Understand Microplaces
We don't really live in physical dwellings; we live in microplaces.
Technically, we live in a physical dwelling. Four walls. A roof. Could be a single-family house, duplex, apartment, accessible dwelling unit, and so on.
But this does not adequately define where we live. Our place also includes our immediate neighbors, block, neighborhood, third places (such as parks, libraries, places of worship, etc.), and local amenities, such as retail shopping and grocery stores. The immediacy of where we live – larger than our physical dwelling but much smaller than our metropolitan area – could be described as a “microplace.”
A given metropolitan area is composed of countless such microplaces, each with a distinct culture and composition. Maps often don’t do it justice. Microplaces rarely fall within a perfect mile radius; that’s not how we live life. Between traffic patterns, major roads, bodies of water, topography, etc., microplaces take on much more of an amoeba shape.
No One Really Lives in the San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area is home to nearly 8M people spread across nine core counties within approx. 7,000 square miles.
But, in a sense, no one really lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is too large a geographic area to give insight into the lived experience of a particular individual. Even neighborhoods aren’t necessarily descriptive enough. San Francisco, alone, has over 120 neighborhoods by some estimates. While there are significant distinctions between Haight-Ashbury and SoMa, for example, there are also significant differences within each of these neighborhoods. A street address without knowledge of the broader microplace provides necessary but not sufficient detail on a lived environment.
Why Microplaces Matter
Microplaces, more so than our physical dwelling or our metropolitan, shape our lives. Microplaces often form the bulk of our in-person social interactions as the places closest to us are the ones we traffic the most. These geographically approximate relationships can become the basis for our support network. It’s a lot easier for a neighbor to land a helping than your best friend who lives in a distant state.
Microplaces can influence our health, too. If we are surrounded by hills, we may not have sufficient motivation to go on a walk. Noise and air pollution are local matters as well. The realtor’s axiom of “location, location, location” rarely ends with a house beside a freeway as the desired coordinates.
In effect, our lives are shaped by microplaces. Our habits and desires are formed by the cultural norms around us and the built environment within our microplaces influences our behaviors, too. For example, if you live in a microplace where walking is a norm, you may find yourself walking more as a result. Similarly, if your microplace has walking paths, you may also find yourself more likely to walk on a regular basis.
Are You in the Right Microplace?
When you choose to move to a place – or stay in a place – you are choosing a microplace more than you are choosing a physical dwelling or metropolitan area. Getting good information about a microplace is exceedingly difficult – even agreeing on the boundaries of a microplace for a given physical dwelling is nearly impossible as the dimensions are highly personal and subjective. But that doesn’t mean it is not possible to gain meaningful insight.
Understand that, at a minimum, you understand how your current microplace fits your needs and desires. And, you can see how firsthand how a microplace changes. Small geographies are particularly sensitive to turnover of residents, changes in cultural norms (“remember when neighbors used to help each other”), worsening traffic conditions, degradation of local amenities, and more. Places change but microplaces are likely to change more. These shifts may be enough for you to consider a new microplace.
So, what’s the right microplace for you? Only you can judge. But proceed carefully regardless. Appreciate how your current microplace is changing and recognize that you have the agency to shape it. If you are exploring other areas, be careful not to fall prey to the lure of Zillow and the like. Your physical dwelling offers an incomplete picture of your lived experience in the way that a microplace does. Perhaps the best advice is to understand the power microplaces have over your life and be sure to try one before you buy it.