I absolutely love the windows on the first floor of this corner storefront; I imagine it was a saloon or some other business that had high up windows to prevent passersby from looking in. Look at that great arched doorway on the right side, presumably leading up to the apartments upstairs.
Right around the corner, you could probably trick someone into thinking they had been miraculously transported across the metropolitan area. A giant factory, producing pigments, and a row of suburban tract houses appear. It is hard to argue against occupied, healthy buildings, but I wonder what shape they will be in when they get to the age of the first building. I doubt vinyl siding is as strong as brick. If the future of the North Side is bland, cheaply built structures that are made to be as disposable as McDonald’s wrappers, I fear for this city’s future.
Of course, vinyl siding can be replaced relatively cheaply and easily. Some suburban style tract houses are now over a half century old and not only function well as dwellings, but also have been modernized and kept in good repair.
I don’t know where this idea that suburban houses that are built from similar blueprints are cheap and disposable came from, but there are plenty such neighborhoods where the homes are occupied and in fine shape. Some appliances here, new windows there and it’s as good as a new, or old, house.