The density measurement of 6,400 persons per square mile is equal to 10 persons per acre gross. That density can be suitable for an intermediate level of public transit service (1 bus every half hour) under present-day conditions and assumptions. http://pedshed.net/?p=131
# • Posted on Aug 14, 2008 • 0 comments • Tags:
I wrote previously that as hard as I looked, I couldn’t find a prefab home that was in the reach of ordinary Americans (like me). I’ve still been on the lookout, and when I heard about the 100k House, I got excited.
The name “100k House” refers to the cost of the house, but it’s a bit misleading. “100k” means that the cost of materials is $100,000, not that the whole house from lot to labor. All told, the house rings up at around $200,000. At $174/sq ft, that’s not too bad at all. One of my criteria is a modest, but comfortable home at a reasonable price.
In my last post I mentioned that simply buying an existing house was better for the environment. Now, I don’t think any new house will ever be that environmentally sound, but the 100k House comes about as close as you can get. It’s certified LEED Platinum, complete with solar hot water and rainwater collection. Cool!
So this house is affordable and environmentally sound—checks all the boxes, right? Not quite. This comes down to personal preference, but I find the 100k House to be ugly, inside and out. I understand that this is a townhouse, but why do all modernist buildings have flat roofs? It’s not always practical in places with a lot of snowfall, and they don’t seem very “home-y”. I also don’t like the shape of the windows—give me a bay or picture window over those skinny things. On the inside, I like the open floor plan of the first level (kitchen, dining, living), but the second floor doesn’t make sense to me. There are no real bedrooms, just a couple of open spaces with a bathroom in between. Not exactly practical if you want a bedroom separate from your kids. They mention on their site that they kept everything inside the envelope simple so you can customize it, but adding walls adds more to the cost of the house. Who would want a no wall, loft bedroom space?
Anyway, I give the 100k House a strong 7.5 out of 10. It gets high marks for affordability and sustainability, but low marks for looks. Your own score may be higher, depending on your tolerance for all things modern.
# • Posted on Jul 15, 2008 • 2 comments • Tags:
A bike convenience store/vending machine in Madison, WI. Suh-weet. Via Bicycle Design.
# • Posted on Jul 09, 2008 • 1 comments • Tags:
My dad subscribes to Garden Design magazine and passes them on to me when he’s done. All in all I enjoy the content; I like the modern edge it has to it. And the magazine looks well-designed, at least to my eye. Today I decided to see if they had any articles from past issues, since I only have the most recent four. To my surprise, I was met with a hideous website straight from the days of the browser wars. I honestly hit “back”, assuming Garden Design magazine didn’t own gardendesign.com after all.
The internet is a great opportunity to really extend the brand of a traditional media franchise. I think Food Network and the New York Times are great examples of this. In some ways, their websites are better than their original product. Garden Design, on the other hand, looks like they spent 20 minutes on their site 10 years ago.
Please, Garden Design! Cater to young people like me, who want additional, interactive features online—in an attractive package!
# • Posted on Jun 27, 2008 • 3 comments • Tags:
NASA scientists have this to say about Martian soil:
It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard - you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really well.
Just add water, right?
# • Posted on Jun 27, 2008 • 7 comments • Tags:
It’s always cool to see landscape-related posts on blogs that aren’t dedicated to the topic. This morning BoingBoing had a post about a garden hidden below grates in the sidewalk. It was suggested in the comments that it could be an act of guerrilla gardening, and it got me thinking and reading more about it.
The Wikipedia article was a really good starting point. They pointed out that Johnny Appleseed was a guerrilla gardener of sorts, spreading apple orchards on land he didn’t own. It seems like guerrilla gardening these days has more of a political slant to it, though. In a New York Times article, one guerrilla gardener called it a “movement” and wrote a “political history” of guerrilla gardening. Today’s guerrilla gardeners are organized and on a mission!
After reading the stories on GuerrillaGardening.org, the online hub for the movement, I wanted to get out there and subvert the law in the name of gardening too! It all sounded so exciting and romantic. What young person doesn’t like the idea of subverting the law in the middle of the night, fighting for a noble cause? The excitement of guerrilla gardening, combined with the social aspect (it seems most work with friends) is excellent motivation to get out there and garden. How can you argue with that?
It all got me thinking, though. Does the fun of guerrilla gardening make it less of a political movement? It seems like the police don’t really seem to care, and I didn’t read of any instances where some owner was upset with the rogue improvements. Where’s the real risk or intrigue?
Here’s a scenario I really find romantic and somehow more authentic. A single person walks/bikes/drives by a neglected median strip every day to and from work. One day, the sheer ugliness of their drive gets to them. After work they go to the garden center, pick up a few plants, and take matters into their own hands. From then on, their commute (and the commutes of others on that road) are a tiny bit better. The commuter isn’t doing it because their friends are, or to make a political statement. They’re stepping out of their commute and making a small difference in their lives and the lives of others.
Anyway, I really do hope guerrilla gardeners of all stripes continue to do what they do. The next time I see a dusty patch of land, I might just do something about it.
# • Posted on Jun 26, 2008 • 5 comments • Tags:
Photo from Flickr
I had an hour to kill in Milwaukee last week, and I spent my hour strolling around the Historic Third Ward. The Milwaukee Public Market is a can’t-miss landmark in the area. The market’s independent vendors sell cheese, fish, veggies, bread, soup, sushi, and more. There was so much variety it got me thinking about supermarkets.
How great would it be if the meat department, the bakery, the deli, and the produce department were all operated by independent businesses within a supermarket? I know that some supermarkets used to operate this way, and I’d love to see this idea return. There are several major benefits to turning supermarkets into Milwaukee Public Markets:
Now, of course it’s not that easy. Supermarkets thrive because of low prices and convenient car access, not necessarily the quality of their food. I would just love to see more Milwaukee Public Markets around.
# • Posted on Jun 17, 2008 • 6 comments • Tags:
Annie and I are at a point in our lives when we’re excited about the prospect of owning a home. Right now we rent half of a duplex, and there are many times we wish we could do things like paint the walls, renovate the kitchen, and really dig up the yard. We want a space we can really make our own.
Of course, the traditional way to do things would be to get a realtor and start looking at houses, but I can’t help notice the hype that prefab homes have been getting. If you read green blogs like Inhabitat and Treehugger, you can’t escape all the posts about the modern, enviromentally-friendly prefabs. I’d love to own one, but there’s a catch: they’re still way too expensive.
Now, maybe it’s because when you think of prefab you think of manufactured homes. These homes are mass-produced in warehouses (like many prefabs), but they can keep their costs as low as $50-75/sqft. That’s really cheap, even if you consider that you have to buy the land to put the home on, as well as any other improvements (like sewer, water, etc.). A 1500 sqft home would only be $75,000! An existing home, say 1500 sqft at $175,000 would be about $116/sqft, and that’s including the land and all improvements.
Now, I’ve tried to find cheap modern prefabs, but I’ve had no luck. I know that no matter what I’ll pay extra for some of the environmental features and modern fixtures, but most prefab prices I’ve seen are outrageous. In fact, most architects don’t list their prices at all. I could be wrong about this, but from reading countless prefab blog posts, I get the sense that people are excited about the trend toward prefab housing. I just don’t see how this trend will fully develop if it compares poorly price-wise to conventional housing.
I will say that there are some promising prefab joints out there. One of my favorites is Hive Modular (who I must credit for the photo above). Their square foot costs are still crazy high at $175/sqft in the Midwest, but they offer a traditional styling option on their homes and their floorplans aren’t weird and modernist. Their houses look like they would suit a typical family.
So, until the prefab trend makes a turn for the cheaper, I think I’ll have to settle for renovating an existing home. And, if you think about it, isn’t it better for the environment to buy an existing home? It’s one of the best forms of recycling.
# • Posted on Jun 17, 2008 • 4 comments • Tags:
