I wake up enthusiastically early one Saturday summer morning. Today is the day I promised to help a few of my friends in the community garden with the harvesting of our bumper crop of tomatoes. On the way over, I run into a neighbor who happens to be free and decides to come along. When we arrive, two of my friends are already there as well as two energetic children and one very patient dog. The dog, sitting cooperatively in the children's wagon, is wearing a bonnet and neck scarf, as they pull him around the outside perimeter of the garden.

American home and neighborhood designs change constantly. If you put yourself randomly in a 20th century neighborhood, chances are that you could tell the decade it was built, even after the avocado-green siding is replaced. We may be in for an even bigger than normal shift in the next decade. How will a 2015 neighborhood be different than a 2007 subdivision? A recent Chicago Tribune article summarizes the eight great real estate trends of 2009:

1. Smaller Houses
2. More apartments
3. Increase in attached housing
4. More rental units
5. New urban centers with homes close to shops and restaurants
6. Common green spaces for outdoor enjoyment of homeowners.
7. Creating Community - where the developer provides social features beyond land, bricks and mortar.
8. Online marketing of homes

(see http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/dec/26/realestate/chi-real-estat...)

Do these features sound familiar?