Very thought provoking. It's sad that often with housing important decisions are left for years after moving to a new place. I encountered this when I moved last year into a new place. The paths and road infrastructure was appalling. Seriously bad, inconvenient and dangerous. It is still a bad road but paths improved due to new houses being built but that took a year. There is still an old derelict house with gladden shattered on ground opposite new houses for over a year, with kids in the area and its a real eyesore. I complained to council last year taking photos and told nothing can be done as its not their property and they keep sticking derelict notices on the building. In new housing many things are only done years later, and it's a deliberate decision. Earthquakes of course aren't but indecision is human deliberation.

Regarding marriages and relationships, yes I agree, people loose the most valuable years of their lives staying in bad relationships instead of making the decision to move on but sometimes it is not always in their control either. If they have a manipulative partner, they are influenced by that and maybe their mind is not thinking right and they can't make decisions or fear making the wrong one's, so they stay in the bad relationship but have no real control.