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Originally Posted by Steely Dan
gotcha. this is all about accessibilty. that would've been helpful to know.
i generally MUCH prefer the "ground" floor of a residential building to be at least a handful of risers above grade, but yeah, that comes with inherent non-accessbility issues for small-scale multi-family.
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Yeah for privacy concerns I agree with you. Personally I would much rather be 3 ft above the sidewalk than directly at the same level. In large buildings you can use elevators to provide accessibility, but for the 2-6 unit buildings that dominate many Chicago neighborhoods, you have to make some big tradeoffs for accessibility since elevators don't fit in the budget.
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in that light, it's a fine work around, but i still don't like the scale imbalance in the first image of the new 2 story accessbilbe 3-flat up against a traditional 3-flat. not sure i have any better ideas though (ramps and other lower-cost elevation change solutions typically come with their own set of functional/aesthetic problems too).
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I suspect also that the design is stick-framed wood (Type V-B). This is the cheapest way to build, but Chicago code limits this type to only two stories with a sprinkler system.
In areas with expensive land, builders will use a more expensive construction type (masonry or steel) to use the land efficiently. In Homan Square where the land is basically free, the incentive is to build as cheaply as possible in order to stretch your limited housing budget. Going from wood to masonry might mean they have to cut one or two housing units out of the project.
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