The Small House Book Read Online Free PDF

dining and living space
    to serve as a nightclub for forty. The needs fulfilled by the corner grocery and
    local bar in our older neighborhoods are now assumed by 700 cubic-foot re-
    frigerators and spacious, walk-in pantries. The resources currently required
    to support several million personal outposts cannot be sustained.
    54
    Densities Too Low
    Myths about high-density housing abound. It is widely believed, for example,
    that higher population densities necessarily increase congestion and strain
    infrastructures. This just simply is not the case. The congestion myth and the
    fear it inspires stem largely from some very real conditions that exist in our
    everyday world. Wherever a design does not accommodate for the number
    of people and the type of activities that occupy it, there will be overcrowding.
    But, just as with a house, the solution is not necessarily more space; it is usu-
    ally better design.
    The goal of design is the same for neighborhoods as it is for houses. Good
    community design has to meet our needs without far exceeding them. The
    suburbs fail on both these counts. People require open space; while the
    ‘burbs do offer it on an excessive scale, the space is seldom useful. We
    inhabit outdoor space in specific ways, and the gaps left over between build-
    ings and roads are seldom sufficient to accommodate our specific activities.
    The assumption that arbitrary swatches of pavement and bluegrass can well
    serve our outdoor requirements is mistaken. Such uninspired places rarely
    get used because they provide no sense of place or purpose.
    High-density development is particularly conducive to comfortable outdoor
    environments. Providing enclosure without confinement is key. Consider ar-
    chitect Ross Chapin’s Third Street Cottages in Langley, Washington. It is a
    “pocket neighborhood,” comprised of eight, 975-square foot cottages and a
    shared workshop, all encircling a community garden. Eleven parking spaces
    have been provided out back. A footpath connects the houses and frames
    the common garden at center. A strong sense of enclosure is provided by the
    surrounding cottages and reinforced by a low, split-cedar fence separating
    55
    the tiny private garden of each home from the shared one. This idyllic setting
    seems to hug without squeezing too hard. It is twice as dense as zoning nor-
    mally allows for the area, and yet, there is not a trace of crowding.
    Elfreth’s Alley in Philadelphia offers another example of congestion-free,
    high-density development. The community was built before zoning laws were
    enacted. Elfreth’s Alley was, in fact, established over 300 years ago and has
    been inhabited ever since. At about 20 feet wide with 25-foot-tall houses on
    either side, this development falls well within the parameters of the recom-
    mended building height-to-road width ratio. It is host to one-way automobile
    traffic, the residents of its 38 row houses, and thousands of tourists enjoy-
    ing the all-too-rare experience of a place designed for people rather than
    cars. On this narrow, cobbled road flanked by brick, stone and foliage, it is
    easy to feel at home if only because it all makes perfect sense. There are
    no strange codes at work and no inexplicable abyss. It is not crowded, and
    it is not sparse. Like Third Street Cottages, Elfreth’s Alley is exactly what it
    needs to be and nothing more. In each of these places, thoughtful design
    with particular attention to proportion and scale has been employed to make
    an environment where serenity and vitality coexist. Each should be a model
    for those designers and lawmakers who have a hand in our future.
    56

    Third Street Cottages on Whidbey Is.
    57

    Third Street Cottages on Whidbey Is.
    58

    Elfreth’s Ally in Philadelphia
    59
    Teaching By Example
    Embracing less in a culture founded on the precept of more is counter-cul-
    tural, but it need not be self-consciously so. To do what we know to be right
    takes effort enough. There is no