cdid.py recursively prints the contents of the directory with indentation and without stuttering. If the only contents of a given directory are another single directory, that single directory is concatenated instead of indented on the next line.

cdir.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

import os
import sys

# print_compact_dir recursively prints the contents of the directory with indentation and without stuttering.
# If the only contents of a given directory are another single directory, that single directory is concatenated instead of indented on the next line.
def print_compact_dir(root, route, level):
    dir_path = os.path.join(root, route)
    contents = os.listdir(dir_path)
    
    if len(contents) == 1 and os.path.isdir(os.path.join(dir_path, contents[0])):
        # If the only content is another single directory, call self with the concatenated path instead
        print_compact_dir(root, os.path.join(route, contents[0]), level)
    else:
        # Otherwise, print the route and directory contents
        print_at_level(route + os.sep, level)

        for dir in [item for item in contents if is_dir(dir_path, item) and not is_hidden(item)]:
            print_compact_dir(os.path.join(root, route), dir, level+1)
        for hidden_dir in [item for item in contents if is_dir(dir_path, item) and is_hidden(item)]:
            print_at_level(hidden_dir + os.sep, level+1)
        for file in [item for item in contents if not is_dir(dir_path, item) and not is_hidden(item)]:
            print_at_level(file, level+1)

def print_at_level(string, level):
    if string:
        print "    " * level + string

def is_hidden(file):
    return file[0] == '.'

def is_dir(dir_path, file):
    return os.path.isdir(os.path.join(dir_path, file))

if len(sys.argv) == 2:
    root = os.path.realpath(sys.argv[1])
elif len(sys.argv) == 1:
    root = os.getcwd()
else:
    print "usage: cdir [root_dir]"
    exit(1)

print_compact_dir(os.path.dirname(root), os.path.basename(root), 0)