ABSTRACT
San Francisco's row house neighborhoods are fabled for their gracious ambiance. The Eastlake neighborhood is sprinkled with widely varying and fascinating attempts at carefully inserting different housing types to meet a range of needs. The neighborhood contains several forms of housing that have not been built, but could serve other parts of the region very well. Neighborhoods have often resisted anything that is different. The city staff reviews designs to ensure that new construction matches the architectural character of the existing buildings and that new windows do not overlook someone else's home or backyard. The street scene is unchanged—stately single-family structures with well-landscaped front yards. Denver's Cherry Creek district has seen sensitively designed infill developments that build upon the established character. The kind of creativity and sensitivity is exactly what Seattle and other cities need to encourage.
