Here’s a quote from an actual Denver city councilperson when I asked her why there was no sturm and drang over townhouse redevelopment in her district:
“I think the acceptance has come over time. Initially (there was pushback for various reasons). I remember a big dispute over a huge, old elm, but I wasn’t in office then. The acceptance came as the old timers moved out and property values rose.”

She could also have said “as the old timers died”.

Zoning policy should be framed for our grandchildren, not us.

Anyway, every redevelopment project faces resistance. The neighborhood is seeing change. The Hipsters as you put it are bringing investment to the area, and in the process transforming it into their vision of a livable neighborhood. If the existing property owners have a different vision then they have to initiate projects that demonstrate the same. Honestly I don’t think they have that vision defined, and if they do then I suspect its not compelling to attract investment. Thats not fair or unfair – its just economics.

I find it hard to feel compassion for the stance that resists this development though. This is not a proposal to move toxic industry into the neighborhood, or to destroy farms or natural lands to build more houses. I think at most it boils down to a difference in aesthetics, and that is a difficult leg to stand on in opposition in a culture that values diversity.

“If you love modern architecture, it’s important that you make it out and vote because the

neighborhood doesn’t always see the vision if it’s not covered in builder grade brick and vinyl

windows… Be there Fishtowners!”

Im lost to the hype here. These are nice looking, well designed, and and Im sure beautifully

functioning houses, but, in a nutshell, can someone please remind me what the “vision” is that the

“neighborhood” is supposed to be seeing? Looks and sounds like a class struggle to me. Why are you

surprised that its getting a negative reaction from working class folks. This is foreign information.

The city has always been in flux and is never fixed, so Im all about rethinking contextualism, but when

you set up the dialogue to be modern architecture vs. builder-grade, youre going to get pushed back at

by the builders, and rightfully so. Thats some seriously classist talk, and you want Fishtowners to

support you?

With so much creative potential, Im wondering if there is another way. Can we actually remake our

‘hoods in a way that neither allows blight to continue, nor creates a culture so entitled to its need

for resources and entertainment (“love” for modern architecture) that it fails to see its own negative

effects on the very places it wishes to transform? Making good houses cheap is righteous, but

practicing a willful blindness to the results of your actions is as ugly as the blight you wish to

eradicate.

Nice cement board siding though. I really hope this gets built. But don’t you have a bigger vision

than just how great your work is and how we ought to come out and support it? I think so, but when I

read through this blog (and many others like it) Im disapointed at how self-congratulatory and

self-righteous the dwell-culture has become. What are you guys about anyway? You talk about the

triple bottom line, so how is this about people again? How is it about anyone beyond those happy

hipsters in the renderings? If the neighbors dont want it, then why do you want to do it? Maybe if

their kids could afford them it would be a different story.

Second, it’ll be interesting to see how ZBA rules on this. It’s my impression that it has become less reliant on neighborhood opinion during the Nutter administration (for better or worse). Chad, do you know what the final tally was?

Last, the yuppy vs. union paradigm is just so tired. Granted, the developer could’ve done more to engender good will during the Memphis Flats construction, but with all the problems facing this city, you’d think that we could move on beyond the whole longtimers vs noobie nonsense. Rant over.

The union was out in strong force even if they didn’t live in the neighborhood. They made it mainly a labor issue which has nothing to do with the zoning issues being presented. Ahh Philly…

BTW, how did the meeting go last night? Did all those transparent people show up to support the project?

Rumor has it that the Nutter administration is working on ways to get this vast resource of land into private developers’ hands while increasing the amount of new homes available for purchase between $200K and $300K. Sounds like a good fit to someone’s business model…