Spiders: a matter of perspective?

My  house has a lot of spiders.  Some days I kill 3 or 4 in my house.  Other days I'm feeling more generous and I just leave them alone.  When I look out my kitchen window, there are always a few with webs on the window or in the bushes just outside.  They seem to hang out for days and days...  maybe they are nursing their little spider eggs.  I don't know.  

Whenever I mention  the spider "problem" to people, they say, "oh, there really aren't a lot of spiders here."  So I am left to wonder, are these people used to a lot of spiders already, or is it just my house?  I know most houses have the occasional spider or two, but I really think mine has more than its fair share!