[mja]

With the exception of 2 years in a loft in the early 00's, I've lived in rowhomes my entire life. But then, I'm from Philadelphia.

I could have moved to something else but chose not to do so. By no means are all rowhomes the tiny dark boxes you might find in South Philly and in general the lifestyle has a lot going for it. I've lived in the Fairmount neighborhood for last 15 years. When we outgrew our last 1200 sq. ft. home (3 kids vs. 2.5 bedrooms), we bought a 2600 sq. ft. 3-story 4 bed row with a decent-sized back garden only a few blocks away. A grocery and a cafe are both steps away from my house. I can walk to work and my kids' schools, a half dozen world class museums, or almost anything I could conceivably want to eat, from scrapple to foie gras, and I only put 5-6K miles on my car every year.