I didn't go to a Euchre college. Mine was an Asshole and Cutthroat one.

 

Magic and Pokemon are really wiping out the spade and diamonds business.

I think it's more like north Philadelphia (Mayfair, Oxford Circle), and Baltimore certainly does struggle.  The strictly rowhouse neighborhoods aren't as common as the somewhat less dense pre-war streetcar suburbs.  That's what made up most of Detroit, north St. Louis, and even a lot of the west and south sides of Chicago.

 

I think you're right about Mayfair and Oxford Circle. It's the neighborhoods that took the rowhouse, a fundamentally urban housing type, and tried to add suburban touches that didn't age well. So in Mayfair you see a lot of rowhouses with a small front yard. It's super ugly. Northeast Philly is full of "airlite" rowhouses and it's horrible urban form. Looking at both Philly and Baltimore, some of the most popular neighborhoods are old-school classic rowhouse neighborhoods with great urban density. In Baltimore I'm thinking Fed Hill, Canton, Fells Point, etc. In Philly there's Fitler Square, Washington Square West, Society Hill, Queen Village, the list goes on.

I think having a rear outdoor space that is yours really makes a huge difference in quality of life when comparing a row house neighborhood to living in a high-rise.  Balconies are better than nothing but aren't really the same thing at all.  A 20x20 space behind a 20-foot wide row house is enough to do most of what you could do with 20x50. 

 

A block of 20-foot party wall row houses can be very dense, easily 20,000 per square mile before counting all of the other types of land uses that appear in a square mile, and actually much higher if an area were platted to lot sizes smaller than is typical in the United States and with narrow streets. 

 

A lot of Brooklyn, NY is platted on 150x500 blocks.  The 150 makes a lot of sense but the 500 is bit long, I think.  But it has the effect of forcing more commercial activity onto a lower number of commercial avenues and keeping those avenues vital.  If the blocks were instead 150x300 the amount of potential customer activity would be the same but there would be far fewer spaces for commercial storefronts, and so the commercial strips would be less active.   

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Brooklyn,+NY/@40.6703127,-73.9808119,412a,35y,36.57h/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c24416947c2109:0x82765c7404007886!8m2!3d40.6781784!4d-73.9441579

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Increases in personal living space can indicate a decline in public spaces.  Fewer nearby hotels or bed & breakfasts lead to more guest bedrooms.  A lack of entertainment options begets a home theater and rec rooms.  A lack of nearby restaurants leads to larger kitchens and dining areas.  Far away shopping requires bigger pantries and storage.  No nearby public parks spawns large lawns and pools.  This increases the cost of housing, and in many cases forces buyers to get more than they may actually want. 

 

The more suburbanized an area gets, the more those formerly public activities and spaces are internalized.  This could be one reason the "gray areas" of cities that Jane Jacobs lamented, like the rowhouse neighborhoods of Baltimore and Philadelphia, struggle so much.  They don't have the density to support walkability and vibrant mixed uses, but at the same time the houses and lots aren't big enough for the residents to accommodate those social spaces and activities.

 

Or the tendency towards internalization, meaning public spaces and activities converting to private and semi-private, is what is leading to the increase in living space.  I would say that that's a broader social and cultural trend, and while I recognize that most people here would consider it a negative, there's still strong evidence that it's the preference of the overall majority.

 

I would not consider it a negative.  While this has been going on, we have become a society far more tolerant of personal behavior which differs from the norm, and the culture has certainly fragmented leading to far more options for those so inclined.  While it's true that correlation is not causation, in these cases it's likely that it is, in several directions.

 

 

 

You remember how boring it used to be to stay home, though. It was awful. Don't feel like watching Punky Brewster or playing Trivial Pursuit? Too bad! That's all there was if you stayed home.

 

Then again, much of the time spent hanging around waiting for something to happen got tedious too.

 

Though I was always a reader and still am, though I can carry a big part of my library around these days.

I think having a rear outdoor space that is yours really makes a huge difference in quality of life when comparing a row house neighborhood to living in a high-rise.  Balconies are better than nothing but aren't really the same thing at all.  A 20x20 space behind a 20-foot wide row house is enough to do most of what you could do with 20x50. 

 

A block of 20-foot party wall row houses can be very dense, easily 20,000 per square mile before counting all of the other types of land uses that appear in a square mile, and actually much higher if an area were platted to lot sizes smaller than is typical in the United States and with narrow streets. 

 

A lot of Brooklyn, NY is platted on 150x500 blocks.  The 150 makes a lot of sense but the 500 is bit long, I think.  But it has the effect of forcing more commercial activity onto a lower number of commercial avenues and keeping those avenues vital.  If the blocks were instead 150x300 the amount of potential customer activity would be the same but there would be far fewer spaces for commercial storefronts, and so the commercial strips would be less active.   

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Brooklyn,+NY/@40.6703127,-73.9808119,412a,35y,36.57h/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c24416947c2109:0x82765c7404007886!8m2!3d40.6781784!4d-73.9441579

 

 

Yea, this is a good elaboration of what I was trying to get at. In Washington Square West in Philly there are some rowhouses that are only 16 feet wide, and the cartway width is only about 18 feet wide. It sounds oppressive because it is incredibly dense but it is actually quite lovely, and one of the things I really love about Philly.

 

^ That's the definition of a "narrow street for people" that Nathan Lewis espouses.  The pavement design is a bit bog-standard, but the real benefit is that while vehicles are still allowed, they're the interlopers.  It's a pedestrian space first. 

 

http://newworldeconomics.com/narrow-streets-for-people/

The beautiful density of DC is what I see being emulated, in part (and on a much smaller scale), in Uptown/UC Cleveland - and why I actually prefer that area to Downtown.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9037568,-77.0369287,3a,64.7y,264.61h,94.06t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siFJcEdExqTAOZBIqvX8uaQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Merrill+Lynch+Wealth+Management/@38.9047208,-77.0345057,3a,75y,202.7h,99.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sR39VAyIAtD7Q0IGThqM75g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b7b7bfc000bbdf:0x666b42d8963412ca!8m2!3d38.9049229!4d-77.035253

 

Cle:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5088744,-81.6053157,3a,75y,16.98h,92.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sK6Hr7fwaAQf3-0ohEAKO4w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

 

^ That's the definition of a "narrow street for people" that Nathan Lewis espouses.  The pavement design is a bit bog-standard, but the real benefit is that while vehicles are still allowed, they're the interlopers.  It's a pedestrian space first. 

 

http://newworldeconomics.com/narrow-streets-for-people/

 

Good luck moving in and out though.

Considering this is the typical development pattern even in modern day Japan, Korea, much of the Middle-East, and of course the old cities of Europe, I think moving is a solved problem.

^ That's the definition of a "narrow street for people" that Nathan Lewis espouses.  The pavement design is a bit bog-standard, but the real benefit is that while vehicles are still allowed, they're the interlopers.  It's a pedestrian space first. 

 

http://newworldeconomics.com/narrow-streets-for-people/

 

Yep! Notice most of his examples are from elsewhere. There's very few places in the US outside of Philly and Boston where you can find these types of streets. People in Philly usually walk right down the middle of the street because it is rare to encounter a car. There's also examples where the street has a brick or cobblestone treatment.

^ That's the definition of a "narrow street for people" that Nathan Lewis espouses.  The pavement design is a bit bog-standard, but the real benefit is that while vehicles are still allowed, they're the interlopers.  It's a pedestrian space first. 

 

http://newworldeconomics.com/narrow-streets-for-people/

 

Good luck moving in and out though.

 

It's not that difficult actually. I helped my friend move into one. Just park the Uhaul at the end of the block and walk stuff down the street. Block lengths are short so it's not a far walk. Navigating angles inside the house can be difficult but it was way easier than the fifth floor walk-up I used to live in.

 

As Slippy Toad once said, "It's a good thing I'm here"

I wasn't calling for streets that narrow.  But everyone knows that the narrower the streets, the quieter a residential area tends to be. 

 

I just don't think you can do much more with a 25x40 back yard as opposed to a 20x20 back yard.  The lot depths even in row house neighborhoods are sometimes a bit excessive. 

 

I knew a guy from Iowa who grew corn in the 5-foot lawn in front of his Brooklyn row house. 

 

I wasn't calling for streets that narrow.  But everyone knows that the narrower the streets, the quieter a residential area tends to be. 

 

I just don't think you can do much more with a 25x40 back yard as opposed to a 20x20 back yard.  The lot depths even in row house neighborhoods are sometimes a bit excessive. 

 

I knew a guy from Iowa who grew corn in the 5-foot lawn in front of his Brooklyn row house.

 

Oh definitely. I just love Philly and those streets so it seemed like a good time to share that love haha.

^ That's the definition of a "narrow street for people" that Nathan Lewis espouses.  The pavement design is a bit bog-standard, but the real benefit is that while vehicles are still allowed, they're the interlopers.  It's a pedestrian space first. 

 

http://newworldeconomics.com/narrow-streets-for-people/

 

Yep! Notice most of his examples are from elsewhere. There's very few places in the US outside of Philly and Boston where you can find these types of streets. People in Philly usually walk right down the middle of the street because it is rare to encounter a car. There's also examples where the street has a brick or cobblestone treatment.

 

I’d love for Grear Alley (the alley between the parking lots in Pendleton) to look like the examples DEPACincy[/member] posted someday. Would be totally unique to Cincinnati.

Another one to file here: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/urbs/how-todays-skyscrapers-assault-the-skyline-and-the-street-linkedin-building-san-francisco/

@John Schneiderposted a link to this article on Facebook awhile back. It touches on many of the points we’ve discussed here:  https://recities.blogspot.com/2018/11/against-high-rises.html?m=1

This isn’t quite the angle I was looking at this topic from, but here’s one for the case file: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/stop-building-glass-skyscrapers