Shrinking American Lawns - Washington Post

Amit R. Paley surveyed the greater Washington, D.C. region to find more homeowners opting for smaller lawns or no lawn at all. While not all persons interviewed prefer less lawn, a growing number of people see lawns as a costly maintenance burden. Some feel a private lawn can be easily traded for a close-knit neighborhood feel created by smaller lots and less grass. Are green lawns getting phased out?

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The Good Life Loses the Lawn Requirement
Busy Suburban Homeowners Savor Tiny Yards
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer _Sunday, June 25, 2006; Page C01

Even as the suburban home has been super-sized into the modern McMansion, the American lawn, a symbol of middle-class success since the 1950s, has been downsized. The average lawn area available around new houses declined by 7 percent between 1995 and 2005, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders.

The rise of the littler lawn reflects a transformation in the priorities of suburbanites -- increasingly harried by hours-long commutes, 70-hour workweeks and children's soccer games on weekends -- desperate for a way to trade in a Sunday of yardwork for a few more moments of free time.

"The great American lawn is shrinking," said Gopal Ahluwalia, staff vice president for research for the National Association of Home Builders. "More and more people today want huge homes with a tiny little lawn."

Real estate agents who once would have cringed at describing anything as tiny are now making petite lawns part of their pitch.

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The Good Life Loses the Lawn Requirement
Busy Suburban Homeowners Savor Tiny Yards.