5 ms·

The Boston triple decker should be the standard home of North America and nobody can tell me otherwise.

by hiAndrewQuinn 3y ago

hk__2 3y ago
Can you explain this for the non-US audience?
- pimlottc 3y ago
  Or just the non-Boston audience
  - hiAndrewQuinn 3y ago
    https://www.google.com/search?q=Boston+triple+decker&client=firefox-b-m&sca_esv=599503376&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiY7I6rvueDAxVBPxAIHTHQBE4Q_AUIBigB&biw=432&bih=816 https://www.google.com/search?q=Boston+triple+decker&client=... Cheap enough for a middle income family to build or purchase themselves, enough apartments for grandparents, parents and children just getting their start in the world. They're great!
- manuelmoreale 3y ago
  I suspect they're referring to this type of buildings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-decker_(house) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-decker_(house)
  - kevsim 3y ago
    Yep, that's what tons of houses outside of the immediate city center of Boston look like.
  - drcongo 3y ago
    Those look a little like the Mansion Blocks we have in London - https://welcomehome-london.com/architecture/mansion-blocks/ https://welcomehome-london.com/architecture/mansion-blocks/
  - Steltek 3y ago
    A little trolling going on in that Wikipedia page. It captions the Cambridge photo as "Three-decker", where locals would call it a triple-decker. It then captions the Worcester photo as "triple-decker", where locals would call it three-decker.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
alexb_ 3y ago
The issue with regard to single stair buildings are for things taller than 3 stories. IIRC in America 3 stories is the most common limit by far, and in Canada it's even worse with most regulations having 2 stories as the limit for a single stair complex.
- pomian 3y ago
  We need two exits in Canada. Because a snow drift can easily block one exit. That's why there are exits on each side of a structure, not two, on the same side.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    There was a so-so movie based on this one exit theme once. Forget where it was set.
  - alexb_ 3y ago
    Two exits do not require two stairwells - in any case, this is a very weak argument for denying people the ability to buy housing. Especially in Canada, where there is an absurdly large housing crisis due to an extremely small supply.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Boston and immediate environs is still pretty expensive but, at least historically, these sort of multi-unit houses tended to be in less expensive neighborhoods (many of which are now pretty expensive).
- bluGill 3y ago
  It is generally understood that at 4 floors you need an elevator which is expensive. This is partially the ADA (which doesn't say this from what I can tell, but is generally understood to suggest it), and partially 4 floor is enough stairs few people would agree to walk up them.
  - mjmahone17 3y ago
    Which ties into a second problem: the US especially requires elevators to be too large, which limits how many are built because they take up so much square footage, which drives up the cost to install. In Spain and France you’ll find single staircase, 4 story buildings that have one meter-by-meter sized elevator. Often even as retrofits in older buildings! In NY you’ll find these too, but they’re only in pre-war (1930s and older) buildings. It would make many apartments much more accessible and desirable to live in if we could drive down the cost of elevator installations for smaller buildings.
kvmet 3y ago
100% agree. Somerville (city outside of Boston) is 19th on this list of densest cities in the US and I attribute it mostly to 2 and 3-family homes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population_density https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...
whartung 3y ago
Many of the new town houses in Orange County/Irvine area are following this plan. They do not appeal to me, as I’m not fond of having to scale several flights of stairs, and the individual floors seem quite small, smaller than my first studio apartment. My first town house was essentially three stories. The garage level, main living level, and a loft. But the main living space was the majority of the square footage so there was little routine need to scale the stairs. Also the main living/dining/kitchen area shared with the loft offering a nice, high ceiling, and a roomy experience. While I can certainly appreciate the benefits of the density these provide, the idea of living in several 400-500 sq ft boxes, especially connected with stairs, just doesn’t appeal to me, particularly as I age.
- anthonypasq 3y ago
  boston triple deckers are not sliced vertically
jhallenworld 3y ago
The triple-decker three family is great in that there are windows on four sides and stairs in front and back. There are also double triple-deckers (six units)- the stairs are shared by two triple-deckers sharing a common wall. Most of these are side by side, but in Worcester, there are also front / back ones like this (134 Elm St.): https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2661816,-71.8159232,3a,75y,189.92h,90.88t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZZa7osu9oTqvDFT0z7ew7A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2661816,-71.8159232,3a,75y,1... or with turrets: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2662587,-71.8167573,3a,75y,206.97h,92.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sBCLUtuf0OnJRq7Xb1t4FkA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2662587,-71.8167573,3a,75y,2... The stairs are definitely shared in the side-by-side ones, not sure how it works in these. So I used to rent in a 10-unit five story brick and wood building with front and back stairs, so I question a bit that the two stair requirement is such a big deal. This building had a central open area, and an old (broken) cage style elevator. Something like this: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Taboo+Beauty+Salon/@42.2640725,-71.8108705,3a,75y,356.66h,113.24t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sH04uS4_6yyGMCakwbvqaoQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x89e40661fafc1a7d:0xea07011501487f2e!8m2!3d42.2640565!4d-71.8091328!16s%2Fg%2F11ljctrx7k?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/place/Taboo+Beauty+Salon/@42.264...

The Boston triple decker should be the standard home of North America and nobody can tell me otherwise.

hk__2 3y ago

Can you explain this for the non-US audience?

pimlottc 3y ago
Or just the non-Boston audience
- hiAndrewQuinn 3y ago
  https://www.google.com/search?q=Boston+triple+decker&client=firefox-b-m&sca_esv=599503376&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiY7I6rvueDAxVBPxAIHTHQBE4Q_AUIBigB&biw=432&bih=816 https://www.google.com/search?q=Boston+triple+decker&client=... Cheap enough for a middle income family to build or purchase themselves, enough apartments for grandparents, parents and children just getting their start in the world. They're great!
manuelmoreale 3y ago
I suspect they're referring to this type of buildings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-decker_(house) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-decker_(house)
- kevsim 3y ago
  Yep, that's what tons of houses outside of the immediate city center of Boston look like.
- drcongo 3y ago
  Those look a little like the Mansion Blocks we have in London - https://welcomehome-london.com/architecture/mansion-blocks/ https://welcomehome-london.com/architecture/mansion-blocks/
- Steltek 3y ago
  A little trolling going on in that Wikipedia page. It captions the Cambridge photo as "Three-decker", where locals would call it a triple-decker. It then captions the Worcester photo as "triple-decker", where locals would call it three-decker.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

alexb_ 3y ago

The issue with regard to single stair buildings are for things taller than 3 stories. IIRC in America 3 stories is the most common limit by far, and in Canada it's even worse with most regulations having 2 stories as the limit for a single stair complex.

pomian 3y ago
We need two exits in Canada. Because a snow drift can easily block one exit. That's why there are exits on each side of a structure, not two, on the same side.
- ghaff 3y ago
  There was a so-so movie based on this one exit theme once. Forget where it was set.
- alexb_ 3y ago
  Two exits do not require two stairwells - in any case, this is a very weak argument for denying people the ability to buy housing. Especially in Canada, where there is an absurdly large housing crisis due to an extremely small supply.
ghaff 3y ago
Boston and immediate environs is still pretty expensive but, at least historically, these sort of multi-unit houses tended to be in less expensive neighborhoods (many of which are now pretty expensive).
bluGill 3y ago
It is generally understood that at 4 floors you need an elevator which is expensive. This is partially the ADA (which doesn't say this from what I can tell, but is generally understood to suggest it), and partially 4 floor is enough stairs few people would agree to walk up them.
- mjmahone17 3y ago
  Which ties into a second problem: the US especially requires elevators to be too large, which limits how many are built because they take up so much square footage, which drives up the cost to install. In Spain and France you’ll find single staircase, 4 story buildings that have one meter-by-meter sized elevator. Often even as retrofits in older buildings! In NY you’ll find these too, but they’re only in pre-war (1930s and older) buildings. It would make many apartments much more accessible and desirable to live in if we could drive down the cost of elevator installations for smaller buildings.

kvmet 3y ago

100% agree. Somerville (city outside of Boston) is 19th on this list of densest cities in the US and I attribute it mostly to 2 and 3-family homes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population_density https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...

whartung 3y ago

Many of the new town houses in Orange County/Irvine area are following this plan. They do not appeal to me, as I’m not fond of having to scale several flights of stairs, and the individual floors seem quite small, smaller than my first studio apartment. My first town house was essentially three stories. The garage level, main living level, and a loft. But the main living space was the majority of the square footage so there was little routine need to scale the stairs. Also the main living/dining/kitchen area shared with the loft offering a nice, high ceiling, and a roomy experience. While I can certainly appreciate the benefits of the density these provide, the idea of living in several 400-500 sq ft boxes, especially connected with stairs, just doesn’t appeal to me, particularly as I age.

anthonypasq 3y ago
boston triple deckers are not sliced vertically

jhallenworld 3y ago

The triple-decker three family is great in that there are windows on four sides and stairs in front and back. There are also double triple-deckers (six units)- the stairs are shared by two triple-deckers sharing a common wall. Most of these are side by side, but in Worcester, there are also front / back ones like this (134 Elm St.): https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2661816,-71.8159232,3a,75y,189.92h,90.88t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZZa7osu9oTqvDFT0z7ew7A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2661816,-71.8159232,3a,75y,1... or with turrets: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2662587,-71.8167573,3a,75y,206.97h,92.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sBCLUtuf0OnJRq7Xb1t4FkA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2662587,-71.8167573,3a,75y,2... The stairs are definitely shared in the side-by-side ones, not sure how it works in these. So I used to rent in a 10-unit five story brick and wood building with front and back stairs, so I question a bit that the two stair requirement is such a big deal. This building had a central open area, and an old (broken) cage style elevator. Something like this: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Taboo+Beauty+Salon/@42.2640725,-71.8108705,3a,75y,356.66h,113.24t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sH04uS4_6yyGMCakwbvqaoQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x89e40661fafc1a7d:0xea07011501487f2e!8m2!3d42.2640565!4d-71.8091328!16s%2Fg%2F11ljctrx7k?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/place/Taboo+Beauty+Salon/@42.264...