Exploring the Architecture of Gentrification

[dc_denizen]

criticism of this stuff calls to mind a recognizably american trait these days, making lemons out of lemonade.

Gentrification in inner city houston is generally a great thing. same as most other cities. what are the houses supposed to look like, a thomas kincaid painting?

[strongbad635]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

^^That is actually nice. Reminds me of New Orleans.

Actually, I looked through that neighborhood (Houston Heights) on Streetview and while it is still far from perfect, much better than the majority of neighborhoods in Houston.

Definitely a Gulf Coast feel to these particular homes, and if you look on Zillow, the're some of the most valuable new homes in Houston, especially inside Loop 610.

I currently live in The Heights and it's a real mixed bag. Occasionally you see an entire cite block of these and it's absolutely wonderful. The street is well-defined, the houses are magnificently detailed, the small front yards are really charming, and there are actual sidewalks. Feels like a real American small town, somewhere most Americans only see in movies or when they visit a Disney park.

Some other blocks contain houses like these but built in slightly different styles, slightly different setbacks, different sizes, etc. These feel more organic, more like the real New Orleans, where every home was built by a different builder over time.

Some of these developments take a double or triple house lot and they build a private drive from the street. Then the put in 8-10 3-story townhomes with garage doors at the ground level and porches on the second story. While a few of these can look nice, with New Orleans-style ironwork and warm brick facades, a lot of them are built in a weird traditional/modern crossover style, with very watered-down architectural elements for the sake of "clean lines" that only HINT at tradition. And some of these townhomes definitely look like shipping containers pushed up on their side.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Yup. Looks a bit like this town house complex near Los Angeles, without the extra parking.

https://www.newhomesource.com/commun...unities/124842

Dude, totally! Like the parking spaces are in front of the Public Storage office.

[Obadno]

In general most architecture since the 1930's has been disgraceful.

There are some few and far between modern structures I find actually beautiful most are crap and have been crap for a long time.

That being said the generic home/apartment styles Id say in the last 10 years have been far superior to the snout house and garden apartment monstrosities that peaked in 2005

Still lots of times architecture takes a lifetime before it starts to seem classic. Some of the things we find generic today may be thought of very differently in 50 years.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Dude, totally! Like the parking spaces are in front of the Public Storage office.

These communities remind me of crappy Italian town sidestreets: https://goo.gl/maps/DchG5JyvBXMXFkAW6

Except more soulless

[The North One]

Originally Posted by Capsicum

Is that in any way revealing of how car-centered many new developments are in Houston specifically (or in the Sunbelt)?

Or is that common in other regions/cities?

Seems less familiar in some regions of North America.

Not really.

You go to Boston and you'll witness as much as three parking spaces each in the alley behind those row homes.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by The North One

Not really.

You go to Boston and you'll witness as much as three parking spaces each in the alley behind those row homes.

I'd be very surprised if you found Boston SFH with 3 parking spaces. Back Bay probably has alley parking, but limited. Beacon Hill and North End almost none.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

You might have trouble telling which one of these is yours after a few cocktails at the hip new bar down the street. (Midtown, Houston)

Are these sfh or duplexes? Also, this doesn't look bad to me.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Are these sfh or duplexes? Also, this doesn't look bad to me.

Thos look like Single family homes.

Ive been seeing a lot of these lately, almost no yard or a small side yard, but community amenities.

They are sort of like rearranged classic suburban homes more than true towns or row houses.

[JManc]

They are SFH. Some have private driveways with direct access to street like the ones shown above, others are gated with an HOA.

[Via Chicago]

i feel like the orange/red door is the most transparent code for this these days

[mhays]

Italy's dirty secret is that its side streets can be terrible to walk on...there's often no sidewalk and you're expected to get out of the way of cars that race through.

But that example is at least picturesque.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by mhays

Italy's dirty secret is that its side streets can be terrible to walk on...there's often no sidewalk and you're expected to get out of the way of cars that race through.

Well, I suppose back in Medieval and Renaissance times when those streets were first laid out, there was no need for sidewalks since there were no cars.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Well, I suppose back in Medieval and Renaissance times when those streets were first laid out, there was no need for sidewalks since there were no cars.

I dont know about that, streets covered in horse droppings and mud were far grosser than modern paved streets.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

this doesn't look bad to me.

yeah, those aren't as bad as some of the others. and they'll get better with time as they get more individualized.

there are lots of blocks in older cities where you see the same basic building repeated down the block. brooklyn brownstones, philly rowhouses, chicago 3-flats, etc., but over the decades little personalized detailing touches are made to give a modicum of differentiation to make the block look less sterile and more lived in.

the main aesthetic/planning failure of the that houston example (along with most of the others from the OP) is the street-fronting garage doors/curb cuts.

if you had an alley in back, the garage could access that, leaving room on the front elevation for a more graceful entrance and elegant street presence.

but what are you gonna do in a car-oriented city that didn't plan out its blocks with alleys? that ship has more or less sailed.

[MonkeyRonin]

I don't think street-facing garages need necessarily be anathema to good urbanity: https://goo.gl/maps/yESoKKQzHCXtxdPa7

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Look at the old buildings, and the infrastructure. That's what always blows me away about American Sunbelt cities. You have tumbledown shotgun homes, no sidewalks, drainage ditches, all blocks from the core. Looks like the Wild West.

Yeah, I’m always fascinated by the “country” atmosphere that still exists within walking distance of the downtown area in southern cities. I find it really cool and hope it can be preserved (at least the little shotgun style/single-story prairie style houses.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

I don't think street-facing garages need necessarily to be anathema to good urbanity: https://goo.gl/maps/yESoKKQzHCXtxdPa7

yes, those single-car garage doors are definitely less visually obtrusive than the texas double-wides.

but if you're going to have garages in the first place, the ideal is still to have them off of an alley in back instead of directly facing the street.

that said, not every place has alleys, so like i said, it is what it is: less than ideal, but what can you really do?

[JManc]

It's not the allies or lack of them but the lack of trees. These townhouses are brand new and often replaced a house a on a single lot. Chicago isn't exactly Paris either but the manontany and starkness is blunted by trees and shrubbery. The older townhouses here are far less sterile.

[Encolpius]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

so like i said, it is what it is: less than ideal, but what can you really do?

Well, what they did in my hometown...

Banning the "Snout House": The politics of design in Portland, Oregon

In Portland, Houses Are Friendly. Or Else.

... the offending structure has been clearly defined in the city code: the garage cannot dominate the front of the house or protrude; the main entrance has to be close to the street and clearly identifiable from the sidewalk; and the side of the house that faces the street must have a certain minimum of window and door space.... The code gave incentives for porches, balconies and living space above a garage.