MetaChat - America's Most Perfect Ticky-Tacky Suburb

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

09 November 2006

America's Most Perfect Ticky-Tacky Suburb

...unlike East Coast Levittowns, the homes in Westlake remain curiously unmarred by later additions and remodels, and thanks to lots of loving maintenance and lawn care, the area's architecture now exudes midcentury-modern cool. (A chicken in every pot! An Eames Lounge chair in every living room!) Driving the streets feels like cruising through a time capsule of late 1950s America, with all the innocence and optimism that era embodied. And in 2006, that seems strangely reassuring.

post by: BoringPostcards at: 18:28 | 21 comments

I really want to visit this place! :)

I discovered this article when the author emailed to tell me he'd linked to one my Flickr photosets. (It's near the end, the link that says "more identical, more ticky-tacky.")

posted by BoringPostcards 09 November | 18:31

You know what's so awesomer than the article? the website itself! Yay, Telstar Logistics!

posted by Lipstick Thespian 09 November | 18:34

BP: Your Caddy would feel right at home!

posted by mischief 09 November | 18:37

Wow, there's so much I want to say about this article! I'll have to circle back to it after work. This just shows how far off the mark facile judgements of places can be. This is critical: "a fully planned “city within a city” of houses, schools, shopping centers, offices, medical facilities, churches, and parks." The relatively small scale of the dwellings is also quite noteworthy. A quick look at modern suburban product reveals that the average square footage today is probably at least twice what it was then. I'm guessing somewhere around 2500sf is pretty average. Today's suburbs are strongly income segregated, which is less true where smaller cheaper units can accommodate first timers and empty nesters alike.

posted by pieisexactlythree 09 November | 18:38

Anyone else have the theme song from Weeds stuck in their heads now?

posted by mudpuppie 09 November | 19:01

Telstar has been one of my contacts for about 6 months ever since i saw his SF abandoned military site photos. Go Telstar!

posted by urbanwhaleshark 09 November | 19:19

Those houses are fantastic! That was nice of him to email you to tell you he linked to your photoset. I hope flickr implements tracking or referral logs (or whatever you call it) because it's nice to see when you've been blogged.

posted by iconomy 09 November | 19:23

Very cute! As I struggle to work out how to deal with something that has mutated from a first concept of a nice medium-sized house designed around our lifestyle, to something that has grown to a ~4,000 sq ft monster, I can understand the attraction of the dwellings of a simpler age.

posted by dg 09 November | 19:30

dg, I check your flickr page every once in a while hoping to see some photos of how your house is coming along. That's a lot of square feet...

posted by iconomy 09 November | 19:38

The house is waiting on local government approval before we start building. I am hoping to get the slab down before Christmas, but things are looking grim at this stage. Until that happens, there is nothing to take photos of. Be assured, when something happens, you will know ;-)

That floor area does include a double garage (but not the workshed at ~1,000 sq ft) and ~850 sq ft of outdoor (but under roof) living area. Which still doesn't make it small or cute by any means :-(

posted by dg 09 November | 19:44

Rad. I just learned who did the song at the beginning of "Weeds", which is a fucking awesome song.

Does anyone have a copy of the original Malvina Reynolds version? Is that the version they use on weeds, 'cause it doesn't sound like Peet Seger.

posted by loquacious 09 November | 19:53

They used Malvina Reynolds (she wrote it too) in the first season, but now they use different people's recordings of it.

posted by mudpuppie 09 November | 19:59

I like it, although it could be a bit creepy if all the working partners left for work at the same time, with identical house mates waving dishcloths from the door as they drove off....

>I apologize for my mind. It's twisted

posted by redvixen 09 November | 21:06

Anyone else have the theme song from Weeds stuck in their heads now?

Yes.

Rad. I just learned who did the song at the beginning of "Weeds", which is a fucking awesome song.

Yay!

posted by Specklet 09 November | 21:09

Thanks for the article, BP. I love little homes like that and they're hard to find here. Well, actually they're easy to find if you're willing to pay upwards of a million bucks. Yeah, the housing prices in the Greater Vancouver are at ridiculous.

And your flickr set is wonderful. The sense of isolation, loneliness and the desolation (yes, it's a word!) that those photos show is outstanding. I can see now why some people think the 'burbs are hell on earth. Not all 'burbs are equal of course. I wuvs my new 'hood.

redvixen, don't apologize. The photos made me think of that movie with Jim Carrey.

*brain fart*

Oh goodie, IMDB to the rescue! The Truman Show!

posted by deborah 09 November | 22:05

Where'd the hell that "at" come from?

posted by deborah 09 November | 22:06

Who ever said "desolation" was not a real word?

posted by Specklet 09 November | 22:27

deborah, these Westlake ones seem to be selling for $650k and up- still too much.

posted by small_ruminant 10 November | 00:27

That's a great article, I know the area, I have friends who live nearby, and Joe's of Westlake is one of my favourite restaurants.

posted by essexjan 10 November | 01:08

I love that place, BP! I also got a kick out of this: http://savethe76ball.com/

posted by chewatadistance 10 November | 03:34

Specklet: whoops. That was left in accidently after editing out "desolateness". Which, although awkward, is a real word.

posted by deborah 10 November | 15:48

← Does anyone remember that German train toilet warning sign post? || UWS radio - improper techno mix →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN