 |
| "help them help us" |
Aside from having design backgrounds, how can we as buyers, renters and housing consumers help builders and developers with the many issues of suburbia in the past few decades?
After reading through the documents for this week, inspiring thoughts consumed me especially after going through Colton’s Housing in the 21st Century readings. What has never occurred to me until now is not that builders and developers often get the worse end of suburbia criticism, but that often they aren’t the root cause of the situation. As Colton discusses, “Home builders influence what happens in the market-place, but in large part, they do not lead the market, they follow it (p 306).” One of their biggest concerns is supplying the demand from potential home buyers and renters, because if they don’t give them what they request, they would go out of business.
for entire essay click here.
image source: Monopoly Houses on Map. Author, Richard Florida. Jan 2009.
http://www.creativeclass.com
for entire essay click here.
image source: Monopoly Houses on Map. Author, Richard Florida. Jan 2009.
http://www.creativeclass.com
This question seems to be an extension of Kim's...but perhaps more specifically aimed at the buyer and consumer due to the fact that they are in fact driving the market in a PASSIVE & UNAWARE way.
ReplyDeletealso in the conclusion a key question arised from me, is that how can revitalization be promoted as a market for developers? this was beginning to be discussed in last weeks discussions.
Would having a city development process help this funnel of wants, needs and desires? The city of Dublin, Ohio (http://www.dublin.oh.us/planning/design/)has a design development process that they encourage developers and builders to go through when submitting plans to the city. How do other cities decide who gets the final say so for development of land? I thought that developers had to submit something to the city.
ReplyDeletePeople will continue to buy homes that are built because they are uneducated in how the land development/builder process works. They probably don't realize that they could have an impact in helping plan neighborhoods. Model Homes go up all over and neighborhood roads are poured and ready for residents. This is the current trend and process and unless a builder works alongside or is the developer as well, it may continue to be that vicious cycle.
Where do community and regional planners come into this process?
Going back to where we left off last week, I think the main way to promote the revitalization with developers is to offer incentives and rebates from the government and their cities.
Candace, good point. I’m not really knowledgeable on how the process works, but mentioning the fact that developers probably have to (or do) submit something to the city means that housing can be highly influenced by city requirements. The City of Houston has a Housing and Community Development Department (which I’m sure all cities have something of the sort) that directly assists various housing needs for consumers, HCDD, http://www.houstontx.gov/housing/index.html. I still think that even the city has to answer consumer demands and needs, but then again, you mention that there needs to be more output on educating consumers, and I agree. There could be campaigns or promotions on the importance of responsible urban and neighborhood planning. The slightest tools could be utilized to further educate consumers. For one small example, driving by a billboard in the city that simply stated something about “restoration of neighborhoods” or “cutting mileage off a daily commute by revitalizing urban neighborhoods” would get my attention especially if I were stuck in traffic on my way home from a city job. It could just take effort through reaching out to large groups of people through advertisements and education.
DeleteI am surprised that community and regional planners have not come up in the discussions yet. I hadn't even considered them! Do community and regional planners generally focus on cities and business areas, or do they help plan suburban areas well?
DeleteKim-
DeleteI do not know for sure, maybe Lindsay can help us out? I figured that they might do both...I will see if I can find anything and will post again.
will from the readings you should all be aware of the existence of a federal entity called the united states department of housing and urban development. revisit the readings or just look at the department itself. it is a federal entity that sets standards, conducts research, and provides funding typically for low-income, multi-family housing.
Deleteas for local and state representation there is always representation of planning on a smaller scale obviously. they would compete for the funding, and strategically plan the growth of cities, etc. for example, in lincoln there is the "planning department" who would work in relations to the "public works and utilities department" and also the "urban development department". each city that all of you live should have access to your local governmental departments and often you will find annual reports that should be available for you to preview.
finally, all new construction and development must get approval and permits from the CITY itself. these departments and their representatives are instrumental in approving and providing the legal agreement of growth. therefore, YES there are community and regional developers that are always involved in the process. often the developers rely on them to help develop their proposal.
Krystal,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments. The billboard notion I think could be very effective!
Do you think that because of the cost correlation (overhead for builders) that there will/would be resistance from builders and developers to change their ways? How do we accommodate everyone's apparent need (the money that can be made on housing developments)? If people were not in it just for the 'money' do you think that we could have a neighborhood of traditionalism in suburbia? Would there be any benefit to having community classes or forums to education homebuilders/developers and architects to work towards collaboration?
candace i think you raise the biggest point of all here...there absolutely would be resistance because what their are doing have currently worked in the past.
Deletealso, they don't want to really face the issue of being creative, even in times of economic hardship and housing crisis. instead of changing the root of the problem, they merely want to change the marketing strategy or the IMAGE of what they are selling. not actually change the structure or delivery of housing solutions itself. the question becomes, "how can we create a new campaign that sells the same product, but makes them think that is better and new?"
a quote from Allison Arieff [one of the articles i suggest read before embarking on your first project due week 9]
"Housing starts were off 15.5 percent in December. Whether they return to “normal” later this year, or next year, or the year after that, it is crucial that the industry learns from its recent mistakes, which have ranged from overbuilding to product homogeneity. New (and existing) homes and communities, and the people who reside in them, whether they’re on Lexington Avenue or Quail Ridge Lane, can benefit from any number of creative ideas, designs and efforts already underway not just from the “housing industry” but from your friends and neighbors, too."
so the big question is...who is learning? and what who will engage this new set of knowledge that they have into our suburban fabric?
I think changing the paradigm around suburban housing developments needs to become more focused on collaboration, as you mention, Candace. When reading through Krystal's essay I began to think of the National Home Builders Assocation and their annual conferences to discuss and highlight trends, as brought up in the readings. This reminded me of our interior design "trade shows", i.e. Neocon, or HD Boutique, or Lighting conventions, etc. As professionals in the industry, architects and designers are to stay abreast to the needs and challenges of our endusers and products/solutions for each, such as environmental concerns and sustainable design and materials. What if home builders and developers focused on need for changed in suburban housing, and collaborated with architects, designers for a multi-profession approach? It seems there have many discussions and discoveries separately, but collaborating in order to "get everyone on the same page" would be helpful, though still challenging.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that a new national association or even convention could be started that addresses all of the fields at question and helps to work towards collaboration within the areas and problem solve together? Is it possible that universities could offer courses in residential design and collaborate with the construction management majors or local/area builders and developers?
Deleteyes. but you have to understand that they still have been fixated on this certain paradigm of housing delivery. i have met with a fairly LARGE homebuilder in the omaha area. they thought they were doing the world justice by offering ENERGY STAR certified STARTER HOMES. they were the most "sustainable home" in the city. i tried to communicate to them that the home itself was sustainable in terms of SYSTEMS preformance...but the house was clad in synthetic, toxin emitting materials. build in non-sustainable communities, and the notion of a STARTER home was in and of itself NOT SUSTAINABLE at all...because once the home was no longer needed as a STARTER...the owner moved onto something bigger and better, and perhaps even "newer" further perpetuating sprawl and flight and all that comes with it. ALSO, no new "starter home" buyer wants a 10 year old starter home...the want the new and improved starter home. so what happens to the sad, old, starter home? it sits empty, becomes a rental with poor management, and degrades the value of the other neighbors and community.
Deletethey looked at me as if i was speaking a foreign language.
but this goal of academic rigor and its relationship with the industry is something i am always interested in and hope to create a dialogue of some sort in the future.
Developers, builders, buyers, renters, etc. have all been driving the current suburban market in a passive and unaware way. I think there are some cutting-edge developers who have begun to realize the advantages of revitalization. There are two such developers in the Omaha area that immediately come to mind. The first is the Midtown Crossing community (http://www.midtowncrossing.com/). This area has many key features that have been discussed for successful communities in the weekly readings including a mixed-income housing, mixed-use services and parks all within walking distance. Although the apartments and condos in Midtown Crossing are not affordably priced for low income families, the homes and neighborhoods nearby are affordably priced, and still close enough that they can utilize the shops, entertainment and restaurants available there. This area also lends itself to a variety of people including families needing more space, young professionals looking to buy their first place and college students looking to rent. The second developer is Urban Village (http://uvomaha.com/). Urban Village has revitalized and is now renting out homes, townhomes and apartments in neighborhoods that are the perfect subjects for revitalization. These neighborhoods are safe, but many of the homes and nearby shops have seen better days. Many of the rentals are within walking distance to restaurants or grocery stores or near public transportation. Even though these homes, townhomes and apartments are only for renting, they are beginning the process that will hopefully influence the rest of the homes in the neighborhoods to revitalize. I think that once other developers and builders begin to understand the advantages to building communities instead of individual homes, suburbia as we know it will begin to change.
ReplyDeleteDevelopers have highly influenced the suburban periphery, but who are we to blame? Last year, in our urbanization of rural landscapes class, we had a speaker come and talk to us from a prominent developing company here in lincoln. As soon as he walked in he knew he was outnumbered and probably hated by the majority of the class. He got hit by a lot of questions concerning sprawl and the removal of farmland, however, he did make some compelling points. He argued that he has tried renovation projects within the periphery and nearly every single time they had sat empty or he has lost money on the project. He claims that he builds where people want to live and if they wanted to live in the city, he would renovate and build there. In lincoln, however, there is still a need for sprawl so he is able to supply us with apartment complexes and large scale cul de sac filled neighborhoods.
DeleteHe ended by stating: "if i try to tell people where to live, i would be out of a job.
interesting dan.
Deletei think that maybe you are suggesting that then the root of the "problem" or perhaps the place where we as designers need to target a "campaign" of good design of homes and communities are the BUYERS/CONSUMERS/HOME OWNERS. no?