What are some misconceptions people have about the suburbs? (Atlanta, market, Detroit)

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by nei

Each east coast city has its own style of rowhomes, though with similarities. I didn't think Chicago had much in the way of rowhomes

Chicago has plenty of rowhouses. I'd sugget going over to that forum and looking for some picutre threads.

They also have block upon block upon block of bungalow homes.

Exploring my town, it seems like few if any of the older homes are alike. Not a large city, though. See:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/23869233-post32.html

See Denver:

Baker area -- Photo Tour
best areas to live in Denver
Berkeley, Lakeside and Regis Neighborhoods -- PHOTO TOUR
West Highlands Neighborhood -- PHOTO TOUR(My old "hood in Denver)
Platt Park area (Old South Pearl) -- Photo Tour (Only a few houses, but you can get the idea)
University of Denver (DU) PHOTO TOUR (Again, just a few houses)


Here's one for brooklyn:
Yards - The hardest thing to find in Denver
(No pictures)

Or the buyers liked them for reasons other than the architectural style

The buyers might have liked these new houses b/c they had things that the old ones don't, e.g. modern kitchens (modern for the day, anyway), modern bathrooms, closets, stuff like that. There are more similarities between the first of the post war homes and today's homes in terms of kitchens and the like than of the post war homes and those built 20 years earlier. Most houses built in the 20s didn't even have a place for a refrigerator, b/c most people didn't have one.

[Huckleberry3911948]

it is most interesting american urban is ghetto american suburb is middle america or so they say.
but in france its exactly the opposite, i wonder if we will ever be like them?

[nybbler]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

The critique originated with places like Levittown after WW2.

1. Such developments were massive, and had much, much larger areas of identical homes than urban rowhouse areas did, where a single developer might build a block or so of identical homes.

Philadelphia rowhouses and Manhattan tenements were built in areas much larger than a block. And not just tenements: Take a look up and down Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and you'll be struck by the sameness. The buildings differ in details but they're largely similar in size and overall shape.

park avenue, NYC - Google Maps

2. People were used to a block of rowhomes being identical (or close to it) - the nature of building rowhomes requires at least a similar layout, if not the same details - people were used to single family homes being unique, not mass produced like that

Later suburban developments were often not patterned so strictly on the Levittown pattern, though -- a development with 3 or more different houses intermixed is a common pattern. My own 1960s development has several different types and sizes of houses, and (unlike the Levittowns), mostly straight streets on a rough grid.

[wburg]

The sketchiest and most dangerous neighborhoods in California are all low-rise single-family suburbs.

[Ohiogirl81]

My former neighborhood in Cincinnati with an area of about 12 blocks long and five or six blocks wide is nothing but story-and-a-half Cape Cods built in the late 1920s. Some had 2 or 3 bedrooms, some 4; some were brick and some were not, but they all have basically the same floor plan. And over the years, even the identical houses have taken on looks of their own, but they still are very much "cookie cutter" homes.

Originally Posted by nybbler

Philadelphia rowhouses and Manhattan tenements were built in areas much larger than a block.

There aren't too many neighborhoods in Philadelphia that aren't largely row houses or twins. I find the huge expanses of row houses oppressive, although I guess it's kinda handy when you go to your neighbor's house and you don't have to ask where the bathroom is.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

My former neighborhood in Cincinnati with an area of about 12 blocks long and five or six blocks wide is nothing but story-and-a-half Cape Cods built in the late 1920s. Some had 2 or 3 bedrooms, some 4; some were brick and some were not, but they all have basically the same floor plan. And over the years, even the identical houses have taken on looks of their own, but they still are very much "cookie cutter" homes.

You got that right! When I was a visiting nurse in Denver, I never had to ask where the bathroom was when I went into one of those old bungalows. It was always in the same place.

I agree that over the years, the landscaping, additions, different paint jobs and the like made the houses less identical.

[nybbler]

Originally Posted by nei

I see your point, but you could also argue making things spread out enough to have sufficient parking and good traffic flow is rigging the game in favor of cars against pedestrians.

For where I live, driving is no more convenient than walking to a good portion of neighboring businesses. Parking isn't available right in front of the business. and they're a short walk away (5-10 mins). Bicycle beats either mode.

Note that what I was responding to specified "inclement weather and all". In that case, either you've rigged things to make driving terrible, or you've got a single-building community.

[nei]

Originally Posted by nybbler

Note that what I was responding to specified "inclement weather and all". In that case, either you've rigged things to make driving terrible, or you've got a single-building community.

Oh. Well at least in snow, I'd rather be walking than driving; driving in snow can be a pain. I'm not too bothered by rain with umbrella + rain jacket myself.

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by nybbler

Note that what I was responding to specified "inclement weather and all".

IMO, in the middle of January, I think it would be much easier to walk outside when you're surrounded by a walls of buildings (sort of like an UHI effect) than having the cold brisk wind blowing directly at you while walking pass/through surface lots.

Then again maybe I'm wrong.

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by nybbler

That's rigging the game, as it can only be achieved by making it quite difficult to drive.

Not really, it's possible to have both.

Chicago is a perfect example of this. It caters to those who want to drive everywhere, and those who want to walk everywhere.

The pakring can be in garages or undergound (or, at worse, behind the commercial structures), and people can enter their home garages from the alley.