Millersport Highway Houses

The cookie cutter houses of the Millersport Highway suburbs appear to be representative of the "little boxes" described in the song bearing the same name. I listened to this song and found it to be extremely relative and even pretty enjoyable. It really captured what the typical American view of society looks like based on these neighborhoods.

Cape Cod style "Little Box"

These houses are all very similar. They have the same architectural stylings-- small steep roofs, symmetrical windows with the door in the center, and 1 and 1/2 stories. They are probably sitting on the same amount of land as well. Just like other aspects of American society they seem to be conforming to societal values. In fact, the entire neighborhood is patterned out in an equally segmented area, so that everyone can have their little piece of the American dream.

Some people have a little more money than others as you can tell by the size of the houses within the same neighborhood. However that doesn't make these neighborhoods diverse in appearance for some reason. Even the ranch style houses, and the raised ranch style houses and split level ranch houses, all look the same. Of course none of these houses look EXACTLY the same. The owners have decided to make them differ some how. Or as Dolores Hayden eludes to, probably the builders of the house more likely made the houses differ, to appeal more to people.  After all, nobody wants the same house as someone else. Maybe it could be a different color or have some different visual asthetics. Whatever the case the houses pictured above and the ones pictured below are very conformist and similar in the way they are built. 

 "Don't tell me that my house looks exactly like my neighbors"

Hayden's idea of the three part promise of the suburb is represented in this neighborhood just off Millersport Highway.  Although they may sacrifice some on the side of house size and nature access, the people here do reside in a nice, quaint, little neighborhood.  I'm sure everybody knows everybody and that probably adds a sense of neighborhood togetherness and security. In fact, when I was driving through this and other neighborhoods in close proximity to this one, I was probably looked upon as an outsider. I'm sure that people in this neighborhood did not appreciate me stopping near the curb and snapping pictures of their houses.

Different Pictures, Same houses...