Ink Block (Boston Herald) | 300 Harrison Avenue | South End

JeffDowntown said:
^ Wow that cladding looks cheap!

We may have to rename this the horizontal Kensington.
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I have a feeling that come 2035 we're going to look back at a lot of the recent residential developments in this city and shake our heads at how poorly they've held up and how awful the exterior of these buildings will look.
 
mass88 said:
I have a feeling that come 2035 we're going to look back at a lot of the recent residential developments in this city and shake our heads at how poorly they've held up and how awful the exterior of these buildings will look.
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I would take that bet.

cca
 
mass88 said:
I have a feeling that come 2035 we're going to look back at a lot of the recent residential developments in this city and shake our heads at how poorly they've held up and how awful the exterior of these buildings will look.
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It will look 1000 times better than a run down 3 decker...like anything, regular maintenance is required.
 
617 said:
It will look 1000 times better than a run down 3 decker...like anything, regular maintenance is required.
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Am I the only one who actually likes triple deckers?

They were the affordable/middle class housing of 100 years ago. That contrasts to the super ugly affordable housing from 50 years ago.
 
Man about town said:
No. You are not. They were (and remain today) a brilliant housing type.
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Except when they burn.

salem-fire-at-its-height-bpl.jpg


15154CanalStreetConflagration.jpg


1851399_orig.jpg

^^^ Supposedly the first aerial photograph of a disaster.

After this fire, the city banned construction of three deckers. Any three deckers you see in Salem were built before the fire and survived it.
 
617 said:
It will look 1000 times better than a run down 3 decker...like anything, regular maintenance is required.
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Very true, very very true. Just look at the waterfront over in East Boston - littered with ugly triple deckers.
 
I prefer the triple deckers with the thatched roofs vs the flat ones. I don't even understand how the flat roofs work. Wouldn't they cave in regularly with a large enough snow storm? These never made sense to me. The triple deckers in (West) Somerville are amazing though and the neighborhoods are beautiful. So much more color and character than the "5 over 1" crap sprouting up all over the commonwealth.
 
Triple deckers were a new england specific housing style that allowed the working class to move up. Your parents buy the house, your family lives on the first floor and rent out the next two, one of them paying your rent on the building, the second paying you an income for the month. They worked out extremely well until recently where it has become where a slum lord owns the building and 300 college students/"working professionals"...etc. cram into every room in the house. There needs to be a new answer for the 21st century, hopefully out of necessity someone figures it out.

I live in a triple decker and its falling apart and looks like hell, but back in the day the idea was revolutionary. Obviously a row house or brownstone is MUCH more appealing to the eye, but thats what we've got so you either get used to it or you don't.

In regards to these looking like shit in a few decades. Since they're basically plastic they aren't going to fall apart and look worn the only thing that can really happen is the style looks dated. Well have to wait and see. Either way at least SOMETHING is happening, although its not what we need.
 
stick n move said:
Triple deckers were a new england specific housing style that allowed the working class to move up. Your parents buy the house, your family lives on the first floor and rent out the next two, one of them paying your rent on the building, the second paying you an income for the month. They worked out extremely well until recently where it has become where a slum lord owns the building and 300 college students/"working professionals"...etc. cram into every room in the house. There needs to be a new answer for the 21st century, hopefully out of necessity someone figures it out.
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With the advent of revolutionary technologies like steel, elevators, and electricity, we are now able to build structures taller than 3 stories. They would be a great solution to our over-crowded housing market!
 
tysmith95 said:
Am I the only one who actually likes triple deckers?

They were the affordable/middle class housing of 100 years ago. That contrasts to the super ugly affordable housing from 50 years ago.
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Nope owned a floor of one for 8 years and still miss it today. It is the most efficient floor plan developed and a wonderful living experience.

cca
 
Same. I loved living in a triple decker. Miss it every day.
 
tysmith95 said:
Am I the only one who actually likes triple deckers?

They were the affordable/middle class housing of 100 years ago. That contrasts to the super ugly affordable housing from 50 years ago.
Click to expand...

I believe 3 deckers were mainly workforce/working class housing when built, and were seen as a more humane way of housing people vs tenement row houses, as they allowed windows and airflow on all sides. Plus, they allowed a family who could buy one to really offset costs by renting the other two units, or, it allowed basically a generation family under one roof on each floor.

But yeah, I love 3 deckers, although I find it funny that my immigrant grand mother/father were always able to buy/afford one in Dorchester (and later Roslindale), and that my mother's family grew up in them (6 kids), and now I would struggle to be able to afford a one floor condo in one. Put an offer on a few, and ended up getting beaten out every time by developers with suite cases full of cash who are just going to break them up into condos :(
 
Someday the drunken weekend of staggered windows will end.

But the damage is already done.
 
odurandina said:
Someday the drunken weekend of staggered windows will end.

But the damage is already done.
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When owners decide to pay for texture with the quality of the cladding materials, they will no longer need the staggering of the fenestration to do the job for them. Its a cheep way to add personality, but you are right ... now everyone does it and everything is boring now.

cca
 
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