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Rowhouses are more a sign of an old urban area than a northern city per se.
In the South, they can be found also in a lot of smaller Virginian cities. Old Town Alexandria is famous for them, but they are found in limited numbers in Norfolk, Fredricksburg, and even Lynchburg. They probably were a bit more common in all of these cities before. They're also common in Charleston, Savannah, and (in a very different style) in New Orleans.
Overall, there are more cities in the south with notable amounts of rowhouses/old townhouses than in New England, where they're almost entirely confined to Boston. Really though, it's a Mid-Atlantic/Upper South style with some outlier cities.
Rowhouses aren't really common in Charleston; it has a few, but it's more known for the single house style. I believe it's the same with New Orleans; they have a few but the shotgun house defines its historic residential architectural style. Now Savannah is a different story as rowhouses truly are common in the historic district.
Rowhouses aren't really common in Charleston; it has a few, but it's more known for the single house style. I believe it's the same with New Orleans; they have a few but the shotgun house defines its historic residential architectural style. Now Savannah is a different story as rowhouses truly are common in the historic district.
Charleston doesn't have many true rowhouses, but it has a large number of "detached rowhouses." The old fashioned way to describe them was townhouses, but that term has been bastardized by modern real estate to describe new-construction rowhomes. Thus there's really no good word in the U.S. lexicon to describe historic houses with a setback of 0-5 feet from the sidewalk, and only a modest gap of a few feet between them and the houses next door. Plenty of cities besides Charleston are stocked with such homes (Cincinnati and Saint Louis most famously).
For that matter, much of the Fan District in Richmond isn't truly rowhouses, but free-standing or semi-attached housing. It's just that the gaps between the houses are often only a few feet wide. Still feels like rows from the street level though.
As for New Orleans, most of the French Quarter's housing stock is either attached, or very frequently only separated from the house next door by a 2-foot breezeway. Admittedly in french colonial architecture it's common to have multiple front exits to a house, meaning some of the homes which look like they are semi-attached are probably not (or at least weren't designed to be.
Charleston doesn't have many true rowhouses, but it has a large number of "detached rowhouses." The old fashioned way to describe them was townhouses, but that term has been bastardized by modern real estate to describe new-construction rowhomes. Thus there's really no good word in the U.S. lexicon to describe historic houses with a setback of 0-5 feet from the sidewalk, and only a modest gap of a few feet between them and the houses next door. Plenty of cities besides Charleston are stocked with such homes (Cincinnati and Saint Louis most famously).
For that matter, much of the Fan District in Richmond isn't truly rowhouses, but free-standing or semi-attached housing. It's just that the gaps between the houses are often only a few feet wide. Still feels like rows from the street level though.
As for New Orleans, most of the French Quarter's housing stock is either attached, or very frequently only separated from the house next door by a 2-foot breezeway. Admittedly in french colonial architecture it's common to have multiple front exits to a house, meaning some of the homes which look like they are semi-attached are probably not (or at least weren't designed to be.
Yeah. In regards to Richmond, a large portion of them in the Fan are detached but then you'll have some on Park Ave or Grove that are true rowhomes. Most of Church Hill's rowhomes are legit though. Savannah actually has the more distinct rowhomes over RVA though.
To answer the question, RVA is far more urban than Raleigh.
In the "Is Richmond or Raleigh more southern" thread there were a lot of NC ppl claiming Raleigh was more urban than RVA so I thought I'd ask, I think Raleigh is a nice city but its very suburban in character. 80s-kid do you really believe Savannah has more distinct rowhouses than Richmond even though my opinion in this case is flawed because i'v only been through Savannah once.
In the "Is Richmond or Raleigh more southern" thread there were a lot of NC ppl claiming Raleigh was more urban than RVA so I thought I'd ask, I think Raleigh is a nice city but its very suburban in character. 80s-kid do you really believe Savannah has more distinct rowhouses than Richmond even though my opinion in this case is flawed because i'v only been through Savannah once.
I sure do, I use to live in RVA. The rowhomes in RVA look like the ones in DC to be honest (or have strong similarities to DC's style. Like how Albany and JC's rowhomes look like parts of BK and QU). Savannah on the other hand has many rowhomes that aren't like NY, Philly, Boston, BMore, DC, Alexandria, RVA, STL, Cincy, Chicago, or SF, etc....nowhere but Savannah, GA. Just walk around the Historic and Victorian districts.
Charleston doesn't have many true rowhouses, but it has a large number of "detached rowhouses." The old fashioned way to describe them was townhouses, but that term has been bastardized by modern real estate to describe new-construction rowhomes. Thus there's really no good word in the U.S. lexicon to describe historic houses with a setback of 0-5 feet from the sidewalk, and only a modest gap of a few feet between them and the houses next door. Plenty of cities besides Charleston are stocked with such homes (Cincinnati and Saint Louis most famously).
You're describing the Charleston single house; they were built with the narrow side facing the street (had something to do with breezes and airing the house out) and were built fairly close to each other but they aren't considered true rowhouses as you stated. Still, it greatly contributes to the peninsula's density.
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