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Originally Posted by skyhigh07
I wouldn’t call the Public Ledger Building a tower by any stretch. The area is mostly low to medium rise. It’s not Market West by a long shot. I think the “build skyscrapers everywhere” solution has a tendency to cloud good planning and thoughtful architecture. The most beautiful and liveable cities and neighborhoods in the world aren’t necessarily packed with skyscrapers. Not sure why we need to keep doubling down on this. The truth is most Philadelphians and visitors aren’t impressed by its glass towers (you can find them anywhere). It’s the cobblestone streets, quaint brick rowhouses and sense of history that truly makes the city unique. I’m not against new skyscrapers but we don’t have to sacrifice these neighborhoods or build them up taller just because..
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You missed my point again. The damage is done, lets build something noteworthy rather than a 300' glass shoebox. Why not something like 56 Leonard, Beckford House, Rose Hill (all in Manhattan), all stunning new towers. (look them up).
(Again, I never advocated for the demolition, this is after the fact).
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown
They should be banned from the whole region.
Even in the suburbs, the default housing vernacular used to be very elegant and high quality, even in middle class areas.
By becoming this regions biggest builder, they've co-opted and destroyed the entire idea of what good housing is. A million dollar house shouldn't have vinyl windows and shame on the sheep who buy their product who think its normal.
Other metros have much higher quality volume builders in the $500k-$1MM plus space. Semi-custom product, etc.
Even our custom builders build their product as variants of the Toll output. The only exception is probably Bentley Homes.
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Eh, I don't know about that.
The Philadelphia area has Bentley Homes, Pohlig Homes, and a lot of great custom builders in the region.
But, there is some TRASH being constructed elsewhere too. I spent 2 months in Texas (after the major freeze) and visited dozens of suburban sprawl communities outside of Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and the level of construction is tree-house cheap, and a lot less hurdles to build in Texas than Southeastern PA.
Toll isn't great and had a lot of EIFS issues in the early 00's, but their newer communities in our area are decently built and more aesthetically pleasing than my experiences in other metros (By large homebuilder standards which isn't saying much overall, but it's true from my experience, but still not worth $1M, I totally agree there).
(I am an engineer / building consultant, I've seen every type of home and construction method there is, around the nation).