I totally know where you're coming from, Irish. I live in what used to be a small town outside of one of the major cities in my province. It's now one of the largest towns in Canada...too big to be a town, really, but unwilling to amalgamate with the city or become its own (which I'm grateful for).

We have new subdivisions cropping up everywhere you look. Cookie-cutter communities, with perfect front lawns, no back yards, and you can throw a rock out your kitchen window and hit your neighbour, lol. I don't have a problem with those neighbourhoods...but I need trees in order to live properly

I'm fortunate in that I live on my inlaw's property. They were the first people on this street...back when the street was named for them b/c they were the only ones on it. We're literally surrounded by trees on all four sides, and are already surrounded by older development, so don't have to worry about being blindsided by a new project in our backyard.