With good land hard to find, developers are cashing in: on strangely configured sites. Think of a trapezoidal house, a 35-foot-wide golfer's retreat and a 'cow's face' plot.
"The shape of things to come in suburbia is... weird. After a real-estate boom that has made land in desirable neighborhoods scarce and expensive, more builders and homeowners are buying up the strips and scraps.
It's the real-estate version of quilting. They're squeezing expensive homes onto properties once considered uninhabitable, and carving gerrymandered parcels out of wetlands and steep hillsides. Odd lots are also bringing in speculators, who are buying up tiny triangles and roadside strips at auction, then bundling them for resale and profit.
...But these days, odd-lot economics makes it hard to resist developing the unusually shaped parcels. In spite of the lots' shortcomings, developers typically charge as much per acre for spatially challenged lots as they do for more classic squares or rectangles. At RiverCamps in Panama City, Fla. -- the development where Mr. Thompson bought his 1.7 acres -- lots average about an acre, and all are priced depending on the view, not the shape, according to Mr. Fox."
FULL STORY: Builders Wedge Homes In on Oddly Shaped Lots
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.
Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.
Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.
MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.
Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie