Is there a “lacking middle” in our vocabulary and creativity as well as our architecture?
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A few weeks back, I came across an intriguing Twitter thread on housing typology and vocabulary, commenced by planner and Market Urbanism contributor (and occasional New Urbs contributor) Nolan Grey:
Concern from @YIMBYDurham: what do we connect with this emerging typology of townhouse-like developments but with <3" side setbacks between units? Merely calling them detached single-family houses misses something and the emerging label of "townhouses" in e.g. Houston also feels weird. pic.twitter.com/7g9wTB5TyZ
— Nolan Gray (@mnolangray) August 22, 2020
It happens that while barely detached houses like this are sometimes built today, perhaps because of a preference to not share a wall or to technically be marketed as a detached house, this basic form also exists in some older cities, usually originally built as working-class housing. Notice that they’re characterized not only by narrow setbacks between units, but also by relatively narrow and deep dimensions, just like rowhouses (particularly of the D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia variety.)
While these images are from small cities in Maryland, this housing form can be spotted throughout the Mid-Atlantic, at least.
There are many jargony names for different housing and building types, from College Park, Maryland’s mostly vanished “Knox Box” to New Jersey’s “Bayonne Box” to the Los Angeles Dingbat. Outside of urbanist discourse, there isn’t much awareness of these names, or forms. Corresponding to the “missing middle” in housing between large apartment complexes and detached single-family homes, is there a missing middle of the vocabulary and imagination? Should modern development take inspiration from these various loved and hated local housing forms? Some will say yes and some will say, but a wider familiarity with what physical forms missing middle housing can actually take couldn’t hurt.
And what do you call a “detached rowhouse,” anyway?
This New Urbanism series is supported by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. Follow New Urbs on Twitter for a feed dedicated to TAC’s coverage of cities, urbanism, and place.
