Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Tuesday, February 04, 2025

Would more traditionally designed "rowhouses" be more successful in Detroit's condo market?

Most developers argue that their market research says that today's consumer segments want "modern-looking" residential buildings.  OTOH, traditional rowhouses in center cities do better than the modern.  And in NYC, "pre-war" facsimile apartment buildings are more successful than newer buildings.

Condos in the Woodbridge neighborhood of Detroit.

Crain's Detroit Business reports, "Detroit condo market stuck in neutral with too much supply and sluggish sales, report shows," that the city's condo market is slow.  It doesn't help that Detroit has high property taxes.

In North Atlantic Cities, Charles Duff discusses why the rowhouse building type was common during a few century period on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in the Netherlands, Great Britain, and east coast cities in the US. 

Rowhouses on 10th Street NW in DC.  Flickr photo by Mr. T in DC.

With exceptions like San Francisco, the rowhouse building type didn't move west.  Arguably, there are some of the type in Chicago. 

I've thought for a long time that if Detroit did some repatterning of neighborhoods by using the rowhouse building type, it'd be more economically competitive with the suburbs.

Note that the UK still builds high quality attractive rowhouses with either brick or stone facades ("Moat Lane Regeneration").

While DC does have ersatz rowhouses and popups that detract from the more traditional rowhouse built in two basic styles from 1800-1930, there are some newer buildings that respect the city's historic housing tradition.



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