Over at Cowtown Pattie’s place, I found a quiz that cheered this architect’s heart: The Where Should You Live Test.
Unlike most quizzes that I’ve seen online, this one asks questions that I think are really important. I’ve thought a lot about some of these questions, and have strong feelings about most of them. The real-life answers that voters and their legislators give to these questions impact my work as an architect. The questions include:
Public transportation is:
- The lifeblood of the city
- A nice thing to have, but not essential
- Necessary for the poor
- A waste of money
Big box stores like Wal Mart are:
- The best place to shop
- OK if they’re far away from my home
- Ultimately bad for the economy
- A necessary evil
Within a five minute walk of your home, you would like to find:
- A corner grocery; maybe a coffee shop
- Nothing but nature
- Other houses like mine
- As much as can be fit; everything I would need in my daily life
I answered the questions (the ones above 1, 3, 1), and the quiz provided me with this utterly unsurprising result:
Rowhouse ‘Hood
You scored 27 out of 40 on urban-rural and 30 out of 40 on land intensity.People know you as: The Bohemian Gentrifier
Quote: “That crack house just needed a little paint.”Your score indicates that you are a city-dweller of the old-school. You like a dense, finely grained neighborhood with restaurants, churches and brothels all on the same block. Although you’ve never spoken to him personally, you know that guy Eddie down the street is a pimp and you’re sure to tell your lame suburban friends about him at every opportunity, just to freak them out.
The bad news is that as more and more people like you move into your neighborhood it gradually becomes less cool and more expensive. Enjoy things while you can, because in 5 years you’re going to have to move to the next ‘hood uptown.
Examples of places you should live: Baltimore, Philadelphia
How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 79% on urban-rural.
You scored higher than 90% on land intensity.
While our neighborhood had already become less hip and more pricey by the time we bought our house, and it has more detached houses on narrow lots than rowhouses, and my Indian-cotton-skirted bohemian days are behind me, this pegged me and our neighborhood fairly well.
Where does the quiz say that you should live? Do you agree? Do you live there?
Tags: 7 Comments
7 responses so far ↓
That was a fairlygood quiz. I got the loft. Funny because I wanted to live an a loft/condo but couldn’t afford it. So I am in a little house instead out the inner core of Portland but still in the city.
The test is wrong in that I never go to McDonald’s and I rarely drink at Starbucks, but I did go to Petsmart and Home Depot yesterday.
I also got the downtown loft, and in my case it’s also wrong about the McD’s and Starbucks.
“The main difference between you and The Bohemian Gentrifier is that you have a better job.” Also wrong.
And being “the coolest type of person” — highly debatable.
But downtown condo IS where I chose to live, and I love it.
I ‘d be off to Manhattan as instructed, but my job isn’t “better”enough for that. In fact, it isn’t even “better enough” for a condo in downtown Pittsburgh…and I would like a bit of earth for a plum tree….. and a river view, please.
I got the Streetcar Suburb and being called Grandmama. Oh well!
A very quirky quiz.
It pegged me for the “Small Town.” Actually I have always wanted to live in a small town. Except that I don’t know if there are any small towns anymore.
In real life I have two houses - one in a formerly-bohemian, now-extremely-gentrified inner city neighborhood and the other in the rural countryside. However, if you average those two …
I love living on a forested acre out in the sticks on Tiger Mountain, but can’t wait to visit my eldest daughter, who lives within six blocks of her work in Manhattan. I know I need the ocean, tall evergreens, and strong coffee (best enjoyed with the coolest type of people, so I’ll skip the quiz. ;~)
Wow, I got the Rowhouse ‘Hood too, and don’t feel at all like it pegged me. For one thing, I’m terrified of things like pimps and crack houses! But I was surprised to realize that I do love living in the city… I always thought I was a bit partial to the countrified homes of my youth. So I took the test again and paid more attention to the questions and got Streetcar Suburb, which actually seems to be a bit more “me”. Very good quiz, as it helps one understand a bit more about themselves.