Quote:
Originally Posted by pj3000
Ok, I'll play. So "development pressures" is your thing?
Why then, for example, did Providence and Hartford and Springfield and Rochester and Buffalo, and then Cleveland and Detroit, not develop into "rowhouse cities"? These places were among the larger (and largest) cities in the nation (and rapidly developed) from the mid-1800s to early 1900s (the "rowhouse era", if you will).
And during this same era, why then did significantly smaller places (which didn't have nearly the population nor growth/development pressures) like Reading and Allentown and Bethlehem and Harrisburg and Lancaster and Frederick become "rowhouse cities"?
I'm not ignoring big cities and I'm not focusing on small cities. I'm talking about the bigger cities of the day... go ahead and look up population and growth numbers for places like Providence, Buffalo, Rochester, Cleveland, Detroit, etc. in the era.
And I've never suggested that this typology isn't primarily found in the Northeastern US. I agree with that, but the Northeast is also largely characterized by a detached housing typology.
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I'm willing to admit that there is a cultural, perhaps ethnic tie in to the prevalence of rowhouses, and that some regions were more naturally drawn to that style of development than elsewhere. But I also think it's pretty clear that big cities that boomed early in the US have the most rowhomes, regardless of whether they're in the Mid Atlantic, New England, or Midwest. Look at the 10 biggest cities by decade and see if you pick up on the trend. Let's start in 1850:
1850
1. New York
2. Baltimore
3. Boston
4. Philadelphia
5. New Orleans
6. Cincinnati
7. Brooklyn
8. St. Louis
9. Spring Garden, PA (now part of Philly)
10. Albany
1860
1. New York
2. Philadelphia
3. Brooklyn
4. Baltimore
5. Boston
6. New Orleans
7. Cincinnati
8. St. Louis
9. Chicago
10. Buffalo
1870
1. New York
2. Philadelphia
3. Brooklyn
4. St. Louis
5. Chicago
6. Baltimore
7. Boston
8. Cincinnati
9. New Orleans
10. San Francisco
1880
1. New York
2. Philadelphia
3. Brooklyn
4. Chicago
5. Boston
6. St. Louis
7. Baltimore
8. Cincinnati
9. San Francisco
10. New Orleans
1890
1. New York
2. Chicago
3. Philadelphia
4. Brooklyn
5. St. Louis
6. Boston
7. Baltimore
8. SF
9. Cincinnati
10. Cleveland
1900
1. New York
2. Chicago
3. Philadelphia
4. St. Louis
5. Boston
6. Baltimore
7. Cleveland
8. Buffalo
9. SF
10. Cincinnati
1910
1. New York
2. Chicago
3. Philadelphia
4. St. Louis
5. Boston
6. Cleveland
7. Baltimore
8. Pittsburgh
9. Detroit
10. Buffalo
Cleveland and Detroit boomed much later than the Northeastern cities + Cincinnati and St. Louis. NYC, Philly, Boston, Baltimore, St. Louis, Chicago (pre-fire), Cincinnati...these were the biggest cities for much of the mid to late 1800s, and these are also the places that had the largest concentration of brick rowhouses. By the time Cleveland and Detroit grew up, there was less of a pedestrian focus as a means of transport, as early streetcars and vehicles had emerged, and the development of those cities show it.