Black-trimmed homes, tiny libraries and other signs of gentrification

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

You mean like these?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/NGcx9DLz2b9xB88DA?g_st=ic

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QAQ3D2GKcaUKbWS39?g_st=ic

https://maps.app.goo.gl/jitkZ8yZqNfqEWi17?g_st=ic

Those are spreading around the sun belt. Here is the Miami version:
https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7354...8192?entry=ttu

[dave8721]

Another modern housing type we get by the gazillion in Miami these days are these side by side boxy duplex buildings, complete with the same black trim and fences of course. Literally everywhere in Coconut Grove or the Coral Way area these days:
https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7337...8192?entry=ttu
https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7364...8192?entry=ttu
https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7377...8192?entry=ttu
https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7510...8192?entry=ttu

Working class neighborhoods have to settle for more of a brown trim:
https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7430...8192?entry=ttu

[mrnyc]

versions of these pop up in cleveland too these days --





these two are kind of quirky -- but i admire that




a more typical type i guess

[Steely Dan]

While Chicago's bog-standard stark white fiber cement board with black trim new construction box houses aren't terrible on their own, their appearance within a block of earth-tone vintage Chicago masonry flats is always a bit jarring.



Could be worse though, I suppose.....

[pip]

I am going to assume, from the pic above, they tore down one of those types of beautiful buildings that are it's neighbors.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by pip

I am going to assume, from the pic above, they tore down one of those types of beautiful buildings that are it's neighbors.

In this case it was an old frame house that met the wrecking ball to make way for the new, but it was clad with a dark gray shingle, such that it didn't stick out nearly so starkly as its bright white replacement.

But yes, imbeciles do sometimes tear down handsome old masonry flats to build these white boxes too.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by dave8721

Those are spreading around the sun belt. Here is the Miami version:
https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7354...8192?entry=ttu

Why doesn't Miami have curbs and gutters?

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Why doesn't Miami have curbs and gutters?

The storm drains are either on the street or in landscaping. In the case of the above example : https://maps.app.goo.gl/Uswbr9CoJU9wdgSo6

[dchan]

Decent quality used items given away free by leaving them in front of the house with a "free to take" sign. Especially toys, books, and baby items which are outgrown. I snagged a few books and toys from Park Slope that way.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

versions of these pop up in cleveland too these days --





these two are kind of quirky -- but i admire that




a more typical type i guess

I like the Cleveland examples. I'd probably live in any of them.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Why doesn't Miami have curbs and gutters?

Urban or urbanish places will have drains (which are usually just flat grates on the ground) or large impervious surfaces like parking lots will have them but your typical suburban area will not. The ground is so porous that rain just soaks in the the ground really quickly. The only time there is ever flooding is when the rain rate exceeds the rate that the ground can absorb the water (like when Fort Lauderdale got 30 inches of rain in a day last year). We are the rainiest big city in the US and the rain comes in a short massive burst each day and makes big puddles but those puddles are usually completely gone in an hour or less. It will go from water high enough to swamp a car to dry in an hour.

Of course the fact that the water goes down so easily means that one day when seas rise high enough it will go up that easily too.

[Six Corners]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

You mean like these?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/NGcx9DLz2b9xB88DA?g_st=ic

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QAQ3D2GKcaUKbWS39?g_st=ic

https://maps.app.goo.gl/jitkZ8yZqNfqEWi17?g_st=ic

Denver banned these in 2018 after the City felt there were too many being built.

https://denverite.com/2018/05/07/den...-replacements/

[Six Corners]

St. Louis does new builds in four flavors:

1. Period correct replica (the house on the left was built in 1882 while the one in the middle and one on the right were built in 2018):
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Nc9JXnGE53nj6PfK9

2. Cheap period replica (brick in the front but vinyl on the sides):
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nuou3LkaeK9Yu5GB9

3. Modern brick:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2kMoqR84pdoUEoMy6

4. "I do what I want"
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7qty35M3U9UJykhB9

[strongbad635]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

A lot of Houston inside the 610 loop is starting to be taken over by those.

At first I thought they were cool because they seemed very dense and urban and kind of look like new houses in urban Japan. But then I realized those are basically McMansions for 2-person yuppie households who for some reason need 5 bedrooms anyways and are actually reducing the density of the neighborhoods they are built in by replacing small dingbat apartments. Meh.

Dallas and Fort Worth's zoning doesn't seem to allow that, at least based on observation. We do the get the same type of narrow-lot townhouse courts, where a conventional single-family home is torn down and then 5-6 townhouses are built perpendicular to the street with a driveway into parking spaces on the ground floor, I think that's a good thing as it's adding a lot of housing to central areas.

It isn't the programming or the density that makes these bad, it's how poorly they relate to the street. Blank walls and awkward proportions are kryptonite to creating a nice place at the street level. It's pathetically easy to design good buildings that make the street space feel good, and yet some folks are steadfastly committed to building houses that make pedestrians feel as uncomfortable as possible.

That being said, there are some WONDERFUL dense infills in urban Houston featuring houses that are very good at placemaking, like these:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8099...8192?entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8008...8192?entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8010...8192?entry=ttu

(look across the street from the third one for a perfect example of some garbage)

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Six Corners

2. Cheap period replica (brick in the front but vinyl on the sides):
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nuou3LkaeK9Yu5GB9

The worst of the lot.

If you're not gonna spend the money to even half-ass traditional, play a different game.

[Six Corners]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

The worst of the lot.

If you're not gonna spend the money to even half-ass traditional, play a different game.

Agreed. And there's one builder who does these especially poorly. https://maps.app.goo.gl/zZWm4taYZYwDCQgt9
They don't even bother with the correct style of brick on most of houses.

[strongbad635]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

The worst of the lot.

If you're not gonna spend the money to even half-ass traditional, play a different game.

Gotta disagree on this one. Even a half-assed traditional building is going to relate to the street a hell of a lot better than a modernist one. Natural materials feel more soothing than composites. Punched windows signal human activity and habitation to the human brain, flush windows feel odd. Blank surfaces heighten the brain's stress response, because exposed environments in nature indicate a dangerous exposure to predators, and we aren't going to deprogram 250,000 years of hominid evolution. Balance proportions also signal stability and calm.

There definitely needs to be a lot more research into how the built environment impacts mental health, but from what we've seen so far, there are some basic elements of placemaking that can affect mental stress levels to a significant degree.

I would be much better to have brick on all sides, but even just making sure a front-facing facade has the elements of good placemaking can make a WORLD of difference to the quality of the street space.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Six Corners

Agreed. And there's one builder who does these especially poorly. https://maps.app.goo.gl/zZWm4taYZYwDCQgt9
They don't even bother with the correct style of brick on most of houses.

These look like public housing. The typical stuff cities built in the 1990's after they demolished public housing towers.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by strongbad635

Gotta disagree on this one.

That's fine.

For me, of the 4 examples of St. Louis infill housing offered, that not-even-half-assed traditional one would be my last choice for a home to call my own.

But to Crawford's point, it very well might be government housing, so perhaps not apples to apples.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by strongbad635

Gotta disagree on this one. Even a half-assed traditional building is going to relate to the street a hell of a lot better than a modernist one. Natural materials feel more soothing than composites. Punched windows signal human activity and habitation to the human brain, flush windows feel odd. Blank surfaces heighten the brain's stress response, because exposed environments in nature indicate a dangerous exposure to predators, and we aren't going to deprogram 250,000 years of hominid evolution. Balance proportions also signal stability and calm. .

Disagree. "Context" in terms of the average hobby urbanist is completely misunderstood. The best urban environments have buildings from all different eras and styles cheek to jowl right next to each other. If there's anything bad about the block long in fill of the St Louis modern homes, it's that they all have the same exact facade and shape. Even if there was moderation in brick color, window patterns, and roof line it would make a big difference. Even better if the developer made every 3rd or 4th house traditional. But most developers are one trick ponies.