Urban Solutions Part I

[Kenosha]

Here is the first in a series of thought-provoking photos.  The following is an excerpt from Chris DeWolf's "The Urban Eye" column in Maisonneuve magazine:



"There's a type of urban housing that is more versatile than rowhouses, more human-scaled than apartment buildings and far denser than single-family homes. It's called the plex—but unless you've lived in a select few cities, you've probably never heard of it.

What exactly is a plex? Basically, it's a two- or three-storey building with one or two apartments per floor. Each apartment extends from the front of the building all the way to the back and, most importantly, each one has a more or less direct connection to the street—no lobby and no hallways, in other words. Plexes originated in Europe; in North America, they can be found most commonly in older American cities like Boston, Chicago, parts of New York and some smaller Midwest cities. Only in Montreal, however are they the predominant form of housing: two out of three Montrealers live in an apartment in a building with fewer than five storeys."



The question is: Where would/could this fit in Tulsa, and is there a market for more development like this here?

I believe there is, so how do we encourage this type of development in the private market?  How do we overcome the mental block we have here that this type of owned-residential development can be viable in the marketplace?

Thanks to Chris DeWolf at http://www.urbanphoto.net/ and http://www.maisonneuve.org/blog/index.php?itemid=929


De Lorimier Street in Montreal is lined by triplexes

A newly built "Condo-plex"


Classic triplexes in Montreal's Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood.


Chatting With Neighbors