Oh Se-hoon fue electo en abril de 2021 para ocupar el cargo del 38.º alcalde de Seúl. Abogado de profesión, con anterioridad había ejercido dos mandatos como alcalde desde 2006 hasta 2011, y formó parte de la Asamblea Nacional de Corea del Sur desde 2000 hasta 2004. Oh se graduó en la Escuela de Leyes de la Universidad de Corea y fue miembro académico de la Escuela de Graduados de Ciencias Sociales y Políticas Públicas del King’s College de Londres, donde se centró en la creación de empleo y el crecimiento económico en las principales ciudades del mundo. Durante su primer mandato como alcalde, Oh introdujo iniciativas relacionadas con la vivienda y la gobernanza que le otorgaron reconocimiento por parte de las Naciones Unidas. La victoria de Oh en las elecciones de 2021 se atribuyó, en parte, al descontento sobre el costo de la vivienda, aspecto que él prometió abordar. A fines del año 2022, una estampida en el distrito de Seúl Itaewon dejó sin vida a 159 personas y captó la atención de los medios a escala mundial. El alcalde se disculpó públicamente entre lágrimas y prometió mejorar la seguridad pública. Recientemente se comunicó por correo electrónico, con el miembro sénior Anthony Flint, con la ayuda de un traductor.
Oh Se-hoon: Seúl ha aflorado como una metrópolis competitiva a escala mundial gracias al desarrollo urbano. En la década que culminó en 2021, la ciudad priorizó la conservación, no los espacios públicos cómodos y agradables. Seúl adoptará una estrategia de recreación e implementará iniciativas para derribar barreras entre la conservación y el desarrollo, lo que redefinirá el planeamiento urbano. La idea de planeamiento urbano de Seúl es transformar la ciudad en un atractivo, una ciudad [económicamente activa] con espacios verdes extendidos en el área céntrica, que incluye el río Han, y desarrollar una amplia variedad de infraestructura cultural y recreativa. El objetivo es crear un “ciudad emocional” donde la cultura y el arte se integren en la cotidianeidad de las personas, y la naturaleza sirva como un escenario para la reflexión.
Yongsan es la última porción de tierra en Seúl disponible para una futura urbanización. Servirá como epicentro político, económico y ecológico de Seúl y Corea en el futuro. Tras la reubicación de la oficina presidencial en esta área [en 2022], se convirtió en el epicentro de la política de Corea. La antigua estación ferroviaria se transformará en un distrito de negocios internacionales. La reubicación de la base militar estadounidense se encuentra terminada en un 31 por ciento. Es difícil definir la fecha exacta en la que se completará la transferencia, pero el área se transformará en cientos de hectáreas de espacio verde, un lugar de descanso y tranquilidad para los ciudadanos.
En abril de 2022, Seúl anunció la Estrategia de Recreación de Espacios Verdes Urbanos, que reduce el índice de ocupación del suelo y aumenta el coeficiente de edificabilidad, lo que atenuará las restricciones de construcción en el centro urbano. Se espera que esto cuadruplique el coeficiente actual de espacio verde de un 3,7 por ciento a más de un 15 por ciento. Se prioriza la revitalización del área de Jongmyo y Toegye-ro (el distrito del Centro Comercial Sewoon). En agosto de 2022, Seúl reveló el proyecto Great Sunset Han River Project, que le abrirá la puerta a 30 millones de turistas internacionales. El proyecto tiene como objetivo convertir el río Han en un espacio urbano popular para destacar su atractivo y sus ventajas. [Los planes incluyen] una noria gigante, Nodeul Art Island y un escenario flotante para espectáculos. En febrero, Seúl anunció la iniciativa Innovación en Diseño Arquitectónico y Urbanístico, que apunta a fortalecer la competitividad de la ciudad por medio de obras con un diseño innovador. Los planes de edificación darán prioridad a los elementos de diseño para fomentar el diseño creativo en obras públicas.
Seúl, Corea del Sur. Crédito: fotoVoyager vía E+/Getty Images.
AF: Ha dicho que es necesario que exista una mayor diversidad de opciones de vivienda, en especial para los jóvenes que alquilan de forma individual. ¿Cómo está resolviendo el problema de capacidad de pago de la vivienda?
OS: Los problemas de vivienda impiden que las personas asciendan en la escala social. La vivienda es el componente más costoso de las necesidades básicas como la comida, la vestimenta y el techo, [y] está tornándose una fuente de malestar y ansiedad para la ciudadanía, en especial las personas jóvenes. Según una encuesta realizada por el Gobierno Metropolitano de Seúl, en los últimos cuatro años, los préstamos para jeonse [un alquiler a largo plazo que requiere un anticipo cuantioso] destinados a las personas jóvenes se sextuplicaron, y el 59,4 por ciento de los hogares unipersonales ocupan viviendas de alquiler.
Seúl está adoptando varias políticas de vivienda y de apoyo a la vivienda para ayudar a las personas jóvenes a participar en actividades económicas y sociales sin tener que preocuparse por la vivienda. Esto incluye la provisión de viviendas sociales; la mejora de la calidad de las viviendas en alquiler, y la provisión de viviendas privadas para las personas jóvenes a un precio inferior al del mercado a fin de ayudarlas a acumular activos e iniciar sus propias familias.
La vivienda intergeneracional, que alberga a padres, hijos y nietos, puede ayudar a enfrentar desafíos diarios y problemas sociales como el envejecimiento rápido y el cuidado de los hijos. Además, planeamos brindar viviendas sociales aptas para la tercera edad con servicios residenciales, médicos y de conveniencia. El objetivo principal del gobierno es estabilizar los precios de las viviendas.
AF: ¿Cuáles son los elementos clave del plan de acción climática actual de Seúl y cómo prevé que este modelo se adapte a otras ciudades?
OS: En respuesta a la crisis climática, el Gobierno Metropolitano de Seúl estableció el Plan de Acción Climática de Seúl para el 2050 con el objetivo de alcanzar la neutralidad de carbono para dicha fecha. El plan se presentó al Grupo de Liderazgo Climático de Ciudades C40 y recibió la aprobación definitiva del C40 en junio de 2021. Mediante dicho plan, cuya finalidad es crear una ciudad sostenible donde coexistan las personas, la naturaleza y el futuro, se definieron políticas en cinco áreas principales: [construir y acondicionar] un millón de construcciones de bajas emisiones de carbono para el 2026; expandir la oferta de vehículos eléctricos a 400.000 unidades e instalar cargadores de vehículos eléctricos para el 2026; ofrecer diversas fuentes de energía renovable (como las células de carbono, y la energía geotérmica, hidrotérmica y solar); reducir los desechos, promover el reciclaje y prohibir la disposición final en vertederos, y expandir los parques y selvas para mitigar la emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y estimular la resiliencia urbana.
El plan busca reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero en un 30 por ciento en comparación con los niveles registrados en 2005 para el año 2026. Resolver la crisis climática demandará un trabajo coordinado a escala global. Seúl compartirá sus buenas prácticas con las principales ciudades del mundo y entablará un diálogo con ellas a fin de combatir la crisis climática.
AF: Cuéntenos sobre cómo Seúl se transformó en una ciudad inteligente, incluido el uso de robótica y apps, y su exploración en la realidad virtual.
OS: Seúl es una ciudad global inteligente que se destacó como líder en áreas como los gobiernos electrónicos. De hecho, recibió el premio al mejor gobierno electrónico durante siete años consecutivos. Aspiramos a ser una ciudad inteligente sostenible e inclusiva . . . En la actualidad, en las calles de cuatro ciudades circulan 16 vehículos autónomos: Sangam, Gangnam, Cheonggyecheon y la Casa Azul (Palacio Gyeongbokgung, la antigua residencia presidencial). Seúl planea ofrecer un servicio de vehículos autónomos en la ciudad para el 2026 y convertirse en una ciudad modelo estándar a escala mundial para la conducción autónoma.
[Además] el Gobierno Metropolitano de Seúl implementó robots y tecnologías de IA en su administración pública. El funcionario público robótico, “Robo Manager”, se encarga de tareas administrativas simples, como la entrega de documentos. “Assistant Manager Seouri”, un funcionario público virtual y bot de chat interno, se incorporó para ayudar con procedimientos comerciales complejos. La revista Time premió a Metaverse Seoul como uno de los mejores inventos de 2022. Fue el único [invento del sector público de la terna]. Metaverse Seoul es un lugar donde todas las personas pueden disfrutar Seúl en igualdad de condiciones, ya que no tiene límite de tiempo y espacio, y no posee elementos discriminatorios en materia de género, discapacidad y ocupación. Seúl intenta implementar el ecosistema del metaverso en todos sus servicios administrativos, incluso en el sector de economía, cultura, turismo y reclamos de la ciudadanía.
La revista Time premió a Metaverse Seoul como uno de los mejores inventos de 2022, y lo llamó “la primera plataforma de este tipo desarrollada por una ciudad”. Crédito: Gobierno Metropolitano de Seúl.
Hace poco, Seúl creó el Seoul Smart City Prize (Premio a la Ciudad Inteligente de Seúl), en colaboración con la World Smart Cities Organization. El ganador se anunciará en septiembre. El premio busca promover los valores centrales de Seúl y descubrir proyectos innovadores e inclusivos para compartirlos con el resto del mundo.
AF: Viajó a América del Sur y África para hablar sobre administración de ciudades. ¿Qué contó allí sobre la gestión de la ciudad moderna?
OS: Viajé a Lima, Perú, y a Kigali, Ruanda, hace muchos años como parte del grupo asesor de la Agencia de Cooperación Internacional Coreana. Lima tenía un gran interés en Seúl. Conversamos sobre mis experiencias relacionadas con el proyecto Han River Renaissance Project (Revitalización del Río Han) y la vivienda. Además comenté sobre el proyecto Women-Friendly City (Ciudades Adecuadas para las Mujeres), que [aspira a implementar] servicios adecuados para las mujeres . . . como calles peatonales, parques, baños, viviendas y trasporte público. Visité los lugares donde se están realizando los principales proyectos de Lima, como el Proyecto Río Rimac y el Proyecto Costa Verde. Organicé un seminario para analizar las políticas de vivienda, incluidos el desarrollo del lugar y las políticas de alquileres.
En el momento de mi vista en 2014, Kigali aún estaba trabajando arduamente para subsanar las heridas provocadas por el genocidio atroz que se había cobrado la vida de un millón de personas 20 años atrás. Me impresionó conocer cómo estaban superando esa historia trágica, manifestando Kwibuka, “permítannos recordar”, en lugar de buscando venganza. Admiré cómo transformaban el odio en reconciliación. La reconstrucción urbana es una preocupación significativa en Ruanda, así que transmití mi experiencia en planeamiento urbano, vivienda y turismo, en especial la importancia y el potencial de crecimiento del turismo. Desde Perú hasta Ruanda, durante actividades de asesoramientoy voluntariados internacionales, entendí de primera mano cómo “se aprende cuando se enseña, y se recibe cuando se da”. Esas experiencias me recordaron lo importante que es para un líder ser inclusivo y reconciliador.
AF: ¿Cuál es su opinión respecto a la recuperación de plusvalías en el desarrollo inmobiliario privado, y cómo puede utilizarse para financiar infraestructura, vivienda y otras necesidades?
OS: A cambio de infraestructura durante el desarrollo inmobiliario privado, el Gobierno Metropolitano de Seúl brinda incentivos de coeficiente de edificabilidad. A través de este intercambio, el gobierno puede adquirir infraestructura como rutas y parques, y servicios comunitarios esenciales como bibliotecas, instalaciones para el cuidado de los niños, e instalaciones culturales y para la juventud, así como instalaciones industriales de alquiler público y vivienda de alquiler público. Entre agosto de 2015 y enero de 2023, [gracias a estos incentivos normativos se obtuvieron] 357 instalaciones de contribución pública, que equivalen a alrededor de US$ 5.000 millones. Además, la Ley Nacional de Planificación del Suelo revisada, que entró en vigor en julio de 2021, permite el uso de tanto artículos en especie (instalaciones) como pagos en efectivo en todo Seúl. El Gobierno Metropolitano de Seúl usará estos fondos para cubrir gastos operativos de servicios esenciales, la expansión de rutas y ferrocarriles, y nuevos proyectos de transporte.
El sistema de zonificación actual se renovará para maximizar la eficiencia del suelo en espacios desaprovechados. Adoptará dos pilares de competitividad urbana: la integración de los usos residenciales y comerciales, y la expansión del espacio verde urbano. Seúl está eliminando el límite de altura de 35 pisos [para las construcciones residenciales] que obstaculizaba el cambio; atenuando las regulaciones para la construcción, como la altura y el coeficiente de edificabilidad que impedían el desarrollo del centro urbano; y expandiendo los parques y las áreas verdes.
Seúl se está reivindicando de formas que van más allá de la modificación de sus prácticas de planeamiento urbano. Con el atractivo de la ciudad en mente, el Gobierno Metropolitano de Seúl considera de forma integral los factores que tienen un efecto significativo sobre la felicidad de las personas, como el ocio, la salud, la seguridad y el medioambiente a medida que construye la ciudad.
Land Matters Podcast: Staying Calm and Planning On
Author Josh Stephens’ Interviews with Big City Planners
By Anthony Flint, Junho 7, 2023
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There’s so much happening today in the world’s cities—from climate change to a massive shortage of affordable housing—that the job of the city planner has become a furiously busy one, requiring a singular talent for multitasking and managing the needs of increasingly divided constituencies.
Planners have traditionally labored largely behind the scenes, but are emerging into a more visible role as they explain their work and try to keep the peace, said author Josh Stephens on the latest episode of the Land Matters podcast. Stephens interviewed 23 big-city planners for a new book, Planners Across America.
“Planning directors have huge influence over these cities . . . but they’re not necessarily well known. They are not on the level of a mayor or a city council person who are obviously elected officials, and by definition in the public spotlight; they’re not necessarily like a police chief who is always doing press conferences,” he said. “I think one thing that is very clear in these interviews is how earnest planning directors are about mediating, about figuring out what different stakeholders need and want, and are willing to tolerate.”
Acknowledging the distrust that has grown particularly in communities of color, over urban renewal, highways through urban neighborhoods, and exclusionary zoning, Stephens said planners realize the importance of “listening to people, especially people who have historically been left out of the planning conversation.”
At the same time, planners must confront established residents fighting growth, in what is presented as a virtuous grassroots rebellion but is actually the manifestation of NIMBYism, standing for “not in my backyard.”
“Many communities are empowered, and some of that power is unevenly distributed to the extent that some communities have louder voices, and some communities will invoke people like Jane Jacobs in ways that are not necessarily beneficial for the city as a whole, or might even be disingenuous,” Stephens said.
As he spoke with planners, Stephens found widespread acceptance of the idea that most cities need a massive infusion of new housing supply including multifamily housing—and even high-end housing—to help bring prices down as a matter of basic economics. That’s been the aim of several statewide mandates requiring local governments to modify zoning.
“We do need to add luxury housing in high-cost places to accommodate the people who can afford it. I think ideally, that frees up space, and frees up capital and opportunity, and sometimes public funds to then also build deed-restricted affordable housing, and hopefully maintain a supply of naturally occurring affordable housing,” he said.
“You look at where the prices are highest, and that’s where you need to add housing. You need to add it at every level. There’s an argument that there’s no such thing as trickle-down housing. I don’t buy that. I live in Los Angeles, and there’s more than enough money to go around. If you don’t build luxury housing, that doesn’t mean that wealthy and high-income people are not going to move to LA. They’re simply going to move into whatever the next best housing is. That pushes people down, and eventually some people are left with no place to live.”
However, he said, there will be more post-pandemic movement, from hot-market cities to legacy cities, for example, suggesting the contours of a national housing market. “People have moved from LA to Phoenix, from San Francisco to Boise or Reno or Vegas, and there are other equivalents around the country. I think it’s going to be really interesting in the next decade to see how this filters out,” he said.
Josh Stephens is contributing editor of the California Planning & Development Report and previously edited The Planning Report and the Metro Investment Report, monthly publications covering, respectively, land use and infrastructure in Southern California. Planners Across America was published by Planetizen Press in 2022.
City and regional planning has been a major focus of the Lincoln Institute for many decades, from the annual gathering of 30-plus professionals in the Big City Planning Directors Institute, held in partnership with the American Planning Association and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, to the more recent promotion of exploratory scenario planning.
Anthony Flint is a senior fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, host of the Land Matters podcast, and a contributing editor of Land Lines.
Lead image: Josh Stephens. Credit: Rich Schmitt Photography/Westside Urban Forum.
Boston’s Beloved Triple-Deckers Are Next-Level Affordable Housing
By Anthony Flint, Maio 24, 2023
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This article is reprinted with permission from Bloomberg CityLab, where it originally appeared.
It’s been a workhorse of affordable housing in urban New England for more than a century, and a building type that is as Boston as a Dunkin’ coffee. But in keeping with the city’s predilection for barstool debates, there’s disagreement about what to call it: Is it the triple-decker or the three-decker?
The only consensus may be that the correct pronunciation of the latter part of the term is “deckah.”
Either way, the triple-decker — let’s go with that — has endured since the turn of the last century as a sturdy, practical and even urbane form of housing, quietly prominent in the quintessential Boston neighborhoods of Dorchester, South Boston, Charlestown and beyond.
Tens of thousands of triple-deckers were built during the late 19th and early 20th centuries across New England, in surrounding cities like Worcester, Lowell, Lawrence and Fall River. The simplicity of the design is its calling card. The three floor-through living units stacked on top of each other — initially likened to British sailing warships that had three decks of armament — had kitchens and bathrooms at the same spot on each level, to consolidate plumbing and electricity in one vertical duct.
Invariably simple-wood-frame construction, these free-standing buildings had generally identical floor plans, succinct balconies and small backyards, a mix of flat and gable roofs, and abundant fenestration, to bring in fresh air and natural light. A single front door leading to an internal staircase usually served residents of all three levels; others boasted two front entrances, with one reserved for the ground-floor occupants (often the building’s owner), and another for those upstairs.
The triple-decker building boom was a very pragmatic response to a housing crush in this fast-industrializing region. Waves of newcomers, often immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe, were drawn to the factories and textile mills of New England during the second half of the 19th century. Many had been staying in stables and tents or were crowded in substandard conditions. Business leaders had a need, and private developers bought up parcels and built the supply.
Despite their modest roots as cheap housing for low-income families, triple-deckers boasted up-to-date amenities and a touch of style that allowed them to blend into a mix of urban and suburban contexts. As groups like the New Haven Preservation Trust have documented, ornamentation followed the architectural tastes of the era: Earlier triple-deckers might include Queen Anne-style elements like decorative shingles and elaborate turned porch balusters and railings; later, the Colonial Revival style, with its plain clapboard siding and more staid details, predominated. Most had bay windows facing the street, to maximize interior lighting; a larger trio of decks invariably hung from the house’s rear.
Inside, a typical floor plan called for two bedrooms, living and dining rooms, a generous kitchen and a full bathroom with a tub.
Long before contemporary urbanist catchphrases like “gentle density” and “missing middle” housing were invoked to promote modestly scaled multifamily construction, triple-deckers embodied the idea. The original threeplex. (Oh no, another label option!) Packed tightly onto narrow lots, sometimes in semi-detached pairs known as “perfect sixes,” the boxy structures — close to workplaces or linked to public transit— offered an attainable alternative to more expensive single-family homes, all in service to a healthy local economy. This was state-of-the-art workforce housing, New England-style.
“The three-decker is democratic architecture,” wrote architectural historian Arthur Krim in his 1977 survey of the form, The Three-Deckers of Dorchester. “It was neither tenement nor mansion, but rather good solid housing. It was large enough to raise a host of children around the dining room table, but small enough to keep a pot of flowers on the back porch.”
What today we see as an elegant housing solution was greeted as scourge by the established order in Boston and environs, precisely because of who was moving in. The triple-decker was targeted as part of the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment at the turn of the 20th century, blocked from spreading farther, either by code tweaks that prohibited cooking on the second floor — the wood-framed buildings were described by opponents as fire-prone — or by outright construction bans, as cities began to curate restrictive land use regulations via the newly embraced concept of local zoning.
By about 1920, 36 municipalities in Massachusetts outlawed new triple-deckers, according to the New England Historical Society. Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Providence, Rhode Island, followed suit. Commentators in an organized public-relations campaign railed against the “three-decker menace.”
Imagine that — a not-in-my-backyard rebellion against density, with the building itself cast as the villain — just like those caricatures of monster-scaled apartment towers with fierce teeth that today’s NIMBYs brandish at protests. Then as now, the resistance was less about the structures and more about the people who would live in them.
By the 1930s, the bans had succeeded in halting triple-decker construction, choking off the supply of what ended up being naturally occurring affordable housing. Boston and many other cities ultimately began building public housing developments to house lower-income families, which due to a variety of reasons in design and policies ended up riddled with problems.
The triple-deckers that were built remained in place, and went through various iterations. Many deteriorated badly after World War II, as neighborhoods suffered through the economic turmoil of manufacturing and population loss. Some were bulldozed amid “urban renewal” efforts of the 1950s and ’60s, relegating the style to a signpost of blight in what had become beaten-down neighborhoods.
But thousands survived, becoming entry-level home ownership that had the added benefit of potential rental income.
Survival and Revival
By the 1980s and ’90s, some triple-deckers in rebounding neighborhoods like Charlestown and South Boston were were being snapped up by developers, turned into condominiums, or sold as townhouses to single families who could afford them.
Carol Wideman bought her 1905 Dorchester triple-decker in 1980. A single parent, she let the tenants in the first and third floors remain until they moved elsewhere, then installed her sisters and parents in those spaces.
“They’d be here for transitional times until they got back on their feet,” Wideman says, referring to extended family who on occasion gratefully took advantage of the lodging. The modest rental income helped out with utility bills and upkeep. “It’s comfortable,” she says. “I like the idea I can provide a place for family. It was a nice feeling for my parents as they got older.”
That’s the thing about living in a triple-decker. The common floor plan can conjure a sense of community among each building’s residents, whether they’re related or not, that somehow feels more right-sized than living in a larger apartment building. Because each level follows the same floor plan, the only difference between units is each family’s furnishings and interior décor. (Thanks to stacked kitchen locations, lower-floor triple-decker denizens are likely to also share the cooking smells that waft upwards.) Despite their modest roots, the roomy, light-filled living spaces remain appealing to modern homebuyers.
The building form has clearly been worth saving. After a fire in 2019, Wideman’s home was renovated for the popular TV show This Old House, in a glorious demonstration of how the original configuration works so well. The structure got the full treatment, retrofitted down to the studs, with new wiring, heating system, plumbing and more. The show’s Boston-bred host, Kevin O’Connor, was thrilled to do the work, having lived in a triple-decker himself for a few years. “These are extremely durable homes,” he says.
Wandy Pascoal, the Housing Innovation Design Fellow at the Mayor’s Housing Innovation Lab, has been studying the life and times of the triple-decker — both to reuse and renovate the existing housing stock and to promote new models of simple multifamily housing that capture some of its virtues. When speaking with residents about their experiences living in three-deckers, Pascoal found that, far from being a sinister monster, the triple-decker was a versatile home style that could accommodate housing needs at different stages of life.
“The scale and abundance of the triple-decker allowed for the creation of truly intergenerational communities who not only knew each other but also came to grow alongside one another,” she says. “We heard from those who grew up in them, newer residents who came to appreciate the personal value of the building type, and even those who never lived in one but would often visit family members who did. A story we frequently heard was of an older grandparent, typically a grandmother, who upon migrating to the United States would soon after purchase a triple-decker. While living in one of the apartments, the grandparent would offer the remaining two to extended family or rent them out at an affordable price to those who needed a home.”
A snowy South Boston street is lined with triple-deckers. Credit: DenisTangneyJr/E+ via Getty images
Several triple-deckers have been renovated with the support of city-sponsored programs such as the Boston Home Center’s HomeWorks Home Equity Loan Program
And something else came along fairly recently that put the triple-decker in the spotlight: As more communities looked to the building sector for solutions to the climate crisis, these drafty old houses became great candidates for clean-energy retrofits. Local designers are participating in competitions like the Massachusetts Clean Energy Coalition’s Triple-Decker Energy Challenge and Co-Creating Boston’s Future-Decker, sponsored by the City of Boston and the Boston Society for Architecture, to come up with retrofit protocols. Oil-heated original homes are being converted to electric heat and given green add-ons like solar panels and charging ports.
Such retrofits can be expensive, further boosting the values for what was cheap housing. A triple-decker in Dorchester is listed at $1.2 million for the entire building; the floor-through apartments, sold as individual condos, routinely go for $700,000 and up. Still, adapting older homes is inherently efficient as a matter of carbon emissions: As O’Connor, and many others point out, the greenest building is the one that already exists.
There is nothing like a preserved triple-decker — or even better, a whole block of them — to stir appreciation of graceful density and urbanity. Being 100 years old, their presence connotes a certain pride in the region’s history. Yes, they look essentially the same, one after the other. But that uniformity has a certain functional beauty.
Indeed, the fate of the triple-decker might well inform the emerging critique that new multifamily developments all look alike. (It remains to be seen if future generations will look back at today’s “five-over-one” complexes with similar appreciation.) Just like the elegant curve of townhouses in Bath, the blunt symmetry of triple-deckers sends a message: There’s plenty of room here for people to live.
And what to call them? Wideman, the owner of the Dorchester building, says she was only vaguely aware of the three-decker versus triple-decker debate.
“Either one is fine for me,” she says. “The main point is that it works.”
Anthony Flint is a senior fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, host of the Land Matters podcast, and a contributing editor of Land LInes.
Lead Image: An East Boston neighborhood showcases its stock of triple-deckers. Credit: DenisTangneyJr/iStockphoto via Getty Images
Innovations in Manufactured Homes (I’m HOME) Annual Conference 2023
The I’m HOME Annual Conference is back! For the first time since 2019, our network will gather in Chicago, Illinois, from August 23 to 24 for networking, policy discussions, updates from the field, and more. Download the conference agenda and stay tuned for updates.
Exacerbated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the twin housing affordability and supply crises continue to plague Americans in both urban and rural areas. Manufactured housing represents the largest available stock of unsubsidized affordable housing—making its preservation and growth crucial to solving the affordability problem.
The I’m HOME Network is committed to uplifting manufactured housing as a solution to the United States’ housing issues, and the Annual Conference will provide an opportunity to dig into pressing policy questions, hear from leading experts, and learn about best practices from across the country. The agenda covers a range of topics, including single-family financing, development with manufactured housing, and state legislation wins, with insights from homeowners, affordable housing developers, researchers, industry experts, lenders, policymakers, and nonprofit advocates, among others.