Haverhill, Massachusetts

 

Although it's a state route, the street is narrow which slows traffic. On street parking is a physical barrier between pedestrians on the narrow sidewalk and moving cars in the street. This part of Haverill survived the "urban renewal" demolition that affected other parts of town. Three to four story buildings. Built to the front property line. Limited on site parking. Traditional architecture and building materials.  Small town urbanism.

Related: Why walkable streets are more economically productive.

Compatibility of Building Form

These two buildings across the street from each other in San Francisco were constructed nearly a century apart, but they both have the same form. Seven story mixed-use built to the sidewalk. The new building may look very different, architecturally speaking, from the old one, but it is identical in form. Often when people argue about compatibility of design in new construction they obsess about architectural style and ignore the form of the buildings. This is something many community "design review boards" miss; especially when it comes to single family homes. It doesn't have to look like a replica of existing buildings to be compatible with the character of the neighborhood.

Building placement matters.

This the the intersection of Chippewa and Delaware in downtown Buffalo, NY.  Look at the difference the proper placement of a building at the sidewalk can make on a neighborhood.  Two of the buildings are built to the sidewalk and a third is built like a tacky strip mall. Shame on Starbucks. So desperate to be across the street from a local coffee shop that they choose to lease that hideous building. The building under construction on the fourth corner will be placed at the sidewalk edge as it should be and help make this a vibrant intersection. Perhaps the Starbucks corner will follow suit.

A Beautiful Old Post Office in Hollywood

This is the Hollywood Station of the US Post Office. Built when we had the wherewithal to build things of lasting value and places worth caring about. This is the sort of building people recognize as beautiful and meaningful in their neighborhood. Why can't we build these things today? If this were built today it would likely be set back far from the street with a parking lot in front of it and probably enough room to drive up and drop your mail because heaven forbid you have to get out of your car for five minutes.

This is a picture of the iron work over the windows.  

How to change a neighborhood on the cheap.

Look how easily a building can be transformed with a coat of paint. It looks especially good in contrast to the orange building behind it. Compare it to the way the building looked just a couple years ago in the Google Street View below. City planners and economic development folks go to such great lengths to improve their downtown commercial districts with expensive streetscape improvements and  aggressive land use plans - and sometimes radical changes like that are necessary and economically feasible - but often we ignore the benefits of  simple solutions such as a coat of paint and a few street trees.

Related: If we don't maintain it, it'll fall apart.