Martian Colonial Neighborhood

The last thing that I wanted to do when I imagined the modern colonies on Mars was to make them dark, confined, and dingy places where people scrapped by to maintain their livelyhoods on a cold, dry planet. This story will take place in a transitional phase of the planet's terraformation. A phase where one can go outside without a space suit, and in areas inside the colonial zones, breathe the air outside thanks to localized photosynthesizers and modified plants, suited to the Martian climate. I want life in the colonies to be similar to that of frontier life in North America, but with a futuristic spin. Life for the 3rd generation colonists is challenging, but not a constant struggle for survival.