rowhouses

[cataldo]

I dont want anyone to read the title of this topic and get excited because i havent really heard anything about rowhouses being built in providence but i do want hear your thoughts on what impact they would have

rowhouses are present in many cities in the northeast but arent present on the providence landscape. it would be a good way to get the middle class out of the failing wasteful suburbs and back into the city

[runawayjim]

there are a few examples of rowhouses in providence (some on benefit street and the nearby streets, and i think there's some in silver lake, and there's some newer ones along westminster i believe). i'm not sure they'd bring the wealthy back from the suburbs and into the city. there are many reasons people choose suburbs, one of them is to have more space. a rowhouse will certainly not give them that.

i do think rowhouses would be good in some neighborhoods to help increase density, and they are a nice alternative to condo highrises. however, most rowhouses don't offer any sort of parking, meaning we'd need to overturn the overnight parking ban for them to really work well.

[jencoleslaw]

I think a component of the westfield lofts project is row houses, and i think that CPC saw a SWAP project of Row Houses. I seem to remember fire safety being an issue with row houses.

[bod]

there are a few examples of rowhouses in providence (some on benefit street and the nearby streets, and i think there's some in silver lake, and there's some newer ones along westminster i believe). i'm not sure they'd bring the wealthy back from the suburbs and into the city. there are many reasons people choose suburbs, one of them is to have more space. a rowhouse will certainly not give them that.

i do think rowhouses would be good in some neighborhoods to help increase density, and they are a nice alternative to condo highrises. however, most rowhouses don't offer any sort of parking, meaning we'd need to overturn the overnight parking ban for them to really work well.

[mr2448]

there are a few examples of rowhouses in providence (some on benefit street and the nearby streets, and i think there's some in silver lake, and there's some newer ones along westminster i believe). i'm not sure they'd bring the wealthy back from the suburbs and into the city. there are many reasons people choose suburbs, one of them is to have more space. a rowhouse will certainly not give them that.

i do think rowhouses would be good in some neighborhoods to help increase density, and they are a nice alternative to condo highrises. however, most rowhouses don't offer any sort of parking, meaning we'd need to overturn the overnight parking ban for them to really work well.

[citygirl]

I dont want anyone to read the title of this topic and get excited because i havent really heard anything about rowhouses being built in providence but i do want hear your thoughts on what impact they would have

rowhouses are present in many cities in the northeast but arent present on the providence landscape. it would be a good way to get the middle class out of the failing wasteful suburbs and back into the city

[Griswald]

I imagine that there aren't as many rowhouses in Providence as in Boston or New York, because of the way the city grew - there was more space in Providence, so people could build single families in colonial times, and then the big Victorians after that... just a guess. It's also probably a style issue - Providence has a different style built environment from other cities, and historic buildings tend to be clapboard and detached rather than brick rowhouses.

But I do agree that more of them could attract the people who want to live in Providence but can't afford a single family, don't want a one-level condo, or don't want to be landlords. That's why I ended up where I am - there aren't many townhouses in the city, something within walking distance of neighborhood amenities, multi-level, affordable (low 200Ks), etc. The only such places I know of are Willow Street Commons; the new townhouses on Westminster across from Louie Fuller; Victoria Row on Westminster; then there are some smaller complexes dispersed throughout the north end and east side, some new construction. I think more developers are realizing that people would rather live in a townhouse/duplex style house than live in a converted 3-family. I should mention that "townhouse" is not synonymous with "rowhouse," I think rowhouse generally has a connotation of being less expensive.

[cataldo]

and all of those 3-deckers and single familiy homes built over the years are in a state of deterioration with age and bad land lords. perhaps starting from the beginning and moving outward through the sprawl replacing them with new kinds of housing would be really good for maintaining the city and its population instead of letting rot and decay take over

[Jerry2]

Rowhouses represent the majority of the housing stock in Philly. In many areas of the city, one can purchase a 3 br home for under 150K in a decent or up and coming area.(not downtown) While very affordable, there are drawbacks of living so close to so many others in terms of property upkeep and compatibility. Some rowhouse blocks start up associations to cover the maintenance.

[Dan]

I traveled through Allentown, PA on the way to Charlotte back in January and that city is almost entirely made up of these rowhouses. Most of them were in impressive shape. But we went to Harrisburg on the way back and the rowhouses there were falling apart, and the lots were littered with junk appliances and trash everywhere.

So this could go either way. To be fair, Allentown may have sustained the character of its place a little better over time. In the city center, Allentown had an awesome collection of urban downtown buildings and Harrisburg had... parking garages for the two or three modern office / college complexes there (which probably sit where the historic downtown was until 1968 when they paved over it).

In Providence this would be a great idea for Harris Ave near Monet or Westminster St to fill in some of that surface parking frontage and give it some flow. But honestly, who wants to finance housing construction right now in this RE market anyway?!

[atheorist]

Rowhouses are cheaper to heat.

[runawayjim]

Rowhouses are cheaper to heat.

[DaveRPI]

there are only a handful of examples of rowhouses in this state

some architecture books of RI make note of this

for those of you unconditional history lovers in here - you should speak out against this b/c they have no historical architectural context in the city/state in the modern era

[atheorist]

New England cities are dominated by wood frame houses. Attached housing requires masonry, at least for party walls. Even in Boston, neighborhoods built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries feature wooden triple deckers, just far enough apart for firefighters to usually confine fires to one building.

My guess is that in the era when the White Mountains were being stripped of awesome old growth trees, lumber was irresistably cheap.

[JimmyGreaves]

Here's a cool looking row house project in Muskegeon, Michigan. It would be nice to see similar projects here, built out to the R1/R2/R3 zoning (45 Feet in Height). Link to UP Michigan provided.

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/Heritage...ome-t33261.html

[Cotuit]

Here's a cool looking row house project in Muskegeon, Michigan. It would be nice to see similar projects here, built out to the R1/R2/R3 zoning (45 Feet in Height). Link to UP Michigan provided.

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/Heritage...ome-t33261.html

[cataldo]

they look really nice. but maybe they could have more variety of styles as you go through them because it almost looks like something out of the flintstones when the same building keeps going by. but other than that they would be a welcome addition to providence

[runawayjim]

they look really nice. but maybe they could have more variety of styles as you go through them because it almost looks like something out of the flintstones when the same building keeps going by. but other than that they would be a welcome addition to providence