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Old 02-08-2018, 12:47 AM
 
Location: South Padre Island, TX
2,452 posts, read 2,277,392 times
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These?


https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/ash...elopers-sprawl
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Old 02-08-2018, 12:57 AM
 
Location: South Padre Island, TX
2,452 posts, read 2,277,392 times
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The answer, by the way, can be chalked up to the classic case of an old-timer hating everything that is new. Your attitudes towards The Core was a dead giveaway.

The new infill aesthetic is okay, the real issues are more from the car-centric standards that they are forced to conform to thanks to worthless city codes. For instance, there are set-back requirements, which force these homes to be built back from the sidewalk, producing those wide garage driveway designs that kill urban street presence. Parking mandates force infill to provide parking (either surface lots or parking garage wraps), which waste valuable redevelopment space. Not to mention that many of them are springing up in areas that used to be poor shot-gun shack communities, which can cause scales to be off initially.
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Old 02-08-2018, 07:16 AM
 
Location: Clear Lake, Houston TX
8,376 posts, read 30,582,212 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopelesscause View Post
Not too sure about that. Millennials would rather die than live in the suburbs...
Right...
Millennials Are Driving the Suburban Resurgence
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Old 02-08-2018, 07:57 AM
 
18,043 posts, read 25,080,159 times
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what the hell is a "hip condo"?
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Old 02-08-2018, 08:17 AM
 
569 posts, read 1,071,536 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HTownNearNative View Post
It’s disposable housing. Tear down once it’s 15 years old or less.
To add to my point, Houston is a city constantly in re-build mode, with no zoning,“owned” by developers. Some developers may develop “boxes” that will not have much appeal long-term “ugly” as the OP called it. They are ugly since after all, we are Houston and homes aren’t built of good quality and are built to be torn down and re-developed or become slums. In the best locations, it will most likely be torn down and re-developed. I think the life span of those new “ugly” condos is low (10-15 years). It would not be a surprise if the eyesores go away one day.
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Old 02-08-2018, 08:33 AM
 
Location: South Padre Island, TX
2,452 posts, read 2,277,392 times
Reputation: 1386
Quote:
Originally Posted by HTownNearNative View Post
To add to my point, Houston is a city constantly in re-build mode, with no zoning,“owned” by developers. Some developers may develop “boxes” that will not have much appeal long-term “ugly” as the OP called it. They are ugly since after all, we are Houston and homes aren’t built of good quality and are built to be torn down and re-developed or become slums. In the best locations, it will most likely be torn down and re-developed. I think the life span of those new “ugly” condos is low (10-15 years). It would not be a surprise if the eyesores go away one day.
Another common talking point with no basis.
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Old 02-08-2018, 08:47 AM
 
Location: Memorial Villages
1,503 posts, read 1,760,132 times
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I wouldn't count on redevelopment of these infill houses being easy, or common, despite the often-shoddy construction quality. When you own one of six units that have been crammed into a 10k sq foot lot, how and why would you rebuild? Tearing down/rebuilding isn't easy when your neighbors are 2 feet away, and even if you pull it off, you end up with your one nice unit hemmed in on all sides by dated ones.

I predict that you'll only see redevelopment of these units when a whole cluster of them gets run-down enough that a big investor can convince all the owners to sell out, so that the whole lot can be razed.

Have any of these infill houses been knocked down yet in Houston? The oldest examples of these that I've seen were built in the mid-80s in the Rice Military area (for example - there are three of them at the corner of Schuler and Rodrigo St). If they're really built with a two-decade lifespan in mind, some of them should be gone by now.

On the other hand, I've seen some units that needed complete stucco redo jobs after <5 years.
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Old 02-08-2018, 08:52 AM
 
Location: 78745
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Those condos/apartments/townhomes/etc don't look near as "ugly" as what some of the posters make them out to be.

I've seen plenty of less attractive dwellings than these that were given as examples as "ugly".
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Old 02-08-2018, 09:49 AM
 
1,483 posts, read 1,710,513 times
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I like some of them, and some of them I don't. I think it depends on the area, really. If you have a sidewalk in front of the condo and a little front porch area, and you can walk to some "hip" stuff then I can totally see it. These condos take up less space and they give more opportunity to own inside the loop for folks who otherwise could not afford it.

Where I don't like these structures is outside the loop in places like Spring Branch, where I live. Here, there is little walkability, and yet you're stuck with the downsides of the condo all the same. In a suburban space, these condos look strange and I do wonder a little bit about their long term viability.

I also don't like the rhetoric of many of the condos--they seem to be very shut off from the experience of the front porch and any kind of social interaction with the world around them. They're like tiny fortresses that tell people walking by, "get away". That's what's the most ugly to me about them.
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Old 02-08-2018, 10:04 AM
 
190 posts, read 208,788 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gwarnecke View Post
Have any of these infill houses been knocked down yet in Houston? The oldest examples of these that I've seen were built in the mid-80s in the Rice Military area (for example - there are three of them at the corner of Schuler and Rodrigo St). If they're really built with a two-decade lifespan in mind, some of them should be gone by now.

4909 Graustark Street, Houston, TX 77006 - HAR.com


1975, and arguably much shoddier than the townhouses built today. Still worth more than the typical house in the suburbs.
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