Monday, September 21, 2009

More Local Housing Units
















I hope this isn't too boring for you but it is very interesting to me. Maybe this is due to having architects in my ancestry. But here are a few pictures of one of my favourite sets of units in the local neighbourhood. There are 6 units on a plot of land that is smaller than my lot on the Island. At least according the measurements on Google Earth, the lot is about 85' x 150' maybe 180' deep, but has been planned to house 6 units in style.
These units appear to have at least 2 bedrooms and a garage so there isn't any on street parking. Of course, the car ownership here in Oz is slightly less than in the US, although I think every adult pretty much has their own car. Commuting by mass transit is more popular than in the US too, I believe. But, at these units, I've never seen a car parked outside although it's not like I'm stalking this place.
Anyway, the reason I'm showing this because the City of Seattle at least, keeps harping about densification and unfortunately, seem to allow unimaginative units to be constructed that when looking at them, you can just see a slum developing in the near future. I'm not saying that there aren't great examples back home, it's just those well thought out developements are often far and few between as we try too hard to do everything on the cheap which in the end, we all pay for. Hopefully through thoughtful regulations and design, any new units that are similar to these will be constructed to be functional and enjoyable to view for all for a century.

No comments: