Where does Future Construction Lie?

The discussion on the housing in “Little Boxes” was rather interesting.  As a preface to the essay, the  author had a rather ironic introduction, with a writer that holds a PhD talking down on the architecture being developed for the middle class in a new neighborhood development. The opinion itself was very disconnected and elitist, but the author goes on to highlight how much it brought to the surrounding area. This development ultimately became the most densely populated Philippino population in California and became extremely culturally rich, filling formerly vacant buildings with new functions that fit their culture and needs. It goes on to discuss how housing typologies have shaped Silicon Valley, how the small and simple buildings ultimately led to some of the most innovative companies within the past half century. Circling back to the writer from before, her main gripe was on the “tacky” homogeneity of the neighborhood development. I do think she has some point, albeit minuscule, in terms of her geographic location of California, but this is very much an outlier where being homogenous is very much the exception rather than the rule. Overall though, most cities are dominated by a uniform housing typology with small modifications. The New York Brownstone, the Los Angeles Dingbat, the two flat of Chicago and Milwaukee; these housing typologies supported the working class for decades and continue to do so as they are continually molded to fit ever changing needs of the user while giving the cities their iconic look for everyday inhabitation. 

Retrofitting Suburbia also had points of interest with lots of tie ins to the previously mentioned reading. The text goes over the main points of concern and interest with retrofitting, avoiding gentrification, make it walkable/transit focused, community engagement, the usual. What I like is how this retrofitting is showcased in the previous text. Circling back around to the Philippino immigrants, when the “little boxes” were occupied by these immigrants, they brought with them much larger families and a different family dynamic. The garages of these houses were converted into occupied space and additions were easily made due to the flexibility of the wood construction. This ease of conversion offered the community an opportunity to prosper in a direction befitting of them with no outside influence. The United States has an interesting dilemma approaching it in the next decade or so.  As our module and material of choice are continually cut at a younger age, the quality decreases all while prices continue to climb. Will new housing even be affordable or inhabitable by these essential groups of migrants as they search for new opportunities in the United States?