Jump into the cold water, right off the front porch, for an early swim; take hot coffee alfresco in a rooftop deck chair as the sunrise lights a panorama of sea birds and skyline; then, kayak off to a meeting downtown.

Live on a houseboat and you see wildlife and city life converge to make every day feel like vacation. That's what they say. Thousands of permanent water citizens-ranging from young tycoons to elder hippies-have rejected big houses, chattel, and land for the rich neighborhood life of dense residential marinas. This isn't a lifestyle look, it's the real thing. Adventurous living: independent, expressive, and fun.

The most comprehensive book on the floating dwellings of North America, The Houseboat Book reveals intriguing villages (floating on century-old cedar logs, concrete barges, Styrofoam blocks, plastic barrels, fiberglass, and painted wood) in British Columbia, Canada, and in Washington, Oregon, California, Florida, New York, and New Jersey. One sees wonderfully inventive architecture-a thatched cabana in paradisiacal Key West, a barged train car (as family home/circus stage) in industrial Brooklyn-imaginative design at its best.