>>>>>People generally choose the color of their house. You are blaming a lack of bright or dark colors on the exterior of houses on what? People's choices? :o)
>>>>
>>>>Of course. Since people's choices are impossible to influence, fashions do not exist. They are just an illusion, eh?
>>>>
>>>>>I wouldn't want a dark or bright color because I live in the south and it absorbs too much heat. Are you upset because people prefer cream, white, beige or gray colored houses? :o) I prefer beige or cream on the outside myself.
>>>>
>>>>If you've lived through a number of Novembers in Europe and managed to get through undepressed... good for you. I'd usually have to wait for March to get back into normal. Winter wasn't too nice either - too cold, and the days are too short. And most of the houses were heated by coal, so the snow in the city wouldn't look too nice after just a few days. In most of the literature (and music), gray == monotony == depression. Gray is the color of jails, barracks, old state buildings, mud, dust, dirt, concrete, heavy clouds and formal suits. Also the color of "we aren't able to keep it clean, so let's paint it the way it will be when it's dirty".
>>>>
>>>>Most of my impressions of the US originate in '67 and later; not that I didn't know much before that, it's when it became interesting to read about. And it looked so colorful - in message #1151050, deja vu. Then I come here and get disappointed with the overall greyness.
>>>>
>>>>All the more reason to buy a house and do it the way you want. And don't listen to what the real estate agent may say about chances of selling a colorful one - you don't care whether it will attract 50 or 500 customers. You need only one.
>>>
>>>I found Montreal to be a beautiful and colourful place, with lots of pastel houses nestling together, and those that weren't were quirky in style, such as mock castles and stuff.:
>>>
>>>http://www.photoatlas.com/pics01/pictures_of_canada_09.html
>>>http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/5764f/dd4ad/
>>>http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977375458
>>
>>Many victorian style houses are painted like that here.
>
>Give you an idea of the colour of houses here, some American's photo diary of a visit here. Most Victorian houses are painted a shade of white or cream (although back in the day they would have been plain concrete stucco, with perhaps a peeling lick of whitewash).
>
>It's funny the diarist's remark on the telephone wires going to several houses, from a telegraph pole (like in our street) which he mistook for power cables! :-)
>
>http://www.aug.edu/~sbajmb/pictures/Best-of-Brighton-2006-Web/Brighton2006.htm

Wow. Compare #4 to these (similar beach area homes in SF):

This is similar:
http://www.freefoto.com/preview/1215-09-9?ffid=1215-09-9&k=Streets+of+San+Francisco%2C+California

Slightly more colorful:
http://www.wildnatureimages.com/Victorian%20Row%201.htm

More colors:
http://www.freefoto.com/preview/1215-09-78?ffid=1215-09-78&k=Streets+of+San+Francisco%2C+California
http://www.sfcvb.org/photolibrary/sfcvb/victorians/Cobl50.html
http://www.sfcvb.org/photolibrary/sfcvb/victorians/5Vic9.html

In many towns across the U.S., older victorian homes must be painted in their original period colors/styles:

http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/203221
http://users.rcn.com/scndempr/dave/school.html