AH, gotta love the suburban mentality!

[UdoKier]

Homeowners in San Francisco 'burb South San Francisco are whining about a new high-rise that takes up maybe an acre of space, yet seemingly have NO PROBLEM with their own hideous ticky-tacky cookie-cutter homes that cover up every last bit of the once beautiful hills in the area.



http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/13/BAGGKAAQ7B1.DTL

ARCHITECTURE
If you build it, they will cringe
Slablike tower doesn't fit in on slopes of San Bruno Mountain
John King, Chronicle Urban Design Writer


Monday, December 13, 2004
John King

ARCHITECTURE - If you build it, they will cringe - Slablike towe...
12/13/2004

If ever a building showed that architecture can be irrelevant, it's the new residential tower on the slopes of San Bruno Mountain in South San Francisco...

[Richardo]

1. San Bruno? Are they KIDDING?

That has been an eyesore for decades...

[OldLeftieLawyer]

2. Those row houses

My Italian and Polish grandfathers worked really hard to get their families out of houses that looked like those row houses.

I wonder if those precious tenement-dwellers understand that.

[UdoKier]

4. Those are pretty spacious considering their proximity to San Francisco

And unlike the three-story row houses so common here in the city, those only have one family in each - a much less efficient use of space. I tend to favor much higher density and more transit in and around the major metro areas, it simply works better and makes traffic more manageable.

[AlCzervik]

7. Ugly and costly i'm sure.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

13. I'd rather die than live in San Bruno

My days as a hippie chick in the Western Addition - was I ever that crazy? - spoiled me for the way life is lived in the city, and I've never been able to stomach those boxy suburban dumps.

That those people find that highrise offensive is just laughable. But, then, everybody likes to look down (sic) on someone else, I guess.

[LSparkle]

3. "South San Francisco: The Industrial City"

I always thought it was a hideous part of the Bay Area and that it truly did inspire the song "Little Boxes." Ticky-tacky and all just the same.

[Politicub]

19. SSF

My partner's is from SSF, and most of his family still lives there. It was truly a working class city for many years (thus, the Industrial City moniker).

I was amazed at the miles and miles of tract homes there. I didn't know about "Little boxes" being inspired by SSF.

One of my friends just sold her 2 brdrm teeny tiny house in Daly City (aka Daly Shitty - sorry for offending any Daly city residents *kiss*) for $500k!! It was a postage stamp in Daly City(!). I missing living in the Bay area, but I don't miss the home prices there. She just bought a home in the ghetto's ghetto, Hunters Point, for around $600k. Just crazy.

Still, you can't beat the quality of life in the Bay Area - if you can afford it.

[kitkatrose]

5. Is it me or are the houses uglier than the complex?

I hate cookie cutter houses--they're all the ugliest designs.

[McKenzie]

6. the term is "context"

It lacks context, the tower is incongruity writ large and the houses are pretend architecture. The dominance of the garage (I presume that's what the big hole on the g/f is) for starters and the pretend "traditional" design...hmmm. A few (presumably) fake chimneys and the wrongly proportioned gable detailing do not constitute good design. Whoever designed the terrace has tried to break up the massing with some clever (sic) advance and retreat of the main elevations and by varying the roofline. It doesn't work...it's like Groucho Marx in a country mansion wearing plus fours and a monocle...incongruous.

We do the same over here though...

[UdoKier]

8. Just think how many families in those tacky houses...

could be consolidated into just one of those high-rises, with little loss of space, then think of the countless acres of hills that could be left open space...

[McKenzie]

9. I do this professionally

I am a trained Urban Designer though my main work is architectural conservation. I despair over the poor quality of modern design. It's a corollary to the modern development industry. The industry apologists just say they design/build what people want but the housing market is different to other markets. People buy houses for a whole load of reasons, many of which are beyond their control. And, they can't take the house back for a refund or exchange.

And you guys have urban design icons such as Kevin Lynch and Christopher Alexander to learn from.

http://www.patternlanguage.com/

[SmokingJacket]

10. Then you are one of my heroes.

Please keep preserving old buildings!:-)

Not to hijack this thread, but have you ever been to Union Station in Chicago? There's a new section and an old one (at least this was the case a few years ago.) The old section is **beautiful**, like a cathedral, with a huge domed ceiling and rows of oak benches. The new section is squalid, with stained carpet, low ceilings, and blaring tv monitors.

You feel privileged to be riding the train in the old section. In the new, you feel oppressed and unhappy and are likely to vow never to take the train again.

[McKenzie]

16. unfortunately, I'm a Brit (link inside)

or maybe I'm fortunate...take your pick coz I'm partisan.

I will have a shifty on Google for pics of the station. Historic buildings are our inheritance to be carefully nurtured. We owe a debt to the people whose talent and skills built them. They are works of heart, full of beauty and joy.

Homily over!

Here's a wee goodie for you if you like architecture>>>

http://decopix.com/

[SmokingJacket]

17. Oh, I knew you were a Brit --

You have a lot more old buildings over there -- and more intense development of already developed areas. I would guess your job is sometimes heartbreaking.

Thanks for the deco-links. I love that stuff: I live in a 1930s Arts and Crafts style house (or the cheapo version of one). I mentioned Union Station because of the intense contrast between the uplifting old architecture and the depressing new: I Googled and couldn't find any pics of the new section. Who would bother photographing stained industrial carpeting?? Sigh.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

14. Hold on a minute

I think Groucho looks good in the plus fours and monocle, and, well, the country mansion is enhanced by his presence.

Context, as you say - it's so subjective.

[donheld]

11. Denver's suburbs are overwelmed by those places

no that's not my home.

[SmokingJacket]

18. Wow! Those houses are enormous!

And one day, maybe thirty or fifty years from now, it'll be a huge slum.

[lpbk2713]

12. Dayum. You can mow your front yard wth fingernail clippers.

And SanFran real estate is about the hightest in the US??

[OldLeftieLawyer]

15. Please tell me how

those people find their way home?