Ideal Gulf Coast Vernacular

[woolie]

I've been going to UTMB every other week for a while now to work with a collaborator. Typically we'll walk through the neighborhood to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

I'm trying to imagine if Houston had 2 million units of stuff like this instead of the soulless sprawl.

Are row houses with yards in the back just not family friendly enough? Is it the lack of SUV parking? Please enlighten me.

Edited April 2, 2008 by woolie

[MidtownCoog]

Four million cars blocking non-existant sidewalks?

I'll pass.

[woolie]

Four million cars blocking non-existant sidewalks?

I'll pass.

Ideally I'd put parking in alleyways in the back, or onstreet.

[marmer]

Too small, not enough bathrooms or closets, not great security for the automobile. Still, lovely when nicely restored.

[Subdude]

They are nice, but I'm afraid the days of vernacular architecture are past.

If Houston had 2 million of these we would be famous for our architecture!

[TheNiche]

Ideally I'd put parking in alleyways in the back, or onstreet.

That's been tried in several communities. When I've done site visits, I always notice that the alleys are aesthetic dead zones of concrete and hardi-plank, with little or no landscaping, yet more human activity than that front yards or common areas.

These are done by Parkside Homes, if I'm not mistaken, which is a subsidiary of K. Hovnanian.

[woolie]

That's been tried in several communities. When I've done site visits, I always notice that the alleys are aesthetic dead zones of concrete and hardi-plank, with little or no landscaping, yet more human activity than that front yards or common areas.

That's what I'd expect, frankly. As are most suburban backyards even without alleyways.

[TheNiche]

That's what I'd expect, frankly. As are most suburban backyards even without alleyways.

Yeah, for the same kinds of price points as these communities, you don't get much more than sod in a back yard of a normal home...but you do get sod and a wood fence, and that's something.

[musicman]

Ideally I'd put parking in alleyways in the back, or onstreet.

with the width of the lots in the first pic, the homeowners could only have one car. not sure how attractive that would be to a family.

[woolie]

with the width of the lots in the first pic, the homeowners could only have one car. not sure how attractive that would be to a family.

There's room for a two cars in the lot-parallel orientation or a single car parked street-parallel on the alley.

[musicman]

There's room for a two cars in the lot-parallel orientation or a single car parked street-parallel on the alley.

i can see that if there weren't stairs coming down. looks like the corolla can't pull up farther so it would have to be parked in a way to block the invisible sidewalk. the placement of the no parking sign in that pic is interesting. i wonder what that is about.

[woolie]

Probably due to residents complaining about UTMB people parking on street. It's the same in neighborhoods bordering TMC.