Growing Pains

Cash Michaels has put together a PSA on the coming event for diversity in our schools.

HERE



And Steve Ford of the N&O explains how the clash of the cultures began.

HERE



Mayor Meeker certainly stepped in it when he recently tried to describe the problem facing older neighborhoods in Raleigh when it comes to the effect of this new school board's education policy. Quoting Steve Ford's article:

Don't be shocked, but Southern resentment of Yankees once was focused on the Northerners' determination to stamp out the Confederate rebellion and the practice of slavery, on which the ruling class of Southern whites believed their way of life depended.

Now we see a Southern mayor - albeit a District of Columbia native educated at Yale and Columbia - articulating that familiar cultural tension, but from the standpoint of someone convinced that the perspective of long-time Southerners (of whatever race) is more closely aligned with black residents' interests.

There is of course a disconnect in Wake between 1) the old-timers who went through desegregation of the schools, merger of the former city and county school systems and the crafting of diversity policies, and 2) the many newer arrivals, often settling in the rapidly growing suburbs, who put prime importance on stability in school assignments and on having their kids attend school with kids from the same kind of background.

No matter how it is pointed out, it is an important point. So hooray for the Mayor with goo on his shoes. Let's make sure all this sudden growth in Raleigh leaves no family behind.

How to Save a House and Create a Home

The current Independent Weekly has a cover story on Builders of Hope. Bob Geary begins the story this way, embedding the beginning of the real story here.

It wasn't only the spike in Raleigh teardowns, though the sight of perfectly habitable homes being reduced to rubble helped Nancy Murray settle on a strategy. She already was on a mission to learn all she could about affordable housing and how to build it. Call it audacity, call it a ministry, but Murray—an advertising executive turned builder and social activist—thought she could supply top-drawer, affordable houses in good neighborhoods to working-class families.

Then it clicked: Murray would save the homes imperiled by teardowns and have them moved to a new location. She would upgrade them using the best green techniques while preserving as much of their old wooden bones as possible, then sell the houses at prices high enough to recapture the costs but below their new appraised values.

Such was the genesis—the biblical as well as temporal meaning—of the nonprofit organization Murray created in 2006, Builders of Hope.

This most amazing story of hope becoming reality can be read here. The chance for hope to recycle itself into the future is the best development of all.

An Over the Top Award to Builders of Hope for this Positive Development.

The world is a stage ....

KAI RYSSDAL: There was a tiny glimmer of hope for the housing industry this morning. According to the Commerce Department, construction spending didn't fall as much last month as experts had been guessing. But it's still plenty hard to sell the houses that are being built right now. That's especially true in places like Nevada and California, where suburbs that were overbuilt and overpriced look like ghost towns now.

Developers are more desperate than ever to clear those foreclosed or unsold homes off their books. So they're stealing a page from the realtor's playbook. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman tells us some builders are trying to stage the next real-estate turnaround.

HERE

What Happens in Texas

... let's hope it stays in Texas.

The nightmare is reported here.

On the Town

This is the latest story produced by WUNC-FM on Raleigh's growth. Raleigh's position at the top of the fastest-growth ranking is a surprise to some, and not a surprise to others.

"Well, we have a lot of green here in terms of the trees, the parks and greenways, a school system that is generally in good shape, traffic is not too bad at the moment…. just all kinds of positive things that we have here that other cities don’t have the combination of."

-Mayor Meeker

The Comp Plan is certainly a significant effort at trying to manage our growth so that this which is so positive remains a part of our fair city. Fallonia believes getting a plan onboard could not come soon enough. Ask any of the older neighborhoods how spot growth is going.

Story can be heard here.

Download

The Comp Plan can be studied here.

The Incredible Journey

The NEW YORK TIMES
To Save a Venturi House, It Is Moved
By TAMMY LA GORCE and A. G. SULZBERGER (NYT)
The owner of the Lieb House, a beach cottage designed by the architect Robert Venturi, had wanted to tear it down. Instead, it was rescued by relocating it. Here.

The spectacle attracted a throng of about 150 onlookers to the third floor of Pier 17 at South Street Seaport, including Mr. Venturi, the 83-year-old Pritzker Prize-winning architect who built the house in 1969 for Nathaniel and Judy Lieb. The Liebs had it built near the northern tip of Long Beach Island on the Jersey Shore. The current owner of the property planned to demolish the structure, prompting the unusual rescue effort, which involved selling the house to an owner willing to relocate it.

Houses for people to live in ...

Home teardowns

Coomentary by David Walden | Pleasanton Weekly - Pleasanton, CA, USA

The pace of teardowns also has slowed and preservationists are applauding the trend. About 75,000 homes a year were torn down across the country at the peak of the market. The National Trust has expanded its list of endangered neighborhoods to include 500 neighborhoods in 40 states.

The demolitions have triggered bitter battles between preservationists and suburbanites seeking new homes in mature, urban neighborhoods. But with new housing starts at a 26-year low, teardowns are experiencing a lull. For instance, in Westport, Conn., teardown permits were down 33 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year.

"The idea that you're going to make a lot of money tearing down an old house to build a new one, that's gone," said Morris Davis, a real estate economist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who has advised the Federal Reserve on the teardown trend.

"We're advising communities to take advantage of this slowdown and use it as a cooling-off period," said Adrian Fine, a regional director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington. "It gives them a little more time to have a less heated and less controversial discussion to protect a specific neighborhood and balance that with the need for growth and development." (Source: The Christian Science Monitor)

Editor's Note: David Walden is a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist and Certified Divorce Planning Professional associated with Diversified Capital Funding of Pleasanton.

Legislating Conversation?

Letting the Neighbors Know About Construction Plans
By Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 15, 2009; GZ03

In the wake of legislation approved last month to combat "mansionization" of communities, Montgomery County Council member Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) is pressing ahead with a companion initiative meant to give neighbors a heads-up about major renovations or tear-downs of older homes.

Berliner calls the bill a "conversation starter" among neighbors. But builders and County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) say they see something more troublesome.

Under current practice, neighbors and neighborhood associations learn of construction projects after building permits have been issued and displayed on properties. Berliner's measure would require builders in some cases to notify certain neighbors and civic associations before a permit is approved.

Opponents of that approach are concerned that the measure would set up the false expectation that notice to neighbors would allow them to block or influence approval of construction.

Berliner seemed surprised by the level of discomfort with the bill. On Tuesday, he offered to significantly narrow the legislation to apply only to construction that replaces homes that are torn down or additions that are greater than 50 percent of an existing structure. It would not affect small-scale renovations or additions.

"This is notice only -- without any legal rights attached to it," Berliner said, "to encourage early conversation with your neighbors."

Berliner has the backing of council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large), who called the bill an "innocuous" requirement.

But the proposed changes did little to convince the building community, whose concerns Leggett shares. Raquel Montenegro, an associate director for government affairs at the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, said the concern is "not what the bill says" but that residents "will believe they are entitled to stop construction on the property next door." She said it would be difficult for the county government to educate residents and to lower expectations.

. . .

Staff writer Miranda S. Spivack contributed to this report.

Dear Rose

Use Space Effectively to Add More Room to Older Homes

Q: We are appalled to find ourselves living in a neighborhood of tear-downs. Our house — like many of those being razed — was built a half-century ago when the area was working class.

We also need more living space, but can't decide how to add it. Do you have any suggestions?

A: Arm yourself with a good architect. He or she can survey your options and make professional recommendations on how to best enhance your specific property.

Meanwhile, you're to be congratulated for standing firm in your "working-class" footprint. After the bloated size and embarrassing aesthetics of America's McMansion phase, we are rediscovering the truth — that less is indeed more.

Here's inspiration from the pages of a new book that celebrates the smaller, smarter home, "The Simple House" by architect Sarah Nettleton (The Taunton Press). Subtitled "The Luxury of Enough," her book shows why and how to think through one's space intelligently.

The pictured room is an addition to a small home similar to yours. Long and loft-like, the new space parallels the old, cascading through several activity areas down to the sitting room, which is on the same level as the outdoor garden. Architect Taal Safdie of Safdie Rabines orchestrated the addition so it connects the new and old house through open "windows" hung with shutters.

The long storage wall is as practical as it is attractive — with open shelves and closed cabinets under columns that define the stairway as they evoke a feeling of the out-of-doors.

Turret Trouble

ELIZABETHTON — Steve and Ashley Grindstaff were both philosophical and practical on the day after a fire caused heavy damage to their $28.5 million home on Boone Lake on Saturday evening — a home on which they had no insurance.

“Self insured,” Steve said. “I won’t get one dime of insurance ... I guess this is a case of thinking it will never happen to me.

Steve said a rare January bolt of lightning was the culprit. Fire officials have confirmed that it was lightning. The only things he didn’t take into consideration when building the home were the copper beams in the turret of the signature tower of the house. Copper is one of nature’s best conductors of electricity. When lightning hit that copper beam, it efficiently conducted the super hot bolt throughout the top floor of the house, spreading fire and destruction. The power of the lightning bolt can still be seen in the jagged hole left in the tower.

Obviously something has been overlooked in our lightning safety literature. 

• LIGHTNING SAFETY TIPS – OUTDOORS:

• The best shelter from lightning is a substantial building, indoors.
• Avoid car ports, porches, garages, sheds, tents, baseball dugouts, or under bleachers.
• If no substantial shelter is available, then seek refuge in a hard topped vehicle, with the windows up.  
• Stay away from trees, electrical poles, or other tall objects.
• If your hair stands on end, or you experience a tingling sensation – lightning may strike soon! DO NOT LIE FLAT ON THE GROUND!

• AVOID ALL TURRETS

Complete story here.

The $28.5M Crantzdorf Estate is listed here.

CURRENTLY UNDER REPAIR - CALL FOR DETAILS

This extravagant estate took over 10 years to complete showcasing the work of European craftsmen and architects. It is an elegant home encompassing 20,000+ sq. ft. containing 21 rooms such as 9 bedrooms, 10 full baths, 3 - 1/2 baths, 4 car garage and much more. Each room is full of exquisite details such as antique and castle furniture. The fountain and doors are antique as well.

This home has details such as antique fireplaces, grand ceilings, hand cast moldings, Italian marble floors and spectacular stained glass. It also boasts a world class theater, indoor basketball court, large pool and a replica of the Bristol Motor Speedway complete with six cars. Not only is the home spectacular but it is only enhanced by the location of the 13 acres on Boone Lake. The home has lake access containing a boat house and gazebo. Not to mention, the awesome scenery found in the mountains of East Tennessee.

Teardown Watch

newsobserver.com

Garland Jones building is coming down
Eye-catcher or eyesore? Modernist building will be missed by just a few
By Richard Stradling - Staff Writer
Published: Sat, Jan. 10, 2009

RALEIGH -- The National Trust for Historic Preservation's magazine calls the Garland H. Jones Building an "eye-catching landmark." Local architects say it's one of the best examples of Modernist architecture left in downtown Raleigh.

But come February, when the five-story office building begins coming down, it's not clear that many people will miss it.

The building's owner, Wake County, expected some opposition when it proposed demolishing the 47-year-old building to make way for a $215 million justice center. But county officials say they heard from only a handful of people.

It's more than a teardown, really. Call it progress or call it tragic, it is another piece of Raleigh's history added to the landfill.

Jon Zellweger, a Raleigh architect who posted a eulogy for the Garland Jones building on the Internet last year, thinks that people will look back at pictures of the building and wonder why it was torn down.

"Fifty years ago, we were tearing down Victorians and buildings from the late 19th century that we now hold up as precious," Zellweger said in an interview. "We love what our grandparents built and hate what our parents built."

In that article, published on newraleigh.com, Zellweger goes into the significance of the building architecturally. Accompanied by photographs and floor plans, the article makes clear what we are about to do to our urban landscape.

The American Institute of Architects has identified it as one of the 88 most important 20th Century structures in Raleigh. The building has also been identified as a contributing structure in a study to designate the Fayetteville Street District as a Federal Historic District. Most remarkable is the fact that it is the last remaining example of High Modern Architecture in the downtown core. A myriad of other structures still populate the area—so much so that Raleigh resident George Smart has found no end in cataloging just the residential structures worthy of note. But after Wake County demolished its Social Services Building in 1998 it left the First Federal Building as the only well-dressed representative of that time.

The writing on the wall began with the building of the county jail tower. Gotta love the way we do that around here ... putting the Art Museum next to the Polk Youth Center, for example. Eventually the whole of the area will change to the new function, just as we have always done. So it goes with the Wake County complex downtown. Seems to me we get a little shortsighted on the vision thing around here.

Thank goodness Dorton Arena was saved. Yall remember the blue/green glass era over there? And now we are proud.

Is good to have visionaries among us.

Article found on an internet reading romp

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Dreaming of a bungalow?

Today's abodes could benefit from modesty

Kelvin Browne, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 15, 2008

In a recent conversation with Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker, he said tough economic times make us appreciate modern houses more, the kind often built in the subdivisions of the 1950s. "The modern-style houses of this period are typically modest but well-designed, making good use of their relatively small space," says Mr. Goldberger, arguably the most influential architecture commentator in the U. S. Since we can no longer afford behemoth teardowns, with multi-garages and four ensuites, will a Don Mills bungalow be our dream home again?

Modern or not, most 1950s houses were small compared with today's homes. The U. S. National Association of Home Builders statistics show the average American abode was approximately 1,000 square feet in 1950 and had grown to 2,400 sq. ft. by 2005. While families were larger in the 1950s, houses were not; it was usual for a family of five or six to feel lucky to live in 1,200 sq. ft. In addition, there was usually a basement and carport or, if the family was well-to-do, an enclosed garage.

People lived in the living room because -- where else? If there was a family room, it was a breakfast nook connected to the kitchen. Children often shared bedrooms and most always a bathroom. If parents had an ensuite, they were doing well. No one had huge closets. It may be naive, but I don't think people had as many clothes or as much stuff in general. Photographs of 1950s homes illustrate a more minimal style than today's. It could be a magazine illusion with all the heavy curtains and French furniture arriving after the magazine photographer left, but I don't think so. The rooms were smaller and people didn't have the credit we did, at least until recently.

Families in the 1950s didn't know they were saving on the costs of addiction counselling because parents in close proximity to their children knew what they were up to. As well, like it or not, everyone had to try to get along because you couldn't disappear to your wing of the house and avoid your parents or sibs. No reality-cum-psychotherapy shows for these families.

They didn't know it then, but 1950s families were living energy efficiently because they had less space to heat and cool. Air conditioning was a luxury; a wall unit in a bedroom was the norm. They didn't have mammoth stoves or commercial-size refrigerators that guzzled energy. (More home-cooked meals and less need to have a week's worth of frozen pizza in the freezer.) Few had washers and dryers; clothes were hung outside to dry until subdivisions got snotty and outlawed clotheslines. There weren't a million energy-wasting gadgets. People raked lawns and didn't use leaf blowers. If there was a television, there was only one and the family watched it together.

"Modern houses tended to make good use of natural light, and the best had good relationships between interior and exterior spaces," Mr. Goldberger says. The most lauded examples of connection to the outside, and the expansion of perceived living area, are the classic plans of Frank Lloyd Wright. In the home magazines of the time, someone was always extolling the virtues of sliding glass doors and windows that let in garden views.

Modernists were concerned about natural heating and cooling, or positioning houses for natural ventilation. Think of Richard Neutra. Lattices above windows became standard design elements but also allowed for passive heating while blocking unwanted noon sun or sun during the summer. Traditional houses favoured in the ritzy subdivisions of the 1990s didn't care about working with nature. They were restricted by Georgian or other style conventions and couldn't, but even if they could, why bother? Heating and cooling was cheap; 1990s cottages were the worst offenders. They inevitably had huge windows facing west (to capture the sunset) that required the house be massively air-conditioned to make it livable. So much for the natural cooling of lakeside summer living.

Mr. Goldberger doesn't say that affluence made us thoughtless but he does point out how thoughtful many modernist houses are. He says they were about how people really lived and how design could make lives better. That Don Mills bungalow's goal wasn't a stage set for pretension and conspicuous consumption, but rather about making the day-to-day lives that most of us live quietly better.

Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Heard on NPR

NPR has been producing an ongoing series on land use. Today they revisit Harlem, and effects of the gentrification on this culturally-changing historic area.

Growing Pains Come To Harlem | by Alison Stewart

One Harlem, Many Meanings

For a successful real estate agent such as Willie Suggs, the gentrification in Harlem is about business.

"It's not cultural," she says. "It's an economic transformation of a neighborhood from one economic class to another and clearly that's been happening in Harlem."

For longtime resident Dolores Early, 72, the word "gentrification" conjures something different.

"Homelessness comes to me, so a very sad situation comes to mind," Early says.

A newer arrival, artist Misha McGowan, sees a positive side of the renewed interest in uptown Manhattan.

"I love the fact that it's been restored to its former beauty. I don't mind most of the development," McGowan says.

Lucille McEwen, president of the Harlem Congregation for Community Improvement, which helps create affordable housing, is practical in her assessment of the changes.

"Sometimes, we say we are victims of our own success in rebuilding the community," she says. "But it's a much better option to be concerned with gentrification than to be concerned with high crime and blight."

Drugs, crime and poverty made for a powerful triple threat that decimated Harlem in the 1970s.

Once-stately brownstones became abandoned, graffiti-ridden dens of illegal activity. Locals who couldn't afford to move or didn't want to leave were living in an area that had few services and an uneasy relationship with police.

In the 1980s, New York City took ownership of many of the ruined homes and gave good deals to those willing to fix them up. The residential real estate market took off in the '90s.

The other side of the coin shows shades of another reality, one born in commerce, but not so compassionate on the ground.

A Fight For Low Rent

Low rent is one of the things that keeps Early in her apartment despite its problems. Her husband opens a hall window and reveals a smelly mass of black water and refuse just a few feet from their front door.

"This is a condition that has been here for years," Early says. "But recently they decided not to clean it. I've been complaining about it for over a year."

Her apartment is rent stabilized, but she believes her landlord wants her out.

"Some of the apartments, they're getting $1,500. Some of them, more than that," Early says, adding that she pays $474.02.

Low-income housing is at the top of the list for community leaders who want to embrace the economic growth but protect the people.

It is a well done story. The names may change, but the story is the same as the have-much and have-lesses fight for their home turf. There are forces in common, whether Harlem in NYC or Whitaker Mill Road in Raleigh. The challenge is figuring out how to grow in a respectful way. Fallonia believes it begins be seeing each other as real people.

At Home in the Hamptons

One/third acre-lot rings a bell.

Up in the Northeast Corner

Here Quoth a Realtor/Lawyer from a distant blog:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2008

A reader asks, "This post brings up a question that has been nagging me for a while...does it make sense to put money into a now depreciating asset in anticipation of making it more desirable to sell at a later date? What determines whether or not a house is a 'tear down'? "
. . .

What makes a tear down? In happier days, any older house that sat on decent land was quarreled over by builders and first time home buyers alike - picture sea gulls fighting over a fish carcass. Now that the builders are on hiatus there are fewer tear downs and a much better opportunity for young families who can't afford a mansion to move in, maybe add that new kitchen you so wisely avoided, and live happily ever after. Personally, I like that development; I represent a couple of builders, whom I like and admire, but I also live in this town and I'd be glad to see the return of "normal" families.

Another neighbor heard from.

Alexandria Says Yes to Infill Standards

Looks like a plan to me. Oh yeh, a Plan, that's what we wanted.

I guess Santa isn't going to bring this to Raleigh this year since Alexandria got it. For the uninitiated, (citizens of Raleigh) this is what studying a problem looks like. I think this is called Planning.

Infill Task Force
City Council Approves Comprehensive Infill Regulations

On Tuesday, June 24, the City Council approved the recommendations of the Infill Task Force, with a few minor amendments. The recommendations are comprehensive, and include amendments to the zoning ordinance for the following:

• Height
  
• Front setbacks
  
• Garages
  
• Floor Area Ratio
  
• Tree Coverage
  
• Teardowns on Substandard Lots
  

The amendments are generally applicable to one- and two-family dwellings in the R-20, R-8, R-5, R-2-5, RA and RB zones, outside the historic districts. To view the new ordinance language on the above, please see the following link to the Council docket item:
http://dockets.alexandriava.gov/fy08/062408rm/di46.pdf

The regulations are effective as of Wednesday, June 25, 2008. As such, all new applications submitted from that day forward will be subject to the new regulations. Any complete applications for building permit or grading plan submitted prior to that day will be processed under the prior rules.

In addition, the City Council directed staff to prepare a scope, timeline and budget proposal for a Citywide Pattern Book to bring back for their consideration in Fall 2008.

If you have any questions or comments, or have a specific project that you would like clarification on the applicability of the new regulations, please contact Peter Leiberg or Valerie Peterson at 703-838-4666. Planning Commission recommended approval of Infill Task Force recommendations at its June 4 hearing. The recommendations will go to City Council Hearing on June 14 at 9:30 am.

Background on the Infill study:

In April 2007, City Council approved a Resolution to establish an Infill Task Force, whose mission is to:

• Study the impact of large new housing construction and major residential additions in existing, established single-family neighborhoods.
• Analyze existing City regulations that pertain to limiting infill impacts and make recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council for any regulatory changes.
  
• Keep the public informed about the study, briefing the community at large on the progress of the infill study, and briefing the Planning Commission and City Council on their analysis and recommendations.
  

Schedule & Meeting Agendas

Infill Task Force Members:
[snip], Chair, Planning Commission
[snip], Architect
[snip], Builder/Developer
[snip], Architect
[snip], Northern Virginia Association of Realtors
[snip], Resident, Mt. Jefferson/Del Ray
[snip], Resident, North Ridge
[snip], Resident, Rosemont
[snip], Resident, Strawberry Hill


Meeting Materials:

June 3 Planning Commission Hearing

• Infill Task Force Recommendations

Thursday, May 1, 2008, Infill Community Meeting

• Presentation

April 17, 2008

• Agenda
  
• Draft Proposed Zoning Ordinance Changes (proposed new language underlined in red, and existing language in plain text)
  
• Height Definitions
  
• Subdivision
  
• Substandard Lots
  
• FAR and Related Changes
  
• Average Front Setback and Threshold Height
  
• Supplemental Regulations
  
• Overlay Districts and Pattern Book (Policy Recommendations)
  

April 8, 2008 Joint Worksession with Planning Commission and City Council
› Presentation
› Summary Table of Preliminary Recommendations from Infill Task Force

March 18, 2008
› Agenda
› Meeting Summary
› Detailed Discussion of Potential Regulations
› Proposed Regulations and Staff Recommendations

February 21, 2008
› Agenda
› Meeting Summary
› Presentation
› Presentation on Annapolis, MD Conservation District
› Overview of Existing and Proposed Regulations

January 30, 2008
› Agenda
› Presentation
› Meeting Summary

January 17, 2008
› Agenda
› Presentation
› Meeting Summary
› Preliminary Concepts for Consideration FAR and Bulk

December 6, 2007
› Agenda
› Presentation
› Preliminary Concepts for Consideration
› Meeting Summary

November 15, 2007
› Agenda
› Presentation
› Meeting Summary

October 25, 2007
› Agenda
› Meeting Summary
› Summary of Infill Measures in Other Jurisdictions

October 16, 2007
› Agenda
› Meeting Summary
› Presentation

August 28, 2007
› Meeting Summary
› Presentation to Infill Task Force

Background Information:

• Interim Ordinance #4457
  
• Emergency Legislation Enacted Addressing Residential Infill Concerns
  
• Staff Report on Infill Interim Regulations June 6, 2006
  
• Presentation to Planning Commission March 9, 2006
  
• Report to Planning Commission March 9, 2006

http://alexandriava.gov/planning/info/default.aspx?id=6948

How Tall Is It??

After watching the discussion on height this week -- in Stanhope and Cameron Village areas -- Fallonia has been doing her homework and researching the impact of height on communities. We know that height in infill homes is quite an issue. What about when commercial projects are being built in the edges of neighborhoods? You know, this ...

Urban Form/Community Character
The height, design, materials, and location of buildings contribute to the quality of the urban environment. That quality can be degraded by buildings that are of inappropriate scale and insensitive design. Existing buildings in the [snip] Corridor are predominantly one or two stories in height, and many have large floor plates and blank concrete walls. New buildings might be taller and architecturally distinct and will therefore change the character of the area—both as viewed from the public spaces on the perimeter of the study area, or as experienced from the sidewalks, parks, and plazas within new mixed-use neighborhoods.

Research led to a study from Bellevue WA where this question was asked and answered. The url indicates it is an official city document. If any analysis like this has occurred in Raleigh, FP would like to know about it. Isn't this the sort of thing neighborhoods are asking for ... impact analysis? It just seems so willy nilly around here.

Locations of Taller Buildings
The arrangement of taller buildings can become a very prominent part of a community’s identity. Some urban critics assert that where taller buildings occur, they should be limited to iconic structures or public buildings, such as cathedrals, iconic towers, or major public buildings. This logic has been used to prohibit higher building forms in large portions of some cities (e.g., Washington, D.C., and Paris).

Others assert that if taller commercial and residential buildings are placed in the right locations, these buildings can provide a sense that a community has well-defined and carefully planned centers of development. By contrast, an urban form of high-rise buildings distributed across the landscape with no strong sense of focus can give the impression of unplanned and haphazard growth. Because they are visible from a distance, taller buildings can strongly affect community character and identity, for better or worse.

Maybe our comp plan will be a guiding light for us all. Surely they are up there doing planning in the Planning Department. Surely.

Teardown of the week (weeks ago that is)

No plans on file that reveal the future for this lot. Selling price is a couple of hundred thou over the property valuation.

Fallonia predicts something Eurofabulous, in the $2.5-3.5M range.

908 HARVEY ST
Zoning R-4
Acreage .31
Permit Date 8/15/2008
Permit # 0000077258

Transfer Information
Pkg Sale Date 7/9/2008
Pkg Sale Price $825,000

Heated Area 2,125
Originally built 1944

Location Location Location ...



Fallonia's concern is that a family could move in and work with this house, as a good investment and a growing home. When the neighborhood's "entry level" houses -- those of good size and quality -- are demolished for an expensive and speculative upgrade (and yes, this is an LLC doing the job, not a homeowner), then we are basically shutting out potential good neighbors and a diversity of community. As a city, we need to pay attention to this, and to one other thing: will our economy be able to sustain this many multi-million dollar homes?? These ITB neighborhoods have been more expensive for decades, but this is something else.

WakeUP Wake County presents --

A broad discussion on growth, tomorrow.

McMansion Meltdown?

Finally, a top 10 list Raleigh is not on.

Towns That Could Be Hit Hardest by the Financial Crisis
by Prashant Gopal | Saturday, September 27, 2008 | provided by Business Week

The upheaval shaking Wall Street will hurt privileged enclaves as well as working-class neighborhoods from coast to coast. Find out which will fare the worst.

The story begins ...

How many former Lehman Brothers bankers or AIG executives are likely to be buying a Park Avenue apartment or a home in Darien, Conn., this year? Most likely answer: not many at all.

Reading the article shows that many of the nation's teardown hotspots are on the list of places expecting slowdowns. Of course all will be affected by this. But Fallonia predicts that activities such as this and this and this will be slowed as well.

Of course, we can never get these back.