[quote=briansd1]
I think that a wood cottage with only one bathroom and no walk-in closet is functionally obsolete. People who want that can have it.
My problem with current zoning and urban planning is that they protect those old houses and freeze the neighborhoods in time.
We should allow organic growth. Otherwise, decades down the road, we get blight and then eminent domain type redevelopment.
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Since you travel to Philly pretty frequently… What would happen if they’d allowed widespread decimation of some of the center city areas like Rittenhouse Square, Old City, etc… I have friends who live on Locust – 2 blocks east of Rittenhouse Sq. They took a “functionally obsolete” rowhouse and remodeled it inside. It’s got the charm of the high ceilings, casework around the windows, etc – but it also has a new/modern kitchen, 2 baths (it’s a 3br), walk in closets, and a roof deck. There was no need to raze it and start over.. they could modify the interior to suit their family’s needs.
I don’t think anyone will be protecting the 1940’s rowhouses you see in north east philly – near oxford cirle, mayfair, etc. But there has been a move towards rehabbing them. My brother in law is refitting one – adding a 2nd bathroom, finishing the basement into a media room… There is nothing preventing him from repurposing and reapportioning the interior space to make it functional for todays lifestyle.
I don’t have a single walk in closet in my 1960’s house. My kitchen doesn’t have an island. Yet my house functions just fine.
