Driveways in front (Denver, Westminster, Boulder: houses, neighborhoods, construction)

[qfrost]

It just occurred to me that in areas I've been looking at - Broomfield, Louisville, Superior, etc... that all the houses have their driveways in front of the home.

Out here, driveways are almost always on the side of the house, leading to a garage out back or on the side. This keeps the houses from being too close on one side (and tucks the ugly garage in the back).

I know in the design of those late 70s-80s homes this was the style - but was there any other reason for this? Just curious. Shoveling? Land tight?

- Q

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by qfrost

It just occurred to me that in areas I've been looking at - Broomfield, Louisville, Superior, etc... that all the houses have their driveways in front of the home.

Out here, driveways are almost always on the side of the house, leading to a garage out back or on the side. This keeps the houses from being too close on one side (and tucks the ugly garage in the back).

I know in the design of those late 70s-80s homes this was the style - but was there any other reason for this? Just curious. Shoveling? Land tight?

- Q

Small lot sizes.

[Brain Drain]

I'm with you on the garage. We lived in an old 20s bungalow in Denver with an alley and garage, and miss that sort of architecture.

I think there are so many "garage homes" out here because of the time when most of these areas were developed. Superior was mostly built out in the mid to late 90s, and Louisville in the 80s and 90s, and much of Boulder in the 60s. These were all in the era when cars were the dominant form of transportation - which of course still continues - and the architecture reflected that sentiment.

I would look in areas that were built out before the 60s, such as old town Louisville, old town Longmont, the older parts of Boulder, or in new urbanist developments such as Holliday in Boulder, Prospect New Town in Longmont, some of the newer Markel developments in Boulder, Lousiville, and Lyons, and Bradburn in Westminster. Another clue is to look on maps where old style grid type street layouts are evident. You need to go real new or old to find what you're looking for around here.

[Micktooth]

We live on a corner lot and we are lucky enough to have our garage on the side of our house

[qfrost]

Thanks for the tip! It's a shame so many house fronts are dominated by that big ugly garage cube. Bad feng shui to have a home's entrance hidden like so many I see, like it was an afterthought. Ah well, personal taste....

[reed303]

In the 70s and 80s everyone wanted an "attached" garage. The garage "out back" was "old-fashioned". I would not have bought my houses in 1971, 1973, 1977, or 1986 without an attached garage.

[Bradburn1]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Small lot sizes.

My lot is 4500 sq feet and my garage is in the back, so that's not the only factor and I've seen so many houses on ginormous lots with garages in the front--Bow Mar in Littleton comes to mind.

It makes a HUGE difference on how the front of the house looks and how the streetscape looks. If you want a house with garages in back in Denver's suburbs, I'm afraid your choices will be limited but there are some neighborhoods out there that have them. The pre World War II neighborhoods as far as older 'hoods and for new 'hoods, the new urbanist communities generally are all designed that way (as another poster mentioned).

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Bradburn1

My lot is 4500 sq feet and my garage is in the back, so that's not the only factor and I've seen so many houses on ginormous lots with garages in the front--Bow Mar in Littleton comes to mind.

Yes, I think these posters are correct:

Originally Posted by reed303

In the 70s and 80s everyone wanted an "attached" garage. The garage "out back" was "old-fashioned". I would not have bought my houses in 1971, 1973, 1977, or 1986 without an attached garage.

Originally Posted by Brain Drain

I'm with you on the garage. We lived in an old 20s bungalow in Denver with an alley and garage, and miss that sort of architecture.

I think there are so many "garage homes" out here because of the time when most of these areas were developed. Superior was mostly built out in the mid to late 90s, and Louisville in the 80s and 90s, and much of Boulder in the 60s. These were all in the era when cars were the dominant form of transportation - which of course still continues - and the architecture reflected that sentiment.

I would look in areas that were built out before the 60s, such as old town Louisville, old town Longmont, the older parts of Boulder, or in new urbanist developments such as Holliday in Boulder, Prospect New Town in Longmont, some of the newer Markel developments in Boulder, Lousiville, and Lyons, and Bradburn in Westminster. Another clue is to look on maps where old style grid type street layouts are evident. You need to go real new or old to find what you're looking for around here.

OTOH, in the Pittsburgh area, a lot of houses, especiall in the early part of the above era, have attached garages behind the house, with a long driveway. The lot sizes here do not support that type of construction. It's true you can build a detached garage with alley access on a small lot, but then the alleys take up a lot of land.

I think the "real new" that are built in tradiotional areas, as opposed to New Urbanism, still have front-facing attached garages.

[qfrost]

I don't mind an attached garage, in cold weather it's a plus. It just seems weird to make it the dominant architectural feature, especially when you could just push it back and allow the entrance to be the focus. I suppose lot sizes prohibit having a garage on the side of the house.

[yukiko11]

You know, your post reminded me of something I noticed in the Phoenix area where I am looking for a retirement home. All of the recently built houses have entrances that do not face the street. Mostly you have to walk across a path half the width of the house from the driveway then around to the side about 20 ft where the front door is. This seemed really wierd to me. Just like you, I wonder if there was a reason.