Quote:
Originally Posted by prelude91
But what is the alternative? An empty lot? I agree the house sucks, but that is probably the best we can expect for a neighborhood like Bronzeville. Hell, neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, River North, Etc. cant figure out good design, and areas like Northcenter and Roscoe Village have full hardie board homes going for >$1.5, much of the southside doesn't stand a chance.
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i dont disagree with any of this. it had a been a while since i walked through some side streets in roscoe village, and i couldnt even tell if i was still in Chicago. i find it concerning whats happening to our built environment and housing stock in general.
as far as the alternative in respect to Bronzeville, personally id rather buy and rehab an older home to my own liking, than one of these slapdash McMansions (which lets be real, given the absurd square footage, build quality, and price thats essentially what they are. these arent any more sustinable in the city than they are in the suburbs and the double standard is sad). obviously something needs to fill these lots and incremental infill is the best way. hopefully we'll at least get some decent variety. i just wish what was being built had a bit more thought put into it. and to that point, while we have a population that can afford 500k homes, lots more cant, or dont want all this wasted space that just exists to be heated and cooled. i wish more developers were addressing this (and not just in the way of insulting "micro apartments", but in actual modest but livable and well constructed homes. the kinds we used to build but seem to have forgotten how). theres demand for this sort of thing and no one is addressing it.
someone mentioned prototype homes that could be stamped down, but thats basically how the bungalow belt was built. you still got some level of customization, and you could make them as fancy or as modest as your own situation dictated, but the basic framework was pre-determined. if some smart developer could come up with a way to do something similar with modern methods that catered to modern tastes and marketed the homes at prices attainable to younger buyers, id think theyd be quite successful.
we had these sorts of homes in the 50s
why is no one building stuff in this size range now? (i mean some clearly are, but not in significant numbers and definitely not in Chicago particularly. and in a way that modern design isnt simply used as a way to justify charging a premium vs traditional design despite no inherent added expense. to me modern means progress, and progress is using knowledge to address unmet needs. $500k, 3500 square foot "single family homes" is neither modern nor progressive)
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id be all over something like that if it was priced right and i think a lot of other people from my generation would be too. no one wants to be house poor and paying off a mortgage into their 60s. many others cant scrap together huge down payments. home buying is unneedlessly expensive and complicated in this country. you want to rebuild the south side? start thinking smarter and it has the potential to happen a lot sooner than you think. we have the advantage of space in this city, something other places dont. we should be taking full advantage of it.
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