Crop How Tight? And Why?

Posted this "suburban landscape" on photo.net. A.B. asked: "Would a closer crop give the pic a nicer look?"

Aristide: You raise a good point, the more so because a friend of mine whose photography I respect often suggests I need to crop tighter. My take on this is that until pretty recently I did photos strictly for the Web, where it's impossible to rely on small details that help a viewer "read" a print presented at, say, 12 x 18 inches and 240dpi. Now I'm working on the theory that the Web will soon support more throughput and therefore more visible detail, and tend to judge my own photos from large prints. (To me, 12 x 18 is large.)

This photo, for example, does need to be seen at a larger scale. It's important to take in the bleak wintry look – bare trees and bushes, passersby in heavy hats and parkas, low sun. Cropping to emphasize the single-point perspective might give it more impact, but would turn it into a cliché – or so I believe. Certainly the irony I prize would be lost.