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MIxING HoUSING TYpES IN A HIGH DENSITY NEIGHboRHooD

Introduction Historical Precedent Contemporary Precedent Design Project Influence

INTRoDUcTIoN

For a variety of reasons, many people of different incomes generally choose to live apart. This creates an economically unstable environment that tends to segre-gate the concentrated families of low-income. Difference is what cre-ates a barrier between each neigh-borhood and makes it uneasy to generate a healthy community. Housing should encourage integra-tion with residents of all types to im-prove social networks, offer oppor-tunities and improve the economy

of a place. Making a dense commu-nity a healthier place to live can be achieved through mixing housing types within a neighborhood. Mixed housing types can be defined by the use of different styles of dwell-ing units, in a geospacial location, as well as mixing income through affordable housing and market-rate units. There are several successful historical and contemporary proj-ects that have achieved a healthier community through mixed housing. Most of the precedents have features of New Urbanism ideals, such as pro-moting walkable neighborhoods in addition to having a wide range of housing types in a compact space.

The Department of Hous-ing and Urban Development was formed in 1965 in order to solve several urban housing problems that were rising during that gener-ation. Their mission was and is to:

Create strong, sus-tainable, inclusive com-

munities and qualify affordable homes for all. HUD is working to

strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the

need for quality af-fordable rental homes;

utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build in-clusive and sustainable communities free from

discrimination, and transform the way HUD

does business.

While this inclusive mission statement should apply to every housing development, in order to obtain a healthy and happy community, it is essential to con-sider how people will live in their neighborhoods. Applying mixed housing types could provide that opportunity for residents of diverse backgrounds to communicate and create a community that cherish and love the place they live.

HOPE VI program was de-veloped in 1992 as a result of failed public housing projects. The public housing projects often isolated and

FRoM DIFFERENcE To DIVERSITY

IMAGE

New ColumbiaNew Columbia

Highlands Garden Village

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concentrated minorities depen-dent on welfare, suffering from high unemployment rates, teenage pregnancy, single parenthood and a climate of serious crime. HOPE VI was meant to revitalize these areas by incorporating mixed income de-velopments or strategies and New Urbanism concepts. Those concepts included: dense, pedestrian friend-ly, transit accessible and buildings directly interacting with the street. This was meant to integrate resi-dents into existing neighborhoods to produce cohesion. However, this method resulted in the dis-placement of families and the new structures did not match the num-ber of units that were previously offered in the old housing building. It was built for a different number of tenants which meant a net loss of housing.

HISToRIcAl pREcEDENT

Although HOPE VI received several criticisms, there were positive results that benefited a community through the revital-ization process. Harbor Point, a development progressed from a former abandoned Columbia Point during the early 1980s by a devel-oper named Joe Corcoran and the architecture firm Goody, Clancy and Associates. The rehabilitation project renovated the 1950s pub-lic housing area into a 1,283 unit mixed race, mixed income commu-nity with integrated social services. This development encouraged the rich and poor to live side by side. A large accomplishment of this proj-

ect included a transformation of an all low income black public housing into a safe and attractive urban community. According to the article by the Bruner Foundation, the goal was to keep an even spread of subsidized units throughout the complex, so that there would be no physical differences between the market rate and subsidized build-ings.

By mixing housing types within a community allows for a mixture of incomes within blocks of development. By a definition given by Diane Levy, Zach McDade and Kassie Dumlao in Effects from Living in Mixed-Income Communities for Low-Income Families, A mixed-in-come development is a

deliberate effort to construct and/or own a multifamily develop-ment that has the mix-ing of income groups as a fundamental part of its financial and op-

erational plans. Must, at a minimum, give poor

children an opportunity to live close to families that are not dependent on welfare and instead

belong to the main-stream working culture.

IMAGE

HistoricalHarbor Point

Harbor PointRevitalization

Harbor Point Thornton Place

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Mixed incomes spread throughout the mixed housing types can affect residents abilities to bridge differences. It creates places where communication is encour-aged and social interactions occur.

coNTEMpoRARY pREcEDENTS

Thornton Place located in a town center for North Seattle is a contemporary model of mixed income development. The housing structures are built atop two levels of ground parking and it includes 55 low-income apartments, 224 market-rate apartments and 109 condominiums, all within a com-pact site. This walkable neighbor-hood also includes diverse services that reflect the residents needs such as retail, entertainment and medical facilities. As seen in this project as well as others, mixed

income properties also bring in opportunities for a variety of busi-nesses.

Patrick M. Condon states in Chap-ter 6 of Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities: Design Strategies for the Post-Carbon World, that a good model for adding housing diversity to existing residential districts con-sists of building new higher density, low-rise buildings that are compat-ible with lower density neighbor-hoods and by learning how to con-vert existing single family homes into multiple dwelling structures. Through this type of model devel-opment, architects and planners were able to understand that resi-dents are not intimidated by den-sity itself but instead are objective when they can see and feel the impact of density. Therefore, it is important to consider the appear-ance of mixed neighborhoods. An

effective approach is to consider how the new development will reso-nate with the current surroundings.

The New Columbia contem-porary development near downtown Portland uses a similar technique as discussed by Condon. This housing project, by Mithun Architects, in-cludes 854 units of mixed housing types ranging from multifamily rent-al housing, apartments, townhomes,affordable housing, single fami-ly detached residential and senior housing. All the different types are patterned together instead of sec-tioning them into their own com-munity. With community centers that provide recreational and ed-ucational services, New Columbia is home to a mix of residents who represent a variety of cultures, age groups and income levels.

Another contemporary prec-edent of dense mixed housing devel-opment is the Highlands Garden Vil-lage by Calthorpe Associates in local Denver, Colorado. This former Elitch Gardens Amusement Park urban in-fill project consists of 291 homes with a variety of housing choices: single family detached homes, townhous-es, carriage homes, garden-style apartments, senior housing and a co-housing community. Twenty percent of the apartments and for-ty percent of the senior housing are affordably priced. Highlands Garden Village uses Smart Growth Principles of compact building design and a range of housing choices that is de-signed for a community to interact without dividing boundaries and subtly integrate the use of density.

DESIGN pRoJEcT INFlUENcE

For the design project, it is important to create a community that can value social interactions. Economic stability is another vi-tal aspect that will be integrated through the design. Each housing structure will be fused with different types of dwelling units. An example of this would be to have multi-family apartments and studios in the same building as townhomes. The town-houses are aligned on both ends of the structure while studio spaces fill the top floor. Similar to the High-lands Garden Village and New Co-lumbia Neighborhood, these build-ings will be dense at a lower height such as three to four stories. The townhomes will also feature a pri-vate front yard space of fifteen feet. Rental and market rate apartments occupy the space between the townhomes. Two to three bedroom units are suggested on ground floor and second floor while the third or fourth floor is dedicated to single room units. By having the multi-fam-ily units closer to the ground floor,

New Columbia

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it creates an environment where families with children can easily ac-cess the outdoor space. It also al-lows parents to keep a closer eye on their children playing outside. Espe-cially those families on the ground floor will be able to see their chil-dren within a couple feet playing in the grass fields. Children would be in close proximity to their friends. The studio and single room apartments are suggested to graduate students.

Mixing housing types of both physi-cal attributes and income levels have positive socio- economic effects for their residents. Incorporating a vari-ety of housing from single family de-tached units to multi-family afford-able apartments to townhomes and senior housing, it creates an inclu-sive community where residents are meshed into a diverse culture. This strategy also cancels out the widely spread suburban trend that is some-what segregated by neighborhoods. According to the Metropolitan Hous-ing and Community Center article,

children also are as-sumed to benefit from living in mixed-income environments in ways similar to adults be-cause they are expected to benefit from interac-tions with positive role models and from expo-sure to socially or cul-turally diverse people.

It is important to create relationships with people, especially for children. Therefore housing design must con-sist of a flow that allows residents to easily communicate with each other. Having a mixture of hous-ing types allow neighborhoods to

change difference into diversity and residents are able create an identi-ty or culture that does not gentrify and displace low income families.

Proposed Mixed Housing Development

Thornton Place