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Planning: general 🌇 Random Planning Thoughts (and Photos) Deserving No Thread Of Their Own

DVD said:
that portion of any facility that is used for amusement parks, aquariums, aquatic centers, auditoriums, arenas, arts and cultural facilities, bandstand and orchestra facilities, bathhouses, boathouses, clubhouses, community centers greater than three thousand square feet in floor area, environmental education centers, equestrian facilities, golf course facilities, greenhouses, lakes, museums, theme parks, water reclamation or riparian areas, wetlands, zoo facilities or similar recreational facilities, but may include swimming pools
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What about warehouse, doghouses, and henhouses?
 
Hey mom, can I go to Dan's house? He lives on the street behind us. You need to give me a ride, its too far to walk.

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Also, look at the address range. One street is the 1500 block & the other is in the 13400 block.
 
Planit said:
You need to give me a ride, its too far to walk.
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I had friends in locations like that. I regularly took the Suburban Free Range Challenge and cut through neighbors' yards, hopped fences, and tortured dogs (not literally torturing dogs, just my presence scooting across yards made them bark at me uncontrollably while I was in their viewshed/territory).
 
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Wannaplan? said:
I had friends in locations like that. I regularly took the Suburban Free Range Challenge and cut through neighbors' yards, hopped fences, and tortured dogs (not literally torturing dogs, just my presence scooting across yards made them bark at me uncontrollably while I was in their viewshed/territory).
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I just stayed in in AirBnb in a snobby "rurban" suburb (think McMansions on 2-3 Acre lots, conservative bastion in a liberal coastal city) and the subdivision we were in was clearly laid out parallel to a classic western American grid, but the grid was intentionally broken to limit access from the arterial road nearby- to the point that it confounded my GPS a bunch.

To add to the atmosphere, their AirBnb rules (of which there were more than I have ever experienced in any other AirBnb) included a prohibition on guests "walking around the neighborhood after sunset" because of "animals."

I think not, I think they were trying to hide their AirBnb from their rich neighbors and/or watchful eye of their HOA. The final kicker was that the owner's daughter, the "host," had profiled herself in a proudly-displayed biz magazine that she got her start as the local "AirBnB whisperer" by showing her parents how to convert their apartment ADU (because ugh, "tenants") into an AirBnb thus removing it from the local housing stock.

Anyway, connectivity good, exclusivity bad, blah, blah revoke my planner card for staying in that place...
 
New homes around here are all going black and white. It is pretty, but it seems like it will go dated very quickly.

---

My head says rain.
 
TOFB said:
In these parts, new single family homes are looking more like this:

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Is this a wider trend?
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Wow... that's ugly. We have not seen any of that yet. Scary part is something like this would meet most of the design regulations that most places have in place.

However, at least the edge of the porch roof is closer to the road than the garage door is. We have a developer who is fighting me on this. I responded by asking him if the neighborhood is for cars, or for people.




On a side note, nature has blessed some more than others:
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michaelskis said:
I have always wondered what it would be like to have an estate. I was thinking about this when we went to Mount Vernon on Saturday.
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What exactly constitutes an estate? It usually seems to be large single family homes on multiple acres, though I've also seen trailer parks use the term estate.
goo.gl

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TOFB said:
In these parts, new single family homes are looking more like this:

View attachment 57689


Is this a wider trend?
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I agree with @MD Planner

DVD said:
I guess it's all relative. We just do greige with some stucco. I'm not used to seeing so many roof lines though.
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I am not a fan of the excessive number of rooflines. About a decade ago, this was the going thing for new construction in my neighborhood (this is actually one of the more tame ones in terms of the number of rooflines):
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After a few years of those, things calmed down a bit and then we got a few that looked the ones below, which I think is marginally better:
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Now the trend for the spec-built homes in my hood is something like this... with two front doors?
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FWIW, there are a few newish homes in our hood that were not spec-built and they seem infinitely better:
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There is one being built right now that has a single roofline and looks to be a cross between a traditional looking colonial from the '50s or '60s and some sort of modern contemporary. My wife thinks it's hideous but I'm sort of intrigued...

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jsk1983 said:
What exactly constitutes an estate? It usually seems to be large single family homes on multiple acres, though I've also seen trailer parks use the term estate.
goo.gl

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Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
goo.gl goo.gl
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For me, I would think it would be tract of land that has a primary residential structure and multiple outbuildings with either agricultural or recreational features, or combination thereof.

For example, if I could, I would own a 40-acre or larger wooded parcel of land that has a stream on it where I could build a house, garage, woodworking shop, pool, and a combination of ornamental and food gardens.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
There is one being built right now that has a single roofline and looks to be a cross between a traditional looking colonial from the '50s or '60s and some sort of modern contemporary. My wife thinks it's hideous but I'm sort of intrigued...

View attachment 57703

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I'd call that Oversized Contemporary Cape Cod.

It's intriguing but appears to need better transitions between exterior material changes and plane breaks, though it is still under construction, so maybe that's still coming?
 
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mendelman said:
I call that Oversized Contemporary Cape Cod.

It's intriguing but appears to need better transitions between exterior material changes and plane breaks, though it is still under construction, so maybe that's still coming?
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I think you nailed it on the name. I was having a brain fart on the "Cape Cod" moniker.

I agree that there needs to be some sort of better transition. I keep thinking that they are going to paint the rest of the exterior but they haven't yet (the pics were from about a month ago).

FWIW, this house was also interesting to watch go up as the basement was constructed out of cinderblocks, as was most of the first floor. The rest of the house was done with some sort of steel I-beams and then wooden frames hung to them. I keep meaning to look up the name of the construction company on the sign out front to see if they have a website with details of their construction method as I haven't seen anything like that in our neighborhood (this house is by far the most contemporary in our neighborhood as well).
 
mendelman said:
I'd call that Oversized Contemporary Cape Cod.

It's intriguing but appears to need better transitions between exterior material changes and plane breaks, though it is still under construction, so maybe that's still coming?
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"We sent junior to architecture school and now we are building his first-year project house. He's not even licensed yet, and he has his first commission!"
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I think you nailed it on the name. I was having a brain fart on the "Cape Cod" moniker.

I agree that there needs to be some sort of better transition. I keep thinking that they are going to paint the rest of the exterior but they haven't yet (the pics were from about a month ago).

FWIW, this house was also interesting to watch go up as the basement was constructed out of cinderblocks, as was most of the first floor. The rest of the house was done with some sort of steel I-beams and then wooden frames hung to them. I keep meaning to look up the name of the construction company on the sign out front to see if they have a website with details of their construction method as I haven't seen anything like that in our neighborhood (this house is by far the most contemporary in our neighborhood as well).
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What would also help this house is a nice deep 'front' porch across the majority of the primary facade. From your pics it looks like a small-ish porch is planned at the man door.
 
luckless pedestrian said:
that looks like my cousin's house in Queen Creek
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It looks like anyone's home in any area of the metro. Sad. Although our smaller home builders that do infill, you know, Bob and John who moved beyond flipping houses, they do more modern style work. I like it, but sometimes it doesn't fit in the neighborhood. Like where we have all the ranch style homes.
Wannaplan? said:
Hey, near that neighborhood is an actual street called Eagle Talon Trail. That's an unforgettable street name, I love it! :cool:
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We do get a lot of fun street names. I believe Super Chicken is in Tucson. I'm sure DFW gets some good ones too. Gotta love the southwest.
 
TOFB said:
OK here are some more
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A, C, and D aren't terrible and each have appealing elements to me, though I will say there is a definite lack of imagination when it comes to exterior colors in your neck of the woods.

I actually like C quite a bit and it reminds me of some of the new construction we get a few blocks further east from me where the neighborhoods are significantly more dense. It wouldn't look out of place to see something like that on a 40' wide lot here.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
A, C, and D aren't terrible and each have appealing elements to me, though I will say there is a definite lack of imagination when it comes to exterior colors in your neck of the woods.

I actually like C quite a bit and it reminds me of some of the new construction we get a few blocks further east from me where the neighborhoods are significantly more dense. It wouldn't look out of place to see something like that on a 40' wide lot here.
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I don't think it is a lack of imagination as I see these designs as a pretty significant departure from the status quo of the last 30 years.

I like things new and different but I don't see any staying power with the black/white motif.
 
A good city planner thinks in 2D, 3D & 4D.
 
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That's a violation. Right? Like, this can't be legal. God, I hope not. Seen in a commercial/industrial area of Los Angeles, between LAX and the 405. I've never seen billboards over or in the RoW anywhere in North America, except on some MTA bridges in NYC.

lax billboard in right-of-way 1.jpg


lax billboard in right-of-way 2.jpg


/sitting in an airport lounge in PHL, before the last leg of our flight back home.
 
TOFB said:
I am glad I don't do current planning anymore and have to recommend approval of crap like this because it meets minimum requirements.


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Are those what I think they are (topographical contour lines)...? [Puts in me eyes, enlarges pic, and squints :nerd: ] Ok, 1-foot contour intervals, that's not so bad.

But yes, urban-style density in isolation from urban infrastructure/jobs/amenities doesn't seem all that great. What's nearby? Are there any jobs/stores/schools within walking distance? Is there public water/sewer? Is there a bus line stopping at or near the entrance (and what's the service quality/frequency, what's it connect to, and how far away are all the destinations)? As for the size, what's the price of these expected to be, vs. the prices of existing housing in the area and other new housing going up (if any)? "Houselet" is better than "homeless". So many questions...

Did it get approved? Were any changes required before approval?
 
mendelman said:
But...what if the energy is solar produced?

Conundrum...
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Don't care. Crypto is a scam and a disruptive drain on the local power grid, with no societal upside and few new local jobs. Also, don't count on the thing being a property-tax revenue generator for the long haul. Granted, if your (Planit's ) power company is municipal and your current property-tax revenue small...
If I had my druthers, this is a great situation to apply the Seattle process, long enough for bitcoin's value to drop further and the numbers not pencil out for the applicant. But, Planit, if your town really needs the money, might as well go ahead. If you do, you might want to impose some design requirement for the structure to be some kind of flex-space, so it can be adapted for some other user (someone else's data center, warehousing, manufacturing, big-box store) when the crypto miners eventually leave. Also, maybe get some covenant into the deed banning "non-compete" clauses that would hinder the structure's or the property's re-use--not such a concern regarding the crypto-peeps, but the next user might try to pull that.
Ooh, if the power grid is municipal and needs some upgrades/repair, might be worth bargaining for them to chip in for that, since they'll be using 10 MW (per year?) and will be a reliability concern.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
View attachment 57701
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Ok, let's talk about multiple facades on a new structure like this. This reminds me of an older home that has been added onto multiple times over the years. When building the addition, they couldn't exactly duplicate the original façade so they tried to go with complementary facades instead. I've always hated that style. If you have a brick-clad house and you build an addition, please side it with brick in a similar color/ size as the original. Do NOT add vinyl siding to the addition on your brick home; it looks like garbage.

So this new house is trying to pretend that it was originally a three-bay brick Georgian home that has had some additions over the years.
But it's brand new.

I just don't get it.
 
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