

I've been in a lot of 1900-present houses and I'd rather have a new ranch. The cheapness of newer homes can be upgrade way easier and cheaply.

[@984francis]

Not when they are built of sticks. Older sticks are slightly better than new sticks but not a lot.

[@lw3269]

@@984francisAre you a builder for the Three Little Pigs?

[@nilen74]

Lol -many Europeans

[@Student0Toucher]

USA and Australia and maybe Canada-🖕

[@Daniel-gs9eh]

@@Student0Toucher dont build your houses out of wood then

[@maa1649]

Its been a tradition for as long as the Nordics/ Scandinavia have existed to build out of wood, so its not including all of Europe, because we have so much of it. We use the material we have, most plentiful. Created more affordable housing that people actually are able to buy. Its not wood that’s the enemy here its where you build wood houses, we seldom have any wildfires so then building with wood isn’t a problem. If you have much wildfires maybe building with concrete and brick is better. Adapt to the situation and adopt the use of material to meet the requirements its not that hard.

[@bornesulinowo391]

In Poland we have almost all from airbricks, bricks and so on. Hardly don't have fires. Minor floods are less dangerous also. However huge amount of people, especially before 35 yo can't afford even flat. Houses are popular mostly in the country because cheap plots. And in the outskirts which are getting very rich because selling out inherited agricultural land by people who live there for generations.

[@klassenpage]

American wood „houses“ are a joke - you can even shoot through the walls with a handgun, like in videogames 😂

[@NathanIGreene]

There are some good points here, but this reporting is a mess. CNBC is really floundering with this short format.

[@utmbunderground]

Really hectic cut scenes. I agree. Hard to follow.

[@cauthoncrazy]

That's almost all I could think about when watching this!

[@WaltANelsonPHD]

She reports 15 million new dwellings in the U.S. last year. Did I hear correctly? We typically build 1 million or 1.4 million in one year. Did she miss a decimal?

[@kattiepenn]

That's why they lost me five minutes into it.

[@anthonywalker6168]

Americans build houses like they build their cars 😂

[@blueoval250]

British Leyland, Lada, Fiat, Jaguar and even worse Mercedes breaks down cost a fortune to repair and depreciates like it was tossed out of an airplane.

[@anthonywalker6168]

@@blueoval250 Isn’t that the truth. Long story short, all cars are equally terrible... even Tesla’s

[@jaquin103]

@@anthonywalker6168 well..what's the book being written on tesla say so far?

[@KahraLoding]

@@anthonywalker6168 Tesla's is one the best car companies. All cars are not equally.

[@fbyi2940]

@@anthonywalker6168 except one.....Toyota

[@alizethegreat]

Here because emma watched it.

[@ambarishupadhyay921]

Compared to European houses, American houses indeed look like they are made out of straw!

[@LB-bu5xf]

That's because they are. I keep telling my family and friends that.

[@ProctorsGamble]

My German family asking why we build houses out of sticks in a tornado area. The only wood in a German house is the roof rafters and sometimes the doors. Their exterior walls are 14-18” thick masonry. Tornado damage pictures fascinate them with all the sticks and insulation.

[@foodlifefamily6140]

Not all US houses are like that, the white people of America came from Europe and brought the European style houses, but those were like first generations. The houses they built are still in good shape. The problem is the the companies that want profit and American culture where a family moves houses on average every 8 years.

[@ambarishupadhyay921]

@@foodlifefamily6140 In that case, we are talking about houses that are already centuries old. Anything newer than that really looks more wood and less bricks and cement. God forbid, but if we had similar hurricanes and tornadoes here in Europe, the maximum damage we might see is to the roof (and a messy attic).

[@razorsharp8549]

Yet Europeans continue to flock to the USA along every person living on earth. So what point you trying to make? This story is from CNBC, a news network that hates the very country it originates from but also is in favor of banning hate speech.

[@trillian1964]

It feels really comfortable to watch this while sitting in a house with 3 ft/1 m outer walls built of brick and mortar in 1936.

[@VanillaMacaron551]

Same in my fully hardwood house built in 1934. You can't nail into the frame - it's aged to be as strong as iron.

[@Stephenthoma]

We use lumber because North America’s climate is so diverse. Our summers are very hot and winters very cold. Lumber and insulation provides houses with great protection from the varying climate. Wood is also more environmentally friendly and brings much lower energy consumption. The idea that wood houses are not meant to last is simply not true at all. Wood products are by no means flimsy or replaceable, the majority of homes in the US are more than 50 years old. It really depends on the location of the home being built, but in the majority of North America, wood framed homes are more than adequate to withstand the environment.

[@maa1649]

Exactly the reason the Nordics/Scandinavia uses wood as well + we have plenty of it so makes sense to use local materials.

[@weirdshibainu]

Right? Plus the fact that the building trades suffer from chronic labor shortages and it takes years for a good brick mason to be trained.

[@Stephenthoma]

@@weirdshibainu From talking to contractors over the years, skilled masons have been leaving for trucking and other professions that are paying more right now. The skilled masons that are left are probably going to focus on where the money is: industrial and large commercial projects.

[@weirdshibainu]

@@Stephenthoma Exactly. The one size fits all arguments in this thread is nonsense.

[@dougb3699]

The price of a new house has nothing to do with the quality of materials or building techniques. Only the location.

[@Charlie-zj3hw]

Finally a comment that makes sense here! You're exactly right..

[@codacreator6162]

I'm tired of everything coming back to a question of money.

[@angryagain3801]

Ain't that the sad truth

[@blueoval250]

Then you pay for it.

[@victorhopper6774]

@@BlizzardFrost2021 so take a pay cut

[@Tekashiixine-bm8oc]

Time for you to leave the planet, my friend

[@nin6246]

For the record, I would love to live in a cob house (they are naturally fire resistant, save a lot of money by providing passive A/C, and very cheap).

[@whereshallibegin444]

Didn’t the story of the “Three Little Pigs” teach us anything?

[@OttoMatieque]

don't reintroduce wolves!

[@juniorsir9521]

The only difference is that most citizens don’t build their own homes. Someone else usually does. They plan the architect designs and the floor maps. Then the price for such house is then determined based on location and other factors such as market prices. So working class citizens are usually the victims of bad houses.

[@duchoang7856]

@@juniorsir9521 where in the world people built their own home? Please shares.

[@juniorsir9521]

Duc Hoang people in many parts of the world build their own homes. In Mexico for instance families make their homes from adobe. In India and even the Philippines. My point was that, here in the states someone else builds the houses and through greedy people they sometimes opt for cheaper unsafe alternatives and we are kept out of the loop on that. The overall infrastructure in America has been declining.

[@duchoang7856]

@@juniorsir9521 Do their home meet the local safety restriction etc?

[@caitlingronow6667]

Why are you watching this because Emma Chamberlain mentioned that she was watching it...you don’t even live in the US

[@bland3]

HHAHAHAHA TRUE

[@pathfinderGM]

I'm surprised they didn't talk about modular and offsite built homes. When done at scale they can be made safer and much cheaper than conventional methods.

[@trespire]

Prefab construction doesn't work. Ask anyone in '80s and '90s who llived in UK public housing projects.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@trespire Let's be honest. They were done to a pretty poor standard (and super cheap). They did a LOT of pre-fab stuff just after the war, many of which are still standing and in good condition. It's kind of crazy how much sensible, practical and good things came from that period in time like the ring mains electrical system and the type G plug we all know and love (unless you step on it haha) today with it's built in fuse for added safety and copper saving features.

[@simmerke1111]

@@trespire Things have changed since the 80's and 90's friend. Somewhat recently a concrete 3d printer was tested successfully. Clinging to an opinion based on outdated technology is a sign you're getting old buddy.

[@7918476]

We build our homes with concrete and bricks in the Caribbean but they call us 3rd world🙄. greetings from Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹

[@stacy-annmorgan6685]

This wht I say. I don’t even want to buy a house here because I’m like these houses build cheap but yet cost so much. It’s not always greener over here. Give me brick and concrete.

[@AFAndersen]

@Tony Scofield Actually, third world countries are countries not aligned with US or USSR during the cold war.

[@Christian-qq9ys]

Smart

[@Legion849]

Yep brick apartments last decades and apart from new paint there's not much to worry about.

[@OpticalLimit]

Concrete and bricks can make some pretty nice buildings. It doesn't go so well when there's much of a chance of strong earthquakes though like on the US west coast.

[@1mlb704]

I'm 26, I bought my first house last year in Massachusetts. The market was ridiculous in 2020 (even worse now), yet I got a sweet deal on a cape built in 1947 that needed work. While working on it, I was conflicted about having an "old" house as opposed to one that was built in the last 30 years. There are/were small cracks and holes, drafty doors, many cosmetic imperfections, etc - old house problems. But the "bones" of this place are still rock solid, much better than the two newer houses I looked at before this one. I live up on a hill so I'm not too worried about flooding, and I have a couple of fire extinguishers ready. But if anyone is looking into homes and is concerned about the integrity of the structure, I would look at pre-1960's houses. They'll probably need updating unless they were properly flipped or really well maintained, but the old saying still holds weight, "they don't build them like they used to"

[@michaeldougherty6036]

Yeah. My fiance and I bought a home in Indy, built in 1930. Definitely needs work. But it's solid, brick walls with a good basement. We can easily access all the inner pipes and wiring. So burst pipes due to cold are less of a factor than newer cement block homes in the area. Also, our 90 year old wood floor creaks less than a lot of newer, all wood homes I've been in.

[@Quantumflame137]

Yes. We do build houses wrong. Not only do we not take into consideration geographical location. We also build them without efficiency in mind for the most part. It would not be uncommon to see a Mediterranean style house with large windows in a cold place or very hot place were energy cost would be higher. Not only is this expensive but also puts a strength in out electrical grid but also puts extra HC in our atmosphere. Not to mention we use the same building technique throughout the country, for the most part. Stick houses in tornado and huracane pron zones= not a good idea. Not because we can afford it does it mean we should do it. Its not entirely about money. It should be about efficiency, sustainability and safety. No wonder its getting harder for millennials to buy homes.

[@brokentower3148]

New "luxury" construction is plywood burnups built as cheaply as possible under loosened codes. The weird plastic insulation that makes it look like lego is the stuff from Grenfell that made the tower light on fire, but instead of fire resistant paint that makes it look almost cool, they now use plastic faux wood siding.

[@benfell7056]

This comment section is awful tons of people unable to take criticism about making houses out of wood and then attempting to make europe sound awful. Its a very bad look

[@spookynuts7148]

What do you expect from merika the great? Folks are reselling houses as old as grandma duce. Banks don't care so long they make money & agents care less. Stilts on sticks with sheetrock walls & mad neighbors who always call the cops for having a barbeque or being black. Well well, thats what makes us who we are!

[@timedone8502]

I am Canadian and while I don’t like our practice to use wood, we still have to remember much of European structures were built using wealth obtained during colonization. Canada and US never had the same luxury..

[@benfell7056]

@@timedone8502 it was more how angry people seemed to be getting was what I found weird no worries

[@samuelrowe1454]

Well, a lot of you guys are talking with an air of superiority and that Americans are beneath you. " Paper houses. A joke all over the world " "Lol -many Europeans" "Come to European and learn how to build houses" So we're just answering back by saying you live in much smaller houses. Kinda like a concrete shoebox. Don't take it seriously. It's just banter.

[@MrAkmind]

@@samuelrowe1454 i love banter, its d subtle way of insulting

[@shougarifi8336]

Emma chamberlain anyone?

[@JonathanRatcliff-gf1er]

Here cause of Emma

[@0rdinaryman101]

I really appreciate what these experts are advising, but I feel these solutions are a band-aid fix. They did touch on a very important point, using materials appropriate for your region, but only scratched the surface in that regard. As many other commenters here have pointed out, stop building houses across multiple environments out of the same materials! Look to the native cultures architecture for materials and design. There is a reason homes in the American southwest(as well as many Mediterranean nations) built almost entirely out of clay! Also, for crying out loud, stop building boxes out of sticks! Especially in high wind/flood areas! your walls are functioning like a sail. Yes you can strap things down like a madman, but that begs the question "why build a solution to a problem you don't need to solve?". There are other(way more interesting and exciting) shapes and forms a home can take, that do not actively try to defy nature in their design. Domes and octagonal homes are great examples. I believe if we transitioned away from a materials based approach to building structures and toward a labor based approach, that would greatly improve these problems. There is a reason modern homes don't have the detail and craftsmanship that the much older homes do. There are some things you just cannot build locally in all parts of the world that belong in homes, absolutely, but for the majority of a home, you could use locally sourced materials and save a lot of carbon/energy. Another great improvement would be berming, or building the majority of your home underground(if appropriate for your climate/region). There are plenty of ways to still get lots of natural light into your space, and hurricanes, high wind and fires are practically a non-issue. It seems that the problem really boils down to 2 things, cost and perception. People might argue that these solutions are more expensive that slapping together a stick and cardboard house that looks exactly like millions of others all over the world, and call it a day. Yep, as of right now that is true, but I think it is important to shift the mindset of homeowners. A lot of people think of their home like they do a car. "sure its nice, and its doing the job right now, but I can always jump out of it and upgrade." For most people in the world, buying your own home is the single biggest investment in your life. If we shift our thinking about our homes as incredibly valuable investments not just financially but also in life/health/well-being in general, I bet that will help a lot. Pretend you are going to pass on your home to a cherished loved one when you die. The other side of this problem is PROFIT, right? if no-one is building eco-friendly home designed FOR the weather and climate you are in, what can you do? That is where building codes and regulation in general needs to step in. I have heard there are a lot of problems involved with building codes because a company can put money into the right hands to make their building product essential to passing code. A prime example is square footage requirements. At least here in America, the square foot requirements are overinflated because building smaller houses was perceived as less profitable. Maybe some accountability/systems in place to make sure builders and architects have to build and design around longevity and affordability, as opposed to opulence and profit. I bet a carbon tax situation would change building practices real quick. By any data I have ever seen on the subject, homeownership always leads to economic growth and stability. The more people we get owning there own affordable and long-lasting homes, the better off everyone is going to be. The trick is making sure that the building practices and homes themselves STAY dependable and affordable.

[@johnwalker1058]

"By any data I have ever seen on the subject, homeownership always leads to economic growth and stability. The more people we get owning there own affordable and long-lasting homes, the better off everyone is going to be." This was a very interesting point, considering the plot of "It's a Wonderful Life." (Not sure if you've seen this movie), but I think this point helps explain the "why" of some of the reasons for the difference in Bedford Falls versus Pottersville and the quality of life of the townspeople in each of their respective alternate realities. Potter's greed in the housing market in their town, by building small, cheap homes with shoddy materials and super inflated prices that took the average person nearly a lifetime of working to pay off, made the rest of the town crappy too. Meanwhile, the building and loan people led by the Baileys provided better quality homes for cheaper in a more economically progressive manner, and both the town was better, and people's lives were more enjoyable.

[@0rdinaryman101]

@@johnwalker1058 good reference and great point!

[@lewisdoherty7621]

Burying much of the house would help alleviate the fire and tornado problems. Many of the houses in California are built in areas where the plants are pyrophytes. They grow during the wet season and then in the dry season, the plants die down to the roots and the fires then blow the plants' seeds to other places. When the wet season returns, the plants grow back from the roots and the seeds sprout in a cleared area from a pile of ashes which they can use for nutrients. If one builds a structure in a place where fires are part of the foliage's life cycle, there are going to be problems.

[@andreycham4797]

It is not Europe here . All these officials are politicians . They were promoted to their position by lobbies of big corporations and you do not think that corporations are interested in change which would hurt their profits

[@charlesbrown4483]

Nah, I don’t want to live in a tiny little stone wall hobbit hole like Europeans do. I’d prefer to continue living in large, luxurious wooden homes.

[@warnewsma]

Paper houses. A joke all over the world

[@Student0Toucher]

How is this a joke all over the world tf

[@53orion91]

@@Student0Toucher Everybody in Europe makes fun of those American huts you guys call houses

[@pejo620]

@@Student0Toucher houses are built out of brick/stone/concrete in most developed countries. Even inner walls. Much more expensive, but lasts forever. I'm from Spain and my grandparents are living in a house made out of stone from 1608. Still in perfect condition after over 400 years of our family living there.

[@Student0Toucher]

@@53orion91 Pretty sure Canada and Australia,Scandinavia build houses exactly the same though lmao

[@muhammadswalih8923]

@@pejo620 developed world? Houses are built with bricks,stones and cement in most places

[@Imsulaf]

Where’s the people who came because of Emma?

[@Vendemiair]

Not me, and I don't know why people here are talking about some Emma 🙄

[@siddhant597]

Emma brought me here

[@wonkeymoof]

I grow up in another country, my hometown is on the coast and endure three to five typhoon（Asian equivalent of hurricane）every year. There was never power outage or any people lost their houses due to that. Concrete and steel handle it fine. It shock me that both are happening in USA. Also in a concrete steel building, you won’t feel anything when people living upstairs walk across their living room. And you won’t hear anything when your neighbor’s TV is on.(with volume set to 12) This is just beyond me. Wood houses is not the right way.

[@windyhawthorn7387]

In my area of Texas old houses where built with wood then clad with rock with a metal roof. We once had an fire come right up to the house and it was okay.

[@GoDonnell]

Here in Ireland, storm Ophelia reached wind speeds of 119 miles per hour, 3 people died. It cost 87 million US dollars In the United States, hurricane Katherina reached 125 miles per hour killed more than 1,800 people, and cost $125 billion US dollars At landfall, both were catagory 3 hurricanes. The main variable, Irish houses are built to withstand the elements (it's actually harder to get planning permission if you want to build a wooden house in most places).

[@CptJamesCat]

There’s a point to be made, but that’s extremely misleading. Katrina’s damage was from storm surge made worse by a failure in the levy system not being able to handle that much water, not wind. The storm went through an eyewall replacement cycle just prior to landfall which causes the storm to weaken, but there wasn’t enough time for the surge to lower so NO essentially got Cat 5 storm surge. Ophelia was also nowhere near Cat 3 strength when it passed by Ireland. That 119mph was in a single gust which you’d only experience for a few seconds in a small area. Katrina’s 125mph at landfall are sustained winds which you’d experience for several minutes at a time over vast distances. Ophelia’s sustained winds were right around Cat 1 strength with most locations reporting ~70 mph over time.

[@zirconiumdiamond1416]

The difference is that New Orleans is literally built below sea level. I helped a few months afterward in the aftermath. The structures were fine where I was. But everything inside (interior walls, flooring, cabinets, etc.) had to be tossed because of toxic flood water. Concrete wouldn't have faired any better. BTW, you should see how US housing handles hurricanes in areas that are used to them, like Florida. Non-disasters don't make the news.

[@Iceify_]

What I have seen about new houses is that they are cheaply made. It’s a shame these house companies only care about money. I wish we adapted Porto Rico’s housing code because pretty much every house there is made of concrete

[@waynebateman1664]

In Australia new houses in fire prone areas need to be built from brick and designed to be as fire proof as possible. It adds to the cost but you can build a smaller house to reduce the cost. It tends to lower the land value so that makes it more affordable too.

[@zirconiumdiamond1416]

Brick is super bad in an earthquake.

[@myspinup8782]

@@zirconiumdiamond1416 No earthquakes in Sydney but you make a good point.

[@58Brando]

​@@myspinup8782What percentage of the US suffers earthquakes?

[@redrockcrf4663]

Reminds me a programme in the Pacific to help houses withstand Hurricanes. They switched the roof and some parts of the walls to screws, and it works so much better than traditional nail construction.

[@robertdole5391]

Building codes are so massively out of date. I grew up in Florida and saw the crappy construction of the housing boom. County inspectors are bribed. I now live in Washington state and just down the road there was a house built with no pressure treated wood. In the rainy PNW!!!! It passed inspection and it was only caught after a private home inspector crawled under the house and discovered.

[@zeusstein6713]

Only Emma chaimberlain fans will know why I’m here

[@pluto559]

Literally searched for this comment

[@zeusstein6713]

@@pluto559 lol

[@vincentfortnite713]

Am I the only one that doesn’t know absolutely who the heck she is?

[@zeusstein6713]

@@vincentfortnite713 look her up

[@yalikejas3232]

@@pluto559 same

[@eldaviii90]

- America 1st world country: Uses toothpicks to build houses, sets fire immediately. - Any country in the 3rd world: Uses concrete blocks and iron to reforce houses, last over 100 years.

[@eldaviii90]

@@onlyscience7120 anywhere

[@eklectiktoni]

@@onlyscience7120 After Hurricane Andrew, concrete became pretty common in Florida too.

[@FletcherHillier]

Concrete just became cheaper due to lumber price increases. In poor countries where labour is dirt cheap, concrete is king. Its a lot more time and work than lumber walls. Precast concrete apartment buildings that we work on have been built up from 2nd floor to 16th in a few months. Some days they build an entire floors walls in one day. Its all crane loaded up and quickly bolted into place with stabilizers

[@lionflame21]

In Africa they use mud. Have better cooling/insulation.

[@FletcherHillier]

@@lionflame21 We used to as well, look up whattle and daub construction. It is still possible today it just requires a lot of maintenance. I suggest using concrete in place of mud, still using a fibre such as straw or horse hair.

[@Fromfieldds]

Emma Chamberlain watched this 😁

[@hernandezz4912]

When hit by an earthquake, wooden framed houses allow the house itself to move and settle with the movements of the earth.

[@j.m.5995]

Yeah but they end up all warped and out of square

[@jsmariani4180]

so do steel studded buildings.

[@tattttu9]

Not quite exactly, good engineering does that, concrete buildings can survive earthquakes too, not only the wooden framed ones.

[@longbeach225]

@@tattttu9 I live in San Francisco and my apartment got slapped with a fine that the building is not retrofitted to handle a earthquake. I guess I will get buried in concrete some day.

[@tattttu9]

@@longbeach225 I dont think I really explained my point, although the types of construction I mentioned are really different, they both can achieve a great earthquake resistance with the help of good engineering. I was going to mention in the original comment that building in San Francisco known for the counter weight I think at the basement that inspired lots of new building to have more focus into the counter weight measures. There's even videos on YT of buildings in Japan moving from side to side after a earthquake hit. Kinda freaky but a lot better than being buried underneath them. So my point is: good construction, good engineering, good planning, they all add up to a safer home and a place to take shelter during catastrophes. Although the USA isn't the only case of that happening, they are notoriously known for extremely bad construction and cardboard like houses. There's even a small documentary on YT about that that basically blames capitalism and a profit first mentality for that.

[@maddy-rv1yp]

anyone here from emma chamberlain?

[@balengdeh4812]

emma chamberlain's new video sent me here

[@kiwi9660]

EMMA CHAMBERLAIN

[@alizethegreat]

YES

[@gidd]

I never understood why y'all use wood instead of stone like most of the world

[@Fauzanarief-n7i]

Even in the developing country people still prefer brick/ concrete to build the house rather than a wood

[@gidd]

@@Fauzanarief-n7i yeah ik ,that's why I said most of the world...

[@Skfkf1393a]

What I gathered is that the industry was built on sticks, and there’s abundant amount of lumbers. So it’s cost prohibitive to build with anything other than sticks.

[@Student0Toucher]

Its not just us pretty sure Australia and Canada do the same

[@aquiveal]

cause there are not a lot of concrete based builders for houses in the us.

[@chrismajola6065]

You want a house that lasts a lifetime, use bricks and cement and steel basically that's what makes a house last long

[@khelifimohamedzakaria776]

skyrocketing demand in the housing market + slumbering real economy + unemployment = defaults = a new economic crisis?

[@blankneverlosegaming6374]

Its a normal after effect of a crisis because of low interest rates everyone starts taking cheap loans.

[@mitko456]

... and then new bailouts .. etc. you got tired quite fast there :D

[@karoberts2198]

I'm waiting for everything to pop: stock market, currency, housing market...Did I leave out anything?

[@blankneverlosegaming6374]

@@karoberts2198 or just ride the bubble and short everything when Jpow decides to raise the rates.

[@IHateMyAccountName]

A repeat of 2008

[@Captain-Sum.Ting-Wong]

It's much easier to avoid natural disasters, especially fire related ones, in an urban environment. Suburbia is the problem. But living in a suburb is supposed to be the American dream, is it worth giving that up just to avoid some of the risk that comes with it?

[@acegarcia3719]

Suburban flight was beginning to slowdown the last decade until city riots started popping up again and now it's accelerating more than ever.

[@chilecayenne]

Short answer..no, it is not worth giving up, and most places don't really have all those risks. I like many, do not want to live stacked up upon each other like rats. That dense urban living has its problems too, ie see how the pandemic hit NYC so badly, eh? I like having a home with a yard with a driveway and garage for my cars, a place for my boat...I like to have room I the backyard for gatherings with friends for a big crawfish boil, or a place to keep my wood fired smoker, grills, a place for my all grain brewing set up, etc. And I hate having to share a wall with neighbors, not only getting their noise, but I also want to crank up my AV system I spend good money on over the years, and if I want to watch the Flintstones at concert volume, I don't want to have to worry about bothering a neighbor. I couldn't bear to live in a densely packed city, and pay a fortune for so little living space.

[@MikeJones.]

I’m a country boy I love it more than anything :) houses are huge and built however the homeowner wants they are huge

[@mitko456]

@@chilecayenne it’s a choice, I am mostly opposite of you. But I wouldn’t agree on the sound issues - that can be solved too and it is solved in new constructions, sound isolation has progressed and on top of that in a busy loud city you can find a loud corner where everyone is used to noise even in the night and that is my dream spot for an apartment.

[@mitko456]

What is with suburbia and the American dream? What is exactly the appeal there I don’t quite get it ... you live far from any point of interest or facility, you have to take care of a house AND a yard, you are dependent on a car for even a small grocery shopping... and I can go on..

[@jeetpatel6087]

Just don't build by the coast that's like building next to a active volcano that hasn't erupted yet.

[@JerryDLTN]

or in California because how many other places have the most wildfires every year?

[@whoisheiforgothisname2103]

You can't. The coast are a good source of commerce.

[@skierpage]

@@JerryDLTN "California" is really big. Some of the worst wildfire damage and loss of life have been in exurban areas, where people who can't afford the desirable cities on the coast, or the suburbs near the coast, or even the inland cities and suburbs, have moved to be surrounded by forest. There have also been destructive deadly fires in LA and Oakland hills and canyons. If you live downtown you're safer.

[@NAUM1]

@@skierpage but it still holds maybe less people should be living in California so making things more expensive to build in the fire prone areas would prevent devastation. And some of these fire prevention things are really meant for places that are prone to wildfire, like California.

[@andrewenriquez3138]

Obama bought a multi million dollar house on the beach and has a house in Hawaii right off the water. John Kerry has a huge estate on Nantucket Island. Everyone who is someone that says the sea levels will rise all have property on the beach. My parents neighborhood on the beach has never flooded and they are a stone throws distance from the beach

[@glenjo0]

Wall St and PE are jacking up home prices beyond middle class Americans - that's the biggest problem.