Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
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Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
1–10 of 308 posts
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#2I've seen some reasonably beautiful, middle class neighborhoods that were designed as recently as the early 1970's, but nothing since then.
And while there are many aspects of modern interior design that I appreciate, floorplans tend to be universally terrible for anything designed since then as well. I have yet to walk into a (non-custom) home that was built since the year 2000 that I would ever want to live in.
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#3> That is why the increasing cost of craftsmanship, while real, cannot account for the decline of neighborhood beauty.
It's not the cost, it's the availability. I'm currently in the process of a home renovation. If you want a master craftsman to build you say, kitchen cabinets, you may have to wait years for them to be available.
Or you can go to the store and buy custom built cabinets from a factory and have them in a few weeks.
It's the same with the outside of the house. You can build a generic outside with supplies from Home Depot, or if you're really fancy the contractor's supply depot, or wait years for a master to do a custom job for you.
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#4> That is why the increasing cost of craftsmanship, while real, cannot account for the decline of neighborhood beauty. It's not the cost, it's the availability. I'm currently in the process of a home renovation. If you want a master craftsman to build you say, kitchen cabinets, you may have to wait years for them to be available. Or you can go to the store and buy custom built cabinets from a factory and have them in…
If demand so significantly exceeds supply, why aren't folks with these skills raising prices?
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#5> That is why the increasing cost of craftsmanship, while real, cannot account for the decline of neighborhood beauty. It's not the cost, it's the availability. I'm currently in the process of a home renovation. If you want a master craftsman to build you say, kitchen cabinets, you may have to wait years for them to be available. Or you can go to the store and buy custom built cabinets from a factory and have them in…
If demand so significantly exceeds supply, why aren't folks with these skills raising prices?
They already charge a significant amount. But that doesn't increase the supply of master craftsmen. You can't just make more masters. :)
Also, there is still a price ceiling. If they charge too much, people will choose the cheaper alternatives even if they aren't as good.
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#6Unfortunately this plague of bland boxes has come to my neighborhood. Internal volume is more valued than neighborhood aesthetics. It seems there's a correlation between these boxes and people never leaving the house but to work.
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#7> That is why the increasing cost of craftsmanship, while real, cannot account for the decline of neighborhood beauty. It's not the cost, it's the availability. I'm currently in the process of a home renovation. If you want a master craftsman to build you say, kitchen cabinets, you may have to wait years for them to be available. Or you can go to the store and buy custom built cabinets from a factory and have them in…
If demand so significantly exceeds supply, why aren't folks with these skills raising prices?
A lot of these people prefer the stability of knowing their income over a long period of time, rather than focusing on maximising profitability and therefore losing time working on their craft and also introducing instability longer term. My job is similar to this sort of thing and I have gone down the maximising profit route, and even though I've not pushed it to an extreme it can be difficult to stay disciplined about it. You lose a lot of time to it, as well as intelectual bandwidth - you're bouncing back and forth between business brain and craft brain a lot more. Crafts people also tend to be more community orientated which likely reflects in their pricing.
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#8> That is why the increasing cost of craftsmanship, while real, cannot account for the decline of neighborhood beauty. It's not the cost, it's the availability. I'm currently in the process of a home renovation. If you want a master craftsman to build you say, kitchen cabinets, you may have to wait years for them to be available. Or you can go to the store and buy custom built cabinets from a factory and have them in…
That's the current situation, but what about the past several decades? The article claims that very few attractive neighborhoods were built in the US post WWII.
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#9And fails to mention building codes in an entire art critic puff piece.
Re: Why can't we build nice neighborhoods anymore?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
If demand so significantly exceeds supply, why aren't folks with these skills raising prices?
A lot of these people prefer the stability of knowing their income over a long period of time, rather than focusing on maximising profitability and therefore losing time working on their craft and also introducing instability longer term. My job is similar to this sort of thing and I have gone down the maximising profit route, and even though I've not pushed it to an extreme it can be difficult to stay disciplined ab…
Super interesting answer. Thanks!