At the kind invitation of Joel Spiro and Vincent Silluzio, we visited the Bixby Court condos on June 20 to take a closer look. The development consists of ten units housed in seven buildings. It includes two homes built in the early 19th century and remodeled plus five new farmhouse-style townhouse units. Each unit includes a front porch. Here are pictures provided by Joel and Vincent:



Side garden of a townhouse unit



Side garden of another townhouse condo



Early 19th century Bixby Court condominium building



Greenspace separating two historic condo buildings



Historic Bixby Court condo unit



Historic unit alongside townhouse unit


We have been critical of the Bixby condos and the ones at Hockanum Road for several reasons:

• Many units are closely similar in external appearance; they lack the individuality and character of the detached homes around them
• The units and their parking lots cover a large percentage of the land with impervious surface. This can raise stormwater runoff issues, reduce tree cover, and increase urban temperatures. Space for private yards and gardens is limited. Much of this greenspace is sequestered from public view
  
• The condos lie at an angle to the street that provides access to them; they do not seem well integrated into the foot or vehicle traffic of their immediate neighborhood

While these issues are important, they are not the whole story. The merits of Bixby Court include:

• The condos are fairly new (built in 2000) so they don't have the repair and upgrade issues associated with some of the older homes in Northampton
  
• The condo association maintains the grounds so residents don't have to
  
• The interiors of the units are well-finished (hardwood floors, tile, thick carpets) and have been customized by the owners past and present (home offices, basement bedrooms, vaulted ceilings)
  
• The development provides housing that is a short walk from downtown Northampton
• The development is also convenient to a pleasantly green walking path down towards Montview Farm
• A number of units have handsome (if small) private patios and gardens behind them:

Back patio



More back patios

Joel and Vincent advocated for a variety of housing types. "The Bixby Court type of condominium," they assert, "with its one- and two-bedroom units, within a five minute walk of Main Street, meets beautifully the needs of small families. The few turnovers that have occurred in the eight-year condominium history have been when two young couples, both expecting twins, moved to larger homes, an owner married and moved to another valley town and a New York architect finished projects in the area and moved back to New York. Their condos were sold almost immediately."

We agree that a diversity of housing options is good. Our concern is that the Sustainable Northampton Plan will excessively favor multi-unit housing concentrated within in-town neighborhoods. Beyond a certain point, the increased density will reduce the quality of life for all, bringing congestion, heat, noise, pollution, parking problems, an increased risk of flooding and a decreased presence of greenspace.

We regret giving any impression that Bixby Court, taken as a whole, is a bad place to live or that its residents aren't happy there. We do hope the Sustainable Northampton process carefully considers the character and appearance of all types of housing, the integration of larger developments with their neighbors, the amount and configuration of greenspace on lots, the varying needs of citizens, the value of neighborhoods that are diverse in age and income, and the overall density of each neighborhood.


See also:

Berkeley, California: Cautions on Infill
Becky O'Malley, executive editor of the Daily Planet, observes that some kinds of infill risk depriving the community of valuable common spaces ("Editorial: Southside Needs Public Space", 11/4/03):

The current push for infill development, if not properly managed, risks contributing to the privatization of public space. When the requirement that a building project incorporate a certain percentage of open space is translated into isolated rooftop gardens and gated courtyards, residents are encouraged to turn their backs on public life. At the same time that movements like the New Urbanism are preaching the gospel of building suburbs with shared common spaces, comfortable old streetcar suburbs like Berkeley are being pressured to convert their existing shared spaces into blocks of individual apartments, too small for families or voluntary affinity groups...

Salem, Oregon Analysis: Balanced Land Use Key to Balanced Municipal Budget, Quality of Life

The Republican: "Victory gardens fight price wars"

Gazette: "As food, other costs rise, more stake hopes on home gardens"

Greening Smart Growth: The Sustainable Sites Initiative

Photo Essay: 10 Reasons People Like Trees Around Them; Will the Sustainable Northampton Plan Put Urban Trees at Risk?

The New Draft Sustainable Northampton Plan: Balancing Compact Growth Against Taxes, Urban Greenspace, Homeowner Preferences

Planning Board Adopts Sustainable Northampton Plan

Our Column in Today's Gazette: The Hidden Risks of 'Smart Growth'

Portland: A Photo Tour of Spiraling Densification

Scrape-Off Redevelopments Provoke Backlash in Denver Neighborhoods

LA Weekly: "City Hall's 'Density Hawks' Are Changing L.A.'s DNA

Vancouver Sun: "Call it EcoDensity or EcoCity --either way it's a hard sell"