Thursday Daily Delawhere [11.15.12]

Comments (6)

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1. Zafo Jones says:

   November 15, 2012 at 6:32 am

   The units could stand to be a third smaller, but I like the common yard. I hope the construction is solid enough to make sure that the residents and their kids can enjoy the trees when they’re mature.

2. Dave says:

   November 15, 2012 at 7:24 am

   Why should they be a third smaller? They serve their purpose in that people want and do live in them.

   And yep, I’ve been inside of them and no balsa wood was used in the construction of the houses.

3. Dorian Gray says:

   November 15, 2012 at 7:57 am

   Documenting the exburb and rural housing boom of the mid aughts? Hmmm…

4. Zafo Jones says:

   November 15, 2012 at 8:50 am

   Hi Dave! The size of modern suburban tract housing like this will become increasingly expensive to heat and cool. The trend toward smaller, more densly arranged housing units is function of energy as much as it is a function of the shrinking size of the average household, which is currently well under 2.5 for Delaware. A great deal of our State and Federal energy policy will focus on “negawatts” or energy conservation efforts. Reducing the amount of low-use, interior residential space that needs climate control is a big part of that strategy.

   That said, if a household is larger than the average, or if the data trends to larger household sizes in the future (extended families living together more frequently as the economic and cultural context of American communities changes), these types of units may enjoy a renaissance and are well-suited to host a relatively big family.

   They’re certainly not the mega McMansions that you see south of Odessa. Those are just…a little absurd.

5. socialistic ben says:

   November 15, 2012 at 8:53 am

   Americans should get used to living in smaller houses. This McMansion phenomenon only really exists here, and I suspect the draw of an “affordable” castle was very effective bait for predatory lenders who caused the economy to collapse. You dont need 7 rooms for a family of 4. Smaller, more efficient, more affordable. I do like the communal yard however..

6. puck says:

   November 15, 2012 at 8:58 am

   There are plenty of off-the-shelf technologies that could make most homes energy self-sufficient or nearly so,even larger homes. They’d probably need to be mandated though, something like CAFE standards for new home construction. A lot of people in New Jersey might be persuadable on this topic about now.