Posted on 12/31/2006 3:10:03 PM PST by Lorianne
Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver are creating strategies to encourage the development of modest, more affordable houses ___ In these three Pacific Northwest cities, the progressive power of urban planning is taken very seriously, and concepts like livability and sustainability dominate the local civic culture to such an extent that to visit all three in rapid succession, as I did in October, is to drop in on another country. It’s not the United States or Canada, but a more highly evolved combination of the two.
In each city I was impressed by major developments, dramatic projects that promised to refresh the urban landscape in conspicuous ways.
It was in Seattle, however, where I saw the best small house. Dave Sarti, who co-taught a design-build studio at the University of Washington last year, had constructed an 800-square-foot house with a 160-square-foot double-height attached workshop. It’s a sweet fire-engine-red box planted in the backyard of a Central District home. I walked down the grassy driveway past an unremarkable blue traditional home and was surprised to see this Bauhaus cube where another yard might have a swing set.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
"And wait until these urban planners see their little villages of ticky-tack going to seed in a few years. It will look like the government planned housing developments of the late 40's."
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You're a riot. Those government planned houses (saltbox capes) in the late 40's (in Milford CT) are now selling for
$275,000 + and are scooped up as starter homes as fast as they go on the market. The person who starts building these again on 1/4 acre lots in CT will be extremely wealthy within 2 years...even in a soft real estate market.
Our old house worked extremely well, because it had no halls. It had a central staircase with one landing halfway up, which divided the house into public and private space. On the public side, the great room with a breakfast room and a kitchen separated by a half-wall, and a greenhouse room down half a flight. On the other side, the bedroom, the bath, and a buncha closet space. Downstairs, the basement with a garage and room for expansion. Eventually we added on a room for our first child on the opposite side of the half landing. That worked fine -- but the children kept coming and we had to sell!
"The PAC NW is MAJOR volcanic hazard / earthquake country.
The less building there of all kinds, the better."
Better to build in Florida or the Eastern Seaboard? Opps, hurricanes.
California? More earthquakes, wildfires.
Perhaps The midwest or south? Tornados.
How about the mountain west? Not enough water.
New York or New England? Liberals.
That leaves North Dakota. Why is it loosing population?
My master bath now has room for 2, and it's so much nicer.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I like small houses but there is always the problem of 'where do you put your stuff'? Don't say 'just have LESS stuff', girls NEED stuff, lots of stuff. So the solution is, have a small house but have HUGE closets! See how simple that was? ;9)
That's exactly the problem. The planners who want to engage in social engineering run up against property owners who believe it's government's primary job to protect their property VALUE, and they come to a consensus to zone out the poor. After all, only low income people would want a small house...
A house is not the same as an apartment or townhouse. If you'd rather listen to your choice of music than your neighbor's, and don't care for an upstairs neighbor's heavy footed lifestyle (just to mention 2 obvious things), a small house is much preferable to a condo or townhouse.
If I can only afford 800 sq. ft., I'd much prefer it to be in a small house than in an apartment or town house.
"I don't think the anyone is proposing mandating small houses."
...have to quit cutting the pills in half...have to quit cutting the pills in half
Have you ever spent a winter there? :)
It's amazing how condescending the 'urban planning' people can be. If they want to live in tiny houses within spitting distance of their neighbors, and feel morally superior about it, that's fine for them. I prefer to have at least 40' between my house and my neighbors, and room inside the house to move around.
" Have you ever spent a winter there? :)"
I should have put a sarcasm tag on my post. Half my neighbors here on the Oregon Coast are from North Dakota. None plan to move back, but some of the old ones go to Arizona for the winter.
Considering the number of NDers here, it's a wonder any are left in ND.
We moved into our brand new home the day after Thanksgiving. We live in rural Northern Nevada on 1.5 acres in a 1740 square foot home. What a blessing it is to live in a home with a foundation, after living for several years in our 36 ft. 5th wheel. The Lord is so good! We raised our four children in a three bedroom, 1400 ft. home on the central coast of California. My husband plans to build a large shop and build his own airplane.
I knew you were kidding. That's why I "smiled." LOL
I'm a former South Dakotan myself, but I must not have a lick of sense because I moved to Minnesota. At least there are lots of lakes and rolling hills.
I haven't been to Oregon in years, but as I recall it's a beautiful place, especially the coast. Happy New Year to you!
When I'm in a trailer, the swaying always bothers me a little!
We're definitely going to go the small house/large shop route! Just be sure to build the door wide enough to get the airplane out! (My parents built a boat and had to take the basement doors off the hinges to get it out - with 3/4" to spare!)
Thank you, Mplsconservative.
"I must not have a lick of sense because I moved to Minnesota. At least there are lots of lakes and rolling hills."
Of course you have a lick of sense.
Minnesota has lots of lutefisk.
Well, except those in Travis County (Austin, TX). Most everywhere else in Texas would frown on liberals fairly to very strongly.
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