Be honest: are Plasticville structures okay?

I love Plasticville­® absolutely as is, straight out of the box.  I am far from a serious railroad enthusiast, but I know what I like when it comes to small period cities and towns- the storefronts and architecture is straight out of the mid-century era, even in some of the wild color schemes.  As an artist, I could (and occasionally do) work on extensive repaints and aging, but again, some are fun just as-is.  Especially the ranch houses and the Cape Cod houses.  When placed in multiple rows and rows and rows (and rows), you can achieve an instant 1950's Leavittown (I'm not crazy about the O scale Cape Cods, so it is easiest to achieve the effect I want with smaller scales, and it takes up less space).  I might spray-paint a few of the roofs more realistic colors, but aside from that, I love the pastel houses.  They look swell on green felt sheets, with streets and period cars and such, and of course, a few sad little trees, just as the real Leavittown had when it was first established for all the post-war "Young Moderns" looking for affordable housing.    The layout makes for great aerial photos, particularly when turned black and white, just like so many photos of the real Leavittown one sees.  That is how you can get away with not a lot of detailing, since the trick is to be far away and above.  After assembly, you can sit back, relax, and listen to the folk song made famous in the 1960's by Melvina Reynolds dissing the suburbs, "Little Boxes" ('on the hill side, little boxes made of ticky-tacky')...  

Just now came on this site. I guess I am going through kitbash, scratch build, new bldg withdrawal. And so soon after redoing (90%) of my problem corner. Fun thread to review.

Hospital into a Holiday INN with Miller Engineering electric sign , Airport control tower with rotating wind meter , Barn used for bar "WIGGLE INN " with Miller electric sign out front

Wow, that hospital-turned-Hotel is fantastic!  Glamour DeLuxe!!

I only have one Plasticville structure and it might catch your eye because it is named for Northport LI. I scratch build all my other buildings but the tower looks good and I'm sure other Plasticville can be made to fit your layout. I have a bunch of Plasticville I'm looking to sell at a reasonable price. I come to LI often so you can save shipping costs.

Plasticville are good starter buildings, until Woodland Scenics arrived in my town. As their name states they look like plastic ,too.  We all (over 55 crowd)  had them as kids. The paper window inserts faded or are torn, the detailing was poor. The finger joints in the walls never stayed put and the roofs fall out. Small parts either are lost or broken.

Nostalgia is the main reason we keep them around.

At one time or another I believe that most model railroaders had a Plasticville building or two on their layout. They are actually more S gauge than O gauge but many of them look nice when kit bashed and painted. If painted they look good lighted.  If not painted, the thin plastic, when illuminated makes them look like jack-o-lanterns.  

Well, when the roofs fall in and the joints fail and so on, that makes it SO much easier to stage a "Godzilla"-style video if you want to let your cat loose in it.  This will make darn sure buildings will convincingly topple...

Plasticville -

Since they are S scale, I like to place them in the background to show the illusion of distance.

Over on G Scale Central, there's an ongoing topic, "So you think Playmobil is too toylike for your garden railway ?"   Some of the members have done wonders with Playmobil buildings.  They're alot less expensive than Pola or Piko structures.