A Paradise of Small Houses: An Interview with Author Max Podemski
Sep 30, 2024
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Max Podemski, an insightful author on urban housing, discusses his groundbreaking book on the evolution of American housing. He explores how historical immigrant communities shaped dense, multi-family homes, contrasting them with today's fixation on single-family homes. The conversation navigates through the architectural history of cities like Boston and Los Angeles, critiques modern urban initiatives, and emphasizes the need for adaptable housing policies. Podemski also tackles the impact of zoning and housing finance on social mobility and community dynamics.
Max Podemski highlights the rich legacy of dense urban housing in the U.S. as a reflection of grassroots efforts by working-class communities.
The historical evolution of unique housing designs reveals how local builders adapted to their environments, shaping cities like Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
Current housing policies often perpetuate historical biases, necessitating reforms that promote diverse housing types to address the ongoing housing crisis.
Deep dives
The Impetus for Writing on Urban Housing
The motivation behind the book stems from observing the ongoing housing crisis and a desire to provide insight into the rich legacy of dense urban housing in the United States. The author expresses a fascination with various cities and their unique architectural histories, particularly how they differ across regions. He emphasizes that housing development has traditionally been a grassroots endeavor primarily driven by the working class, not merely a product of policymakers or architects. By exploring this history, the author aims to illuminate the often overlooked contributions of everyday builders and the diverse housing styles that emerged from local cultures.
The Role of Local Adaptations in Housing
Each chapter of the book examines how specific housing styles developed in various cities, showcasing the adaptability of urban builders to their environments. For instance, the terrace house model from England was adopted and modified in Philadelphia to suit local climate and construction materials, resulting in a landscape predominantly filled with row houses. This adaptability highlights the importance of policy frameworks that allow for recognizable and replicable housing types, promoting economic scalability. The ideal is to create environments where small-scale builders can thrive and produce desirable homes.
William Penn's Vision and Its Ironies
William Penn's vision for Philadelphia aimed at creating an egalitarian society through a grid layout intended for individual home lots. Ironically, this vision led to a city constructed primarily of row houses, accommodating a diverse population of elites and working-class families in close quarters. The grid structure allowed for innovative housing solutions, yet it did not manifest as Penn had anticipated; rather than standalone homes, the dense urban housing became the norm. Nevertheless, this arrangement allowed for mixed-income communities, showcasing a practical realization of his original ideals despite deviations from his initial plan.
Innovations in Housing Design and Quality Control
The book discusses the evolution of unique housing designs, like the Trinity house in Philadelphia, which illustrates how builders responded to available space and societal needs. Quality control emerged not from formal regulations but from an apprenticeship system and the use of pattern books that provided tried-and-true designs. This artisanal approach allowed for a high standard of construction, ensuring that homes were both functional and enduring. The discussion extends to how urban renewal efforts post-World War II neglected these structures, leading to unnecessary demolitions and a loss of valuable housing stock.
Contemporary Challenges and Policy Solutions
Current housing policies often hinder the development of affordable urban housing, as many regulations reflect historical biases against dense living environments. The author argues for reforms that recognize and leverage existing housing models, such as duplexes and row houses, to create new opportunities for construction and living spaces. There is a call to reevaluate policies that inadvertently shame or restrict innovative housing solutions to meet the needs of modern communities. Emphasizing the role of local builders and flexibility in planning, the author asserts that expanded options in housing types can help combat the ongoing crisis and fulfill the demand for urban dwellings.
In this episode of the Infill Podcast, YIMBY Law's Executive Director Sonja Trauss speaks with author Max Podemski about his new book "A Paradise of Small Houses: The Evolution, Devolution, and Potential Rebirth of Urban Housing." In his book, Podemski discusses the history of housing in the United States and the factors that drove housing production in our country's early days.
Although today Americans typically view single-family detached homes as our American dream, Podemski tells the story of immigrants and working class communities whose dreams of dense, multi-family homes served as expressions of American ingenuity and social mobility. By looking at the history of cities like Boston and its triple deckers, or Los Angeles and its bungalow courts, we can see how the kinds of homes that cities are known for are tied to the the motivating factors for what types of housing was prioritized and why.
These lessons are particularly valuable today as our nation faces as shortage of homes, and Americans are seeking solutions for how to solve it. Our ideals about what kinds of homes should be prioritized in American culture are intrinsically tied to our historical views of class and race. Podemski's book gives us a unique lens into how these views have shaped our communities today. Tune in to hear more from Sonja Trauss and Max Podemski about "A Paradise of Small Houses," the history of housing in the US, and how our history is impacting us now.
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Get the book: https://www.beacon.org/A-Paradise-of-Small-Houses-P2037.aspx
Area Median Income Lookup: https://ami-lookup-tool.fanniemae.com/
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