Quiet town

They’re almost finished — two tall apartment buildings across the road from us, which have been under construction since we moved to our home almost two years ago.

I had the vague notion that once people start moving in, our whole street would be lit up with activity and cars. Thinking a bit more, though, I realise that this probably won’t happen.

My brother moved into his new apartment building just a few weeks ago. When we visit him, we hardly run into anyone. At street level, it’s as quiet as ever.

Even our own apartment complex, which is more than 20 years old and well and truly populated –  four out of five times that I leave my front door, I don’t meet anyone.

Strange, isn’t it?

I guess it means that even at high home densities (say, 60+ dwellings per hectare), the actual people density is still low. It’s not like Hong Kong or the Melbourne CBD at lunch time. You need to pack people into a restaurant or office before you start to feel the urban buzz. Two people every 70 square metres for an apartment is just not busy.

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