1/4 acre lots are quite crowded. The normal 1 acre lots are much nicer ~ you find them all over the Midwest. BTW, to get your septic tank to perc you really do need 1 acre ~ can’t imagine how California is ever going to get rid of that septic odor that follows the freeways. Doesn’t really rain there either like where I was born: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/Flooding_Seymour%2C_Indiana.jpg
Its why we bought 4+ acres in an unincorporated area where you can have only one house for every 2 acres.
I can't imagine having to live where every move is dictated by some pencil-necked bureaucrat and everyone is packed together like sardines!
[shudder]