On August 12 Eric Clay wrote:
"Merely utilizing the homes in Fall Creek at the density the were meant to be
able to hold would allow the number of people living on my block to
nearly triple, with no new housing construction, energy for heating, roads,
etc, and the existing water and sewer should be able to handle the load.."
I heartily agree with Eric's point that utilizing a lot of our existing homes
in a much more efficient way is a very important piece of the puzzle..
At the same time, there are many homes throughout American cities, Ithaca
included, that are rotting off their foundations or functionally obsolete. By
functionally obsolete homes I mean homes that have low ceilings, inadequate
lighting and ventilation, doors, stairs and bathrooms, etc. that cannot
accommodate physically disabled persons and rooms that are too small..
The replacement of these homes over the coming years affords us the opportunity
to rebuild our cities as more compact, environmentally, socially and
economically sustainable communities sustainable communities. We can provide
homes in our neighborhoods for all residents, not just the able-bodied.
As resistant as people may be to "piling" homes together, the townhouse in its
various iterations world-wide is still nonetheless the most efficient form of
residential architecture in terms of land, building materials and energy
resources, while at the same time providing for a high quality, human
scale urban living experience.
As I stated in previous posts, a large percentage of the world's population has
already figured this out and as a result lives in vibrant, dynamic communities
not dominated by the automobile. When will we see the light?
George Frantz
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