So it's been pretty slow in here lately...and I'm not sure if this thread is going to be completely useless, or semi-interesting that will garner further discussion. But I'm wondering about and interested in the various aesthetics and minutiae of historic neighborhoods and houses. It could be anything from how wide the landscaping strips are between the pavement and sidewalk. How far setback the houses are. Or really anything. It could be something big and grand or something that is pretty trivial you've noticed that happened to catch your eye.
I've spent a lot of time driving probably every single street of all of Phoenix's historic districts, and on top of that, I've driven the Google mobile around a bunch of other City's historic districts looking at and admiring the houses. There are many similarities and some differences that can be interesting.
One thing I noticed that is very commonplace in other cities, but very few and far between in Phoenix is houses that have steps leading up the walkway to the yard from the main sidewalk. In Phoenix, the central city is so flat that there are very few houses that are raised up at all from the sidewalk (sure, most every house has 3-5 steps leading from the yard to the front porch/door, but I'm talking about steps from the sidewalk to the yard). There are a bunch of areas in Phoenix where this is more common, but those are mostly in the suburbs in the more hilly areas.
There may be a few I'm missing, but I think these are nearly all of the historic houses in Phoenix that have any significant "step up" from the sidewalk. There are a fair amount that have a single step that I didn't include, but it seems if there is any rise at all from the sidewalk (usually, there is none), the walkways were constructed with small sloped ramps (perhaps Phoenix was just ahead of the ADA times
). I'm pretty sure one big reason that historic neighborhoods in other cities had properties that are elevated from the street was that when they were initially built, the streets were purposely cut down and the yards filled with the excess dirt to raise them up for flooding/drainage purposes (if not simply because of a more hilly terrain). Phoenix surely doesn't get as much rain (or any snow) as other cities.
Anyway, on to the (very few) pics from Phoenix.
If you've noticed this before and know of any that I'm missing, let me know. I wish my house was raised up from the street. It kind of gives a more stately and secure feel to be elevated.
Here are some examples from other cities (in which it is far more common):
Tucson:
Albuquerque:
Prescott:
Los Angeles:
San Diego:
Denver:
I'm sure this is a dead-end thread, and if I were to put it in the general city discussions forum, it would eventually degrade into a pissing match somehow. But if you have anything to add ...
