"Gated community"

"Imagine living in a place where the weather never changes. I've visited places like that. They may be warm and balmy and sun-filled and all that, but it would be like living in a gated community where everyone wears yellow and is happy all the time."
I stole this quote from an article I read this morning.  Her name is Mrs. Sundberg, and she writes a column about living a busy life with family and friends.  Lots of wry comments about being human.   
A friend said to me once "there are very few places in North America where the weather is pleasant most of the time".  He's right.  When you think of it, Arizona, California, Texas - the places we think of as kind of "warmish" - they all have their dark sides.
But I suppose that makes the case for the "4 seasons".  Canadians are good at living with the 4 seasons, I think.  Especially when we're young.  When we become seniors, the bloom goes off a bit.  Because in Canada, winter is too long.  There's always more of winter than the other three.
But back to my quote.  The part of the quote that struck a chord with me was the "gated community" part.  
I have been in places that felt exactly that way to me - as if I were living in a gated community.  Or a video.  As if the street contained a cast of characters, and I just happened to become part of it.  I'm trying to remember that movie with Jim Carey - where he starred in a TV show and the TV show was actually his life.  
There's always something missing.  I have a vague feeling of unreality.  As if the day were being "programmed" somehow.  As if we had all been collected up together and given some sort of script.  There's no noise and conflict of business and industry, screeching brakes, the messy buzz of commerce.  No feeling of just being part of regular life out there.  Getting kids to school, rushing to the Mall,  stopping for milk on the way home after work. 
"Why would you miss that?" you might ask.  You're right.  It's strange, isn't it?  I don't even like noise, and busy-ness.  But I discovered that when it seemed to be missing, I was - unsettled.  Go figure.