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View Poll Results: How do you feel about this NEW Houston INFILL much closer and dense?
Love the way Houston is getting more dense and the clos-knit nature like Northern cities? 22 61.11%
Some i like but rather see more new single homes on larger lots Houston had originally? 2 5.56%
Would like some that are varied in design with more front lawns. 3 8.33%
Don't really like a lot of it intruding on original residents and the bigger complexes and close skinny homes over Ranch-Styles. 9 25.00%
Voters: 36. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 11-17-2016, 01:55 PM
 
153 posts, read 164,044 times
Reputation: 102

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Seems in its neighborhoods. Houston is getting some nice infill examples increasing density By much more close-knit housing and even varieties of older Chicago built form to me. Some add the southern multi-level porches old plantation look to new singles/duplexes of more.

Found some I saw on streetview360's.
Give your opinion of these newer close-knit more urban forms and looks?

Highlighting some as kind of Older Chicago built forms and closer in lot sizes even. Apartment complexes or Condo's seem mixing in nicely too.

Also do you believe this is transforming Houston inner neighborhoods into a density and look that will get it less calling it ugly to wasteful Sprawl for a American city to more housing aspects of older Northern especially upper Midwest major cities?

Making the thread a POLL. Merely if you believe this is good for Houston and reviving inner neighborhood with density it is accused it lacks? Of you think Houston needs no closer-knit housing even if singles on narrow lots to replace older ranch styles? To adding sidewalks in fronts that were not there?

Some streetview360 examples.

HOUSTON - infill little one in middle looks like they took a Old 1900 Chicago Cottage-home and placed it on top a garage.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8006...7i13312!8i6656

Old Chicago cottage-homes I refer too.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9549...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - infill simple similar to old wood-framed Northern homes. Needs curbing and more landscaping.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7993...7i13312!8i6656

Old Chicago actual homes there in look here to above.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9259...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - infill not sure I like this plainer look? But a urban old Chicago closeness I see here and in height. Minus a garage 1st level.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8057...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - definitely a more Northern look even eastern peaks features. Aspects of Boston's Triple-Decker's to me.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8110...7i13312!8i6656

Old Boston Triple-Decker's
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3145...7i13312!8i6656

Old Boston peaked Boston Triple-Decker's.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3146...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - NEW BLOCK of VERY CLOSE-KNIT NICE WOOD-FRAME INFILL.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7833...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - some more like Town-houses nearly attached to in part.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7997...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - BLOCK INTERCECTION Of variety of NEW infill. Ones I street ahead HAVE A SOUTHERN multilevel porches.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7994...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON- the SOUTHERN LOOK FEATURES CLOSER.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7997...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - Multi-residential complex with court-yard between buildings.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8057...7i13312!8i6656

Old Chicago court-yard apartment complex.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9454...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - Definitely adding density an all with garages keeping a car-eccentric city but a bit too much SAMENESS to me.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8088...7i13312!8i6656

HOUSTON - Interesting here. Bit of decorative features and as common seems a ground-level garage on narrow lots.
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8077...7i13312!8i6656


**OK JUST THROWING these examples of CHICAGO INFILL KEEPING STANDARD CITY LOTS. But a couple examples of GARAGE GROUND LEVEL. NOT common there because alleys in back can have garages or off-street parking instead. One OLD original home left in the MIDDLE.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9162...7i13312!8i6656

CHICAGO - Another Infill with ground-level garages. Original VERY OLD home on left.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9163...7i13312!8i6656

CHICAGO - West close to Downtown Chicago. One of the OLDEST NEIGHBORHOODS of the city dating BEFORE the city raised existing streets early 1900s. Why less frontage and sunken-in look as lower-level was originally street-level. TWO LOVELY OLD BRICK HOMES ON LEFT others New infill alleys in back.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9046...7i13312!8i6656

CHICAGO -Another OLD ORIGINAL BOTH SIDES of NEW Contemporary Infill styles.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9053...7i13312!8i6656

CHICAGO -MORE Old and new Infill mixing.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9084...7i13312!8i6656

CHICAGO - Wrigleyville 4+story Infill.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9465...7i13312!8i6656

CHICAGO -Some lovely OLD Chicago WOOD-FRAME LOVELYS.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9259...7i13312!8i6656


**WENT A BIT OVERBOARD. BUT HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS NEW HOUSTON IN-CITY INFILL?REPLACING OLDER RANCH MORE SPRAWLING HOMES ? IS IT WHAT HOUSTON NEEDS TO ESCAPE SOME CALLING HOUSTON UGLY AND ALL SPRAWL?
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Old 11-17-2016, 02:45 PM
 
1,822 posts, read 2,001,310 times
Reputation: 2113
Utterly confusing thread. Not sure that even Spock or Einstein could decode this. Comparing Houston and Chicago is silly. Houston has no intention of modifying itself to be like a northern city. It's subjective to say Houston is ugly, and many here might actually consider northern cities to be "ugly". People who don't like Houston should stay far away.

Last edited by Sunderpig2; 11-17-2016 at 03:02 PM..
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Old 11-17-2016, 03:05 PM
 
Location: Washington D.C. By way of Texas
20,515 posts, read 33,531,365 times
Reputation: 12152
There's still more work to be done for Houston to be more walkable. I personally do not like how you still have the driveway in front of the house and you can park the car ON the sidewalks. Defeats the purpose IMO. Houston definitely shouldn't strive to look Northern though. It's increased density and urbanity should be unique onto itself. Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, Boston all look different but all are very dense and urban.
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Old 11-17-2016, 03:11 PM
 
153 posts, read 164,044 times
Reputation: 102
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunderpig2 View Post
Utterly confusing thread. Not sure that even Spock or Einstein could decode this. Comparing Houston and Chicago is silly. Houston has no intention of modifying itself to be like a northern city. It's subjective to say Houston is ugly, and many here might actually consider northern cities to be "ugly". People who don't like Houston can and should stay far away. We don't need outsiders trying to change us.
Avoid threads confusing to even pigs. Not a city vs city thread AT ALL. It merely sees HOUSTON'S INFILL Is making older near core neighborhoods and others MORE as Northern cities density? CHICAGO AND BOSTON USED MERELY IN SOME SIMILARITY in SOME OLDER NEIGHBORHHOOD HOUSING and STYLES. Not really just New, but the Older Northern city's density and CLOSENESS OF HOUSING.

If even looking at streeviews of your city in NEW INFILL is even confusing and answer POLL QUESTIONS if you LIKE THESE NEW STYLES AND INCREASE IN DENSITY. Surely skip the thread. As COMMONLY COMPLAINED ABOUT. Northern Denser cities have been KNOWN TO DOWNPLAY HOUSTON ON SPRAWL AND LACKING DENSITY AND SOMEWHAT UNFINISHED LOOKING STREETS, LESS CURBING AND DITCHES FOR RUN-OFF UNFLATTERING.


But new infill is changing that.
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Old 11-17-2016, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Memorial Villages
1,513 posts, read 1,791,916 times
Reputation: 1697
I too find this thread pretty confusing - but I will opine that I'm not wild about the infill development type that has been prevalent around Rice Military, Washington Corridor, and parts of the Heights for the past decade or so - ie tear down cottages and cram as many detached 3-4 story townhomes as you can on the lot. You end up with decently nice interiors (for staircase enthusiasts, at least), but ugly and disjointed streetscapes. Nothing pleasant or scenic about walking past wall-to-wall two-car garages and huge driveways (which eat up not only the lawns, but also the on-street public parking).

Last edited by gwarnecke; 11-17-2016 at 04:12 PM..
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Old 11-17-2016, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Houston, Tx
189 posts, read 224,406 times
Reputation: 203
Don't like urban. I'm all for wide open spaces like before. I don't like Houston emulating northern cities.
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Old 11-17-2016, 04:37 PM
 
4,875 posts, read 10,070,126 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HouTxn View Post
Don't like urban. I'm all for wide open spaces like before. I don't like Houston emulating northern cities.
The inner core of Houston should be urban but there will still be plenty of areas that are not. Heck the West U area is still very "wide open"

I want to see infill in North Forest and Hiram Clarke: Make them like Aubervilliers or Saint-Denis in France
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Old 11-17-2016, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Washington D.C. By way of Texas
20,515 posts, read 33,531,365 times
Reputation: 12152
Quote:
Originally Posted by HouTxn View Post
Don't like urban. I'm all for wide open spaces like before. I don't like Houston emulating northern cities.
You have the country for that. But most large metropolis around the world are dense and Houston in the future will no exception. If you don't want density, I think staying outside 610 would be best. I picked the first option but nothing in relation to emulate northern cities.
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Old 11-17-2016, 05:22 PM
 
Location: Washington D.C. By way of Texas
20,515 posts, read 33,531,365 times
Reputation: 12152
Quote:
Originally Posted by gwarnecke View Post
I too find this thread pretty confusing - but I will opine that I'm not wild about the infill development type that has been prevalent around Rice Military, Washington Corridor, and parts of the Heights for the past decade or so - ie tear down cottages and cram as many detached 3-4 story townhomes as you can on the lot. You end up with decently nice interiors (for staircase enthusiasts, at least), but ugly and disjointed streetscapes. Nothing pleasant or scenic about walking past wall-to-wall two-car garages and huge driveways (which eat up not only the lawns, but also the on-street public parking).
I agree 100%. It's like they want to be urban but keep the suburban mindset with those driveways with the garages in the front. The density is nice but it's half doing it when you talk about urban.
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Old 11-17-2016, 05:46 PM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,694 posts, read 87,077,794 times
Reputation: 131668
Houston is famous among urban planners as the only major U.S. city without conventional zoning, which typically dictates what types of land uses can go where. The market decides what to build. Most cities wouldn't even have considered allowing someone to build high-rise condos in a residential, single-family neighborhood. And regardless of individual Houstonians' views on zoning, that part of the system is probably not changing. Four attempts at altering it have all failed.

However, even the country's most sprawling, least dense, most automobile-dependent city in America is trying to adapt to people's preference for urban living. There is a new approach to planning Houston's future, an approach that values urban compactness and density as a viable alternative to the near-ubiquitous reality of car-dependent suburban sprawl. But it's always been cheaper for developers to build horizontally than vertically (one of the reasons we don't have a massive number of high-rises) - it's all about land availability and cost, and it costs a whole lot more to go up than out. So, offering more amenities within the city isn't just a real estate issue - it's an economic one, and the opportunity for good housing at a cheap price is part of why Houston is thriving.

Houston's previous attempts at density didn't went really well. Just look at the Washington Ave corridor west of downtown, where lots that once had one home now have three, and the area is prone to congestion and flooding. Too many real-estate developments do not detain storm water run-off from their new construction, and instead allow it to flow downstream into other neighborhoods.
Or the Ashby Highrise middle of an upscale neighborhood full of single-family homes. Neighbors are resisting additional density, only to find that there’s no way to stop it. I don't know how it's going to turn out.

https://nextcity.org/features/view/h...gentrification

Last edited by elnina; 11-17-2016 at 06:11 PM..
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