Quality 3. Aged buildings
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The high rents implied by new construction are easier to take when there are older, cheaper buildings next door, as on this stretch of University Place.
Photo: Deniz Ozuyugur | This new Bowery development spans the whole block, ensuring that all the living space will be pricey. Is it any wonder a yuppie totem like Whole Foods opened there?
Photo: Deniz Ozuyugur |
It's not surprising that Jacobs favored old buildings. Plenty of people like certain historical touches or "classic" architecture. What is surprising is that she reserved her highest praise for old buildings that are crappy. Again, building age was not an aesthetic issue for Jacobs. She liked dated structures because they are cheap, and their lower rents are likely to have an income-diversifying effect. In other words, old buildings prevent a neighborhood from becoming a playground for the rich (an outcome that was, for Jacobs, almost as stultifying and objectionable as the emergence of a slum).
It should be noted that Jacobs wanted, as with most things, a mix of old and new buildings. She did not want a neighborhood to be forever shielded from new construction. She viewed this as stagnation. But she didn't dwell too much on the new, on the (probably safe) assumption that there is always development pressure to build new things in cities. The old places, especially if they are ugly or run-down, have fewer advocates.
