the old hood.

I grew up in a great Long Island neighborhood. On Thanksgiving, we walked around the old neighborhood to see what had changed.

When I was a kid I figured that these were "normal" houses, like anyone would have. As an adult, I realize that they're in fact nice houses -- an acre of land! come on! -- but they're still fairly modest houses, particularly from the outside. And I like their simple lines and wood siding.

The developer built two models on this block. There's "the ranch" (pictured above) and "the colonial".

My folks bought in the early 70s, when these 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom houses went for about $60k. Now, thirty-plus years later, the same houses sell for about $800k. Most of them have been extensively renovated and landscaped; the neighborhood is much more upscale than it was 20 years ago.

And of course, a few people are buying to tear down.

This guy extended his back yard by trucking in tons of dirt and building a highway-style retaining wall at the back of his lot. So he has a bigger back yard, but his neighbors down the hill have a giant wall in their back yard, instead of woods. And their entire culdesac looks up to the new castle.

There's only two teardowns so far, so they really stick out.

It's interesting: when I see a new development with six dozen identical houses, I can't stand it. Meanwhile, my folks' 30-year-old neighborhood and my 50-year-old neighborhood were just as cookie-cutter when they were built. Now they're kind of charming. And when someone replaces one of the original models with something different, it's ugly. What gives? Am I just disagreeable? Will today's new McNeighborhoods be charming in 30 years?