Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This link has a Chart of % of housing varieties of US cities. By detached-single, ATTACHED-SINGLE, two-units, 3 or 4 units, 5-9-units, 10-19 uunits, 20+units and moble-homes.
The sight has a 10 city bar-chart by color of some US cities and scroll futher down for a 40 city bar-chart.
Safe to say a lot of East Coast or northeastern cities would qualify as being row house cities. It's kind of a thing around here, a specific historic architectural theme we have in our cities.
Weren't those double-duplex homes? Two-halfs together then disconnected from others. They are common in PA old-stock housing in older smaller cities. They are not classified as row-homes. I personally though, do see them as a variation to variety of row-housing. But technically I know they are are not.
Looks like there's lots of little towns in the NE (and perhaps a few in the MW/SE that have row house style). These are the bigger cities that I consider "row house cities" for how numerous they are in the US.
-Saint Louis
-Chicago (maybe not even as many as Saint Louis in real numbers, but enough to make the list, I think)
-Cincinnati
-Pittsburgh
-Washington DC/Baltimore (Perhaps the capital of them)
-Philadelphia
-New York City
-Boston
-San Francisco
DC does have quite a few rowhouses in very prominent neighborhoods, so I certainly think it is a rowhouse city. Here is how I'd group the large cities based on amount and prominence (not architecture type) of rows:
Philly
Baltimore
Boston
DC
Pittsburgh
San Francisco
New York
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Richmond
Chicago
the rest (as far as I know all other large cities don't have enough rows to be worth mentioning)
In terms of raw numbers, NYC may have been the leader in row houses back around the late 1800s before skyscrapers/apartments took over, mostly due to its size. Much of Midtown Manhattan was rowhouses (more of the 4-story variety with street businesses than the more common 2 and 3-story buildings without businesses except at the corner of a block in other cities) back when construction first hit that area, and I consider brownstones a style of rowhouses, just like the more traditional brick found on Italianate, Federal, and Arts & Crafts rowhouses. However,it remains a prominent style in many neighborhoods, from Murray Hill, the UWS/UES (despite lots of high-rises mixed in), parts of the village, Harlem, large swaths of Brooklyn, as well as parts of Queens and The Bronx. Hudson County, NJ also has lots of them as well. IMO NYC is number two in rowhouses after Philly. It is just that many more NYC rowhouses are multi-family compared to single family in other cities. Of course, the percentage of 20+ units will be inflated due to the numerous high-rise buildings.
Washington, DC also had many rowhouses in its Southwest section before urban renewal in the 1960s and some just north of the White House before all those office buildings were built.
Baltimore has a few brownstones, including a few on the south side of Franklin Square Park on W. Fayette St, as well as a few in its Mount Vernon neighborhood. But even that city has lost a lot of them to the wrecking ball in recent years due to, of course, the crumbled infrastructure from urban decay, which urban renewal an obvious reason. I'd still put Philadelphia as number one rowhouse city, due to fewer teardowns from urban decay/removal compared to Baltimore.
As has been mentioned, Indianapolis and Columbus were once rowhouse cities prior to renewal (although with much smaller cores), and Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh were cities that have taken a large beating in rowhouse housing stock. Still, I consider the rowhouse the classic urban housing unit, with the high-rise the modern equivalent and the tenement the classic "Section 8" structure.
To me (merely opinion), there is a difference for me if a block is truly a block of Row-homes. Some cities have merely a part block of a few homes fully conjoined and built the same time. Some merely had homes built butted up to each as they got built built and differ in designs. Others are mere inches apart and built individually at different times, designs and materials.
To me only the segment of like homed in these examples, and built at the same time and bulk materials? Are true Row-homes. Others are attached or semi-attached or in inches apart? Not Row-homes. This sight of Philadelphia's building methods noted it. Show this method of building to me. The TRUE "Row-home" as I see it.
When I compare a city as Philadelphia, a Chicago and even a San Francisco? There is clearly a difference in Philly having full blocks, that had the whole block originally built;
- at the same time
- same builders and workers
- same bulk construction materials used
- had open basements to attics to one another
- even looked the same or only subtle differences
- were built as a assembly-line by speculators investments
Much of Philly's full blocks of a wall effect look of tight rowstrue fully recognized as "Rows-homes" no one would question.
Chicago left doing Rows within a couple decades of rebuilding after its 1871. With reasons fully attached whole blocks it distanced itself from. Much of what was once Row-homes in the North half of todays downtown. Long ago were removed for Skyscraper living. But areas remain in other neighborhoods pre-1900.
But even then, many were unique separately built and butted up against each other. Especialy Victorian varieties. These I really do NOT see them as "Row-homes"? But attached housing yes.
San Francisco also has many homes that merely as built. Got butted up together or very close that givea it the row effect.
I just see what stipulations I noted above. As my
reasonings for the difference in this label as a housing variety I would FULLY title a "Row-home"?
Why hasn't anyone mentioned Wilmington, Delaware yet? That place was absolutely a row house city. It was perfect!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
