Why do we keep doing what is not working? Housing edition.

This week driving to my child's school I passed by one of my favorite properties and was heartbroken.  A massive sign was out front, where months ago there had been no driveway, just open land.  It was advertising the homes that were going to be put in starting at the 300s.  I felt heartbroken.

I have loved and admired this space ever since I saw it.  It is one of my favorite areas in Charlotte (though it is technically outside of it) driving by.  And now, it is going to be another development.  No more hill, no more grassy plain, no more cute red farmhouse at the top, and likely no tree next to it either.  

I know it is impractical because I never would have had enough to buy a property like this and get it to be a farm.  Heck.  It never even had a for sale sign out front, so who knows how that even works.  But I still dreamt about being able to put a farm up there or a cohousing space.  It just stinks.

Also this week I was told that my family is considering selling some land, and a house on a lake.  We do not use the space often, and there is a lot of maintenance that needs to be done, so it is a good idea to consider selling.  But I know exactly who will buy it.  A developer.  I know because that is exactly what happened right next door.

And I though I don't know how to fix it, I am going to dig deeper into cohousing and see if I can at least be a small part of finding a better way to do this.