whighlander
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I highlighted the comment about change and neighborhoods -- kinda like Climate -- there's a reason that the averages to which everything is being compared are 30 year averages -- that's how long people live in a place -- aka a generation
Things change on about that 30 year timetable in neighborhoods as well -- houses get upgraded by new folks older houses fall into disrepair and may be an opportunity for a bulldozer renovation Some houses [typically on busy corners] end up as places for professionals and others to do business
Take a look at nearly every neighborhood in Boston, or Cambridge, or any one of the towns in/on the Rt-128 loop -- the transformation process repeats in varying forms on that 30 year timescale. I doubt that there is any building in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, or the North End except Churches which were built originally as anything other than single family housing [OK a couple of other exceptions] -- BUT no one built a building in those neighborhoods to house a nice restaurant, or a retail shop or even a doctor's or law office -- they were building houses [sometime at the top of the market such as Beacon Hill toward the Boston Common or Commonwealth Avenue] and [sometimes midmarket such as near Paul Revere's House] -- Houses. Outside of the obvious original commercial districts and some later industrial areas -- all of Boston [and environs inside / on Rt-128] was built originally as single family houses or small multis such as the Legendary 3-Deckers.
It's only when wholesale redevelopment occurred such as after a major fire, [1872 downtown] or when new land appeared after filling that people began to think about building for other uses such as commercial warehouses, factories or shops. A couple of generations go by and the character which we associate a place today becomes established -- but all the while its still changing under our noses.
