Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Need Zoning Law Expertise

[Jenny Guy (jenstermeister]

My favorite type of urban housing is the "Garden Apartment", 1 or 2
stories, flats not townhouses, built around a central  courtyard. Each
apartment or condo has a front and back door. Ideally a little porch on the
back, and of course it's best when the parking is not in the courtyard!

There is a huge difference between this and a big cube where your front
door is accessed by an interior hallway, so each unit only has windows on
one side, and if there's a courtyard somewhere you can't just step out your
door into it.

They used to build a lot of these around here, but now with new
construction they want to cram more units into the space. But it's so much
denser than single family homes, I think it's the perfect missing middle.
But like Philip said, it doesn't fit everyone's idea of the American dream.

It's in the apartment category, but it's somewhere between the descriptions
of apartments and row houses

Happily, that's where I live.
Jenny
Kingfisher Cohousing, Oakland CA
www.BrookdaleCommons.org

On Sun, Mar 31, 2019 at 3:39 AM Philip Dowds via Cohousing-L <
cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:

> Our topic here seems to be basic construction archetypes:
>   •  Single family homes on single family lots: The American dream.  At
> least as far back as the Homestead Act of 1862, or even the Articles of
> Confederation.
>   •  Apartment buildings:  Occupied by renters (I am guessing that’s in
> the definition of “apartment”).  Maybe crammed with non-English-speaking,
> non-citizen, financially stressed parents having many kids overloading the
> local school system?  Maybe?
>   • Townhouses and row houses:  Low rise walk-up.  Each dwelling with its
> own front and back door, not accessed via a common corridor system.  More
> likely to be occupied by owners?  Tendency toward ENL owners?
>   • Not actually mentioned, but perhaps centrally important:
> Condominiums.  They sometimes look like apartment buildings, but they are
> occupied mostly by resident owners (we think).  High rise?  Not the best
> choice for families with pets, kids, and financial flexibility?
>
>
>
>