There’s a housing development being built in our neighborhood. It has the idyllic name of The Villas at Presidio. I’ve seen villas. I’ve stayed in villas. These are not villas. These are boxes, little boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look the same. The lyrics of that old song from the sixties run through my head every time I drive by this abomination.
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same
And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
Creativity and imagination have given way to efficiency and profit. Architects should be ashamed of themselves for wasting their education on these ticky tacky designs. These little boxes are selling for $350-500,000. People are moving in. They all look the same . . . and so do their cars.
There is a trend toward generification in our country. Generification is an obscure word that has taken on new meaning in our culture. It means making everything the same. Have you noticed that new cars all look the same and are painted with flat, generic, putty colors? You can’t tell the difference between a $150,000 Mercedes and a $30,000 Kia.
You know you’re getting old when you start reminiscing about how things used to be, but I will do it anyway. As a teenager, I could tell a car's make, model, and year as it passed. They all had unique, creative designs. They weren’t made of ticky tacky and didn’t all look the same.
Here’s the house I grew up in as a child. It’s still standing in Houston Heights and is a historic landmark. I’m 81 and played in this house as a child, so it’s been standing for a long time.
We were not wealthy. This is how most of the houses in our neighborhood looked. All the creativity and imagination have now moved into the high-end, gated communities with million-dollar-plus homes. These are big boxes with people who all look the same. When racial segregation became illegal, they came up with the idea to segregate communities by the price of the home and put walls around them.
For the last year and a half, I’ve had the privilege to be part of the H.E.B. Foundation’s Know Your Neighbor project. We are a cohort of 15 people who go into the San Antonio neighborhoods to meet the people and learn about their culture and stories. I’ve met people who live in modest homes and love their neighborhood and neighbors. I’ve been in the West Side neighborhoods and the gated communities in Stone Oak. The West Side may not be as pretty, depending on your point of view, but it is real, and so are the people.
One of the advantages of growing old is not being in the game anymore. We’re spectators, and we can see the game more clearly.
Pat, when I lived in San Clemente CA and driving on Highway 5 looking at the houses all along the route I thought “they all look the same”. How very sad. Love your article.
wow pat!!!! you are 150% correct. and i've been thinking of that song as i watch all the ticky tacky densely placed homes here in the southern end of santa fe! in stunning santa fe! in the name of affordable housing priced at 500,000+
i can't remember the name of the tv series that used it for it's theme song...