A man’s house is his castle.
Fair enough.
But what about our roads — our streetscapes? Do they belong to all of us?
A recent — and accelerating trend — is to erect ever-higher faux stone walls outside Westport castles houses.
The example above is from High Point Road. On a street of 70 homes, it is the only one without an open, inviting lawn. It’s jarring to drive by — and not the least bit friendly.
At least High Point is a cul de sac. Here’s 1 view of Morningside Drive South:
And another, just a few yards away:
I know, I know what the response will be from “06880” libertarian commenters: It’s their houses, and they can do whatever they want.
Of course they can. But that doesn’t mean they should.
These stone walls are not for protection. They’re for privacy — for walling ourselves off from each other. For keeping to ourselves. For saying: “I don’t want to see you, and I don’t want you to see me.”
But what about our streets — part of the broader picture than just 1 house?
Isn’t it so much nicer to drive down the road and enjoy the type of view below?
And where is this photo — including the human-sized stone wall on the right — from?
Morningside Drive South.