I like Sara Hendren's observations. It's interesing what differences a perspective can make.
What she describes as high density, the mid-level type of dense housing with close by public transportation and public businesses, can be challenging in urban areas where developers don't want mid-level dense housing. They want the density to be even higher.
I don't like this move towards high density, but it's happening all over, and it's not conducive to the vision she has of familial type supports in mid-level housing. Where I live (a non-suburb), the developers are tearing down the single, two, and three-family housing in support of apartment buildings with numerous units.
High density of that type isn't always safe, from any perspective. There are plenty of stories about women as well as men being attacked and in hallways, elevators, and laundry rooms.
Now if we had more mid density housing of two to four units in low density suburbs or in high density cities, with wheelchair accessibility and elevators, that would be ideal.
> High density of that type isn't always safe, from any perspective. There are plenty of stories about women as well as men being attacked and in hallways, elevators, and laundry rooms.
That's not an architecture problem, it's a violent criminal problem. The solution is not to change the architecture, it's to incentivise people not to be violent criminals.
Part of that can be helped by architecture. I saw an old documentary about research they did in NYC parks in like the 70's or 80's -- they found that making the parks easier to enter (no hedges/etc) and more open decreased crime. One theory was that criminals didn't feel safe/hidden enough; another was that increasing foot traffic by lowering the barrier to entry was the key.
In tall buildings, hallways/elevators/laundry rooms have a similar problem: lack of foot traffic or people hanging out in those shared spaces. And unlike in detached homes where people want windows out onto the street, apartment-dwellers don't want windows onto the shared hallway. If the architecture were changed to avoid creating hidden/deserted areas, it would make the buildings safer.
A violent crime problem is not as easy to fix off the bat, but architectural changes like you suggest are interesting. At first glance, windows onto the shared hallway sounds reasonable as a means of minimizing hidden and deserted areas. But if it means that people can see into apartments, that would be a problem.
Some hotels do it well, though, with the central areas in view of all the all the hallways, and all the hallways in view of the central areas. That sounds reasonable. But would people be wary of everyone being able to see their movements as they come and go? It's likely they would be.
Would it minimize crime? I'm with you, I'd hope so.
I wish more cities would make mass zoning changes like Portland, OR did — replacing low density with medium density would reduce the pressure to build skyscrapers (although I like those as an option too) and give everyone more options when they’re deciding where to live.
as i age (73 now), although i'm healthy and active, i find more things are challenging. my hand strength is one of the main challenges. that tv commercial about opening pickle jars makes me laugh but it's SO true. i've been stopped in the middle of a recipe simply because i was unable to open a container. so, simple home repairs become not so simple. i loathe elevators and take the stairs unless it's more than 5 flights up - as did my mother until she was well into her 90's. - so living in a high rise is pretty much out of the question. things like driving at night are problems for many older people, not just women. but since women tend to live longer than men, if we are to be self sufficient, we must get around on our own, so driving ourselves is important so long as we can do it confidently and safely. cataract surgery really helps with that, btw. i've always been short, and i'm shrinking, as most of us do, so now i have small step stools all over my home. but, they become less safe for us the older we become. but, changing light bulbs requires them. my ceilings are 12 feet high, so i need to climb higher. anything involving home maintenance is more challenging the older one becomes. but, mowing an acre was a challenge when i had 3 babies too. things were just physically easier in those days....
I like Sara Hendren's observations. It's interesing what differences a perspective can make.
What she describes as high density, the mid-level type of dense housing with close by public transportation and public businesses, can be challenging in urban areas where developers don't want mid-level dense housing. They want the density to be even higher.
I don't like this move towards high density, but it's happening all over, and it's not conducive to the vision she has of familial type supports in mid-level housing. Where I live (a non-suburb), the developers are tearing down the single, two, and three-family housing in support of apartment buildings with numerous units.
High density of that type isn't always safe, from any perspective. There are plenty of stories about women as well as men being attacked and in hallways, elevators, and laundry rooms.
Now if we had more mid density housing of two to four units in low density suburbs or in high density cities, with wheelchair accessibility and elevators, that would be ideal.
> High density of that type isn't always safe, from any perspective. There are plenty of stories about women as well as men being attacked and in hallways, elevators, and laundry rooms.
That's not an architecture problem, it's a violent criminal problem. The solution is not to change the architecture, it's to incentivise people not to be violent criminals.
Part of that can be helped by architecture. I saw an old documentary about research they did in NYC parks in like the 70's or 80's -- they found that making the parks easier to enter (no hedges/etc) and more open decreased crime. One theory was that criminals didn't feel safe/hidden enough; another was that increasing foot traffic by lowering the barrier to entry was the key.
In tall buildings, hallways/elevators/laundry rooms have a similar problem: lack of foot traffic or people hanging out in those shared spaces. And unlike in detached homes where people want windows out onto the street, apartment-dwellers don't want windows onto the shared hallway. If the architecture were changed to avoid creating hidden/deserted areas, it would make the buildings safer.
A violent crime problem is not as easy to fix off the bat, but architectural changes like you suggest are interesting. At first glance, windows onto the shared hallway sounds reasonable as a means of minimizing hidden and deserted areas. But if it means that people can see into apartments, that would be a problem.
Some hotels do it well, though, with the central areas in view of all the all the hallways, and all the hallways in view of the central areas. That sounds reasonable. But would people be wary of everyone being able to see their movements as they come and go? It's likely they would be.
Would it minimize crime? I'm with you, I'd hope so.
I wish more cities would make mass zoning changes like Portland, OR did — replacing low density with medium density would reduce the pressure to build skyscrapers (although I like those as an option too) and give everyone more options when they’re deciding where to live.
as i age (73 now), although i'm healthy and active, i find more things are challenging. my hand strength is one of the main challenges. that tv commercial about opening pickle jars makes me laugh but it's SO true. i've been stopped in the middle of a recipe simply because i was unable to open a container. so, simple home repairs become not so simple. i loathe elevators and take the stairs unless it's more than 5 flights up - as did my mother until she was well into her 90's. - so living in a high rise is pretty much out of the question. things like driving at night are problems for many older people, not just women. but since women tend to live longer than men, if we are to be self sufficient, we must get around on our own, so driving ourselves is important so long as we can do it confidently and safely. cataract surgery really helps with that, btw. i've always been short, and i'm shrinking, as most of us do, so now i have small step stools all over my home. but, they become less safe for us the older we become. but, changing light bulbs requires them. my ceilings are 12 feet high, so i need to climb higher. anything involving home maintenance is more challenging the older one becomes. but, mowing an acre was a challenge when i had 3 babies too. things were just physically easier in those days....
> driving ourselves is important
This is less so when houses are closer together as then one doesn't need a car so much.