Ahoy!
Weekly 3-2-1 here from Brick + Mortar on real estate, development, and creating great places:
3 things from others
2 things from me
1 picture
If you want to give a š, why not share?
3 THING FROM OTHERS
I.
If you liked the Culdesac Tempe show-and-tell last week, youāll love Cully Grove in Portland, Oregon.
Self-proclaimed as a āsolar-powered garden community,ā Cully Grove offers amenities often tied to single-family living. In fact, it is a 16-unit condo development that incorporates community activities, a common house with guest rooms, bike storage, craft space, and even a pocket farm.
All on less than 2 acres. Thatās 8.7 du / acre for the zoning gurus out there.
Source: Cully Grove website
II.
The Montreal plex is making a resurgence. Once deemed āThe Poor Manās Coffin,ā the stock of two and three-story row houses now embodies the charm of the historic city and dominates the rental market. Far from the monotonous prefabs being built south of the border, perhaps we can all pull a little inspiration from Montrealās eclectic sense of design.
Source: The Plexes of Montreal Make Room for Change
PS - they should have just called this article Montrealās New Plex Flex. Much catchier.
III.
Gotta love a little municipal hypocrisy!
2 THING FROM ME
I.
Youāve got to admire zoning folk and their unflinching tenacity towards parking requirements.
If I had applied that level of determination in college, surely I wouldāve been able to graduate a few years early. Or at least on time. A good lesson for the kids out there.
Parking is almost like a religion. You just donāt debate it in public. Both sides are so dug in that you quickly relapse into throwing F bombs across the aisle in a last-ditch effort to win the argument. But, in the end, everyone loses. Except Big Auto, that is.
In an almost ironic twist, some progressive cities have started pushing the needle forward by removing (or at least reducing) parking minimums. And, boy, if the Liberals are pushing for less-restrictive government oversight, there must be a good reason.
Did someone say theyāre letting the market dictate the number of parking spaces? Now thatās a new one.
But, by god, if the collective goal is to get to better, walkable cities and towns, itās about damn time.
Parking requirements artificially perpetuate our reliance on cars. Itās time to move on.
II.
Should form follow function? Or should function follow form?
It really just depends on what youāre trying to justify. The former if itās 1896 and youāre Louis Sullivan trying to sell the world on its first skyscraper. And the latter if itās 2021 and youāre me trying to sell my town on why housing density shouldnāt matter.
OK. Wait. Let meā¦ justā¦ jump up here on my soap box for a second.
We do all know why zoning exists, right? Aside from being used as a tool to enforce systemic racism (check out exclusionary zoning if you donāt already know), itās also supposed to preserve the character of a municipalityās built environment.
It just so happens that this is largely done today by segmenting cities and towns into different zones where some uses are permitted and others arenāt. Or by capping the dwelling units per acre, floor-area ratios, and other arbitrary restrictions (like parking minimums!).
But thatās just itāthese are all arbitrary means to an end. Whoās to say thereās not a better approach to do preserve character? And in a more equitable manner that benefits everyone.
Instead, what if we just regulated form and let function follow naturally and uninhibited? Mandate setbacks and faƧade design (e.g. % window coverage, entryway, balconies, etc.), not whether someone wants to put four units or a cottage court in an R-1 zoned for single-family. Hell, let āem throw in a corner store! As long as the form fits into the context of the buildingās surroundings, who cares?
That is, unless, zoning is still being used for those.. ahem.. ulterior motives.
1 PICTURE
I.
Describing the view in Braille so everyone can see.
š Naples, Italy
Thatās it for today. Thanks for reading. If you havenāt yet, go ahead and subscribe here:
About me:Ā Iām Jonah Richard, ex-Accenture Consulting and Columbia Engineering alum. Iām currently building Village Ventures, a real estate development and investment company focused on creating great places.
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