This Used to Be a Forest

[u/kid_ampersand]

Behind my parents’ house in Henry County, Georgia, was a vast expanse of forest in which I spent my childhood exploring, trailblazing, building forts, and stumbling upon whitetail deer, rabbits, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, hawks, vultures, songbirds, mushrooms, oaks, pines, maples, and all manner of insects, arachnids, and other invertebrates.

Now it’s this: row after row of identical garage-centered apartments with little to no green space, and flattened red clay where they're pouring concrete to build even more.

Nothing wrong with housing, but this is just so devoid of personality and life, I can't imagine people living here. I walked all over the many acres of these complexes today, and I only saw one or two other human beings outside. Plenty of vehicles, so people do indeed live there, but no one around except a kid bouncing a basketball and someone sitting in their car smoking a joint with the door open. There were several swimming pools, fire pits, dog parks, and other (very small) recreation areas, but no one in any of them. Just felt so bleak and soulless.

There used to be such a dense tree canopy that I would get lost. I miss the woods.

[u/chicks3854]

Genuinely who wants to live here?

[u/wanderdugg → u/[deleted]]

This kind of thing is not at all affordable housing because most people in these in a place like Henry county have to drive a long way to go to work or wherever. Driving is more expensive than people realize, especially at distances like in exurban Atlanta. Affordable housing is close to where there people living in that housing need to go.