Classic Ranch style house (1945-1970)

This one story home became especially popular after World War II. There were practical economical reasons for change in the architectural style.  After World War II, real estate developers turned to the simple, economical Ranch Style to meet the housing needs of returning soldiers and their families. There was a lack of decorative detailing apart from the shutters that kept the design simple.

It was a very futuristic design, because it was a symmetrical. Also the elongated angles on the roof also made gave it a distinctively modern look.  This style design was dominant in the post war era; they also included attached garages for the family car.

The houses were also made of natural materials, oak floors and a wood or brick exterior, this was a characteristic of the environmental look that overtook designs in the 1960s-70s.

Vastly different from the Victorian home floor plan, the ranch home emphasized on openness (few interior walls) and efficient use of space

The cape cod

The split level house is an important part of the American vernacular landscape. The Cape Cod style originated during 17th century colonial New England. Today, the term refers to Cape Cod-shaped houses popular during the suburban post war era. 

The Cape Cod is a modern design of the old fashioned colonial style. This style was symmetrical and included a chimney that linked in a central fireplace. Because of modern technology there was no longer a need for fireplaces in heat homes. Yet in the years following the war, renewed interest in America's past inspired a variety of Colonial Revival style. Colonial R0evival Cape Cod houses became especially popular during the 1940s.

These small, economical houses were mass-produced in suburban developments across the United States. Steep roofs with gables are distinctive characteristic of this architectural style.   These houses are made out wood covered in wide clapboard and covered shingles. It had a centered formal floor plan. Another identifying feature of a cape cod are dormers is a window which is set vertically on a sloping roof. The dormer has its own roof, which may be flat, arched, or pointed.

The Tourist

Looking at European vacations a major  theme in many tours is that they allow you  to travel to multiple countries. European vacations are distinct in the ability to travel to an array of different countries all in close proximity. You can explore the cultural delights of bustling cities and all with their unique architecture and momuments.  Because European cities were built long before American even came in existence there's  the emphasis in the advertisemnts of old world structures and buildings that you cannot find in American cities. European cities have been built over layers and layers throughout centuries.The train system in europe links all the major cities, making it easy to travel to Paris from london then continue on to Amsterdam and so on across the continent. There are cheap lodging in cities making it very affordable to spend a few days in each city.  It's  very typical for european vacations to last 2-3 weeks because many people choose to explore the different counrties. There are many things to discover in Europe the classical architecture and multiple languages in each city shape the ideas of what american expect to see in Europe.
When researching American vacations I decided to use my language skills and check out Spainard American travel guides online. What I saw were much larger list of cities and destinations in America to visit in different climates as well.  I noticed that recommendations were made depending on what season you were vacation in as well. If your travel to Ameirca in December you'll enjoy the warm breeze in Miami or if you visit colorodo you'll find great ski weather. Also theres a big emphasis on Amusements parks throughout America like Disney world, Universal Studios and sea world etc. American is also known for having beautiful national parks and beautiful scenery that you cannot find in Europe. To Europeans America offers a variety of destinations and many different attractions.
For Europeans I feel that represnts american to them are the beautiful beaches, variety of amusements parks and impressive architecture.

Paris Vs. New York Vernacular landscape

View of Paris from a top a hill outside the city limits

View of midtown manhattan from atop the rocks inside      central park 

. The  picture of downtown Paris looks distinctively different from the pic of  midtown Manhattan.The essential difference in overlook of Paris and New York is grounded in each city's history.

 In the picture of Paris the streets seem to built on maze like street patterns. Some of the building look as if the were built haphazardly, they stick out of streets. The very narrow streets and multistory buildings create a sort of street wall that gives the streets intimate and cozy look on the streets

The streets of New York can be defined by their  grid pattern, the streets in this picture have a uniform design, you can see perfectly symmetrical long streets.  

What defines the character of Paris is centuries of  layered development. Paris is very old city and has gone through many transformations. The present city built over many times, and ancient structures are infused with modern structures throughout the city.

Construction in Paris date back to medieval times, before their was a notion of urban planning. when the city was originally built notions about control and order in urban spaces did not exist. Construction was not regulated therefore people built houses and streets crooked. Many streets in central Paris are narrow because they are very old.  The metropolis still retains a sense of this unplanned element.

New York's infrastructure was built in the 19th century, as the city expanded uptown the city designed very carefully planned streets and very wide and open streets to facilitate traffic. 

Ecletic landscape in Buffalo's west side

When I started thinking of examples of an ethnic landscape,images of  buffalo's west side immediately poped into my head.  The new energy and development combined with the neighborhood's history, is a perfect example of ethnic identity having transforming a  landscape. It the most diverse part of buffalo, with many multiple ethnicities residing side by side. It's landscape refelcts the bridging of multiple cultural backgrounds in place that has long been divided along racial lines.

Buffalo's west side landscape has largely been transformed for what it looked like  at the turn of tweinth century.  At that time Buffalo's west side was largely an italian neighborhood, the residents  worked in manufacturing industries in the area. Yet post world war II era brought great change to this area. As buffalo's largest  manufactores and industries left so did the residents in the city. And for the next few decades after the war, buffalo' s west side experinced declining populations. Yet the imprints of an old italian neighbored are still there, many commercial spaces along grant street still havedecorated  italian flags on them and you can see italian names on the store fronts. The legacy of the italian neighborhood is still prevalent, places like guericos market is popular west side attraction and the buisness has been a staple of the westside for over 30 years. Chi Chi hardware store also on grant, is still run by chi chi himself who is of italian desecent. There are also traces of italian landscape on grant street, like the restaurant sasteria on breckenridge and niagara. everywhere in there mostly italian and its popular get together spot for italian families. There are always big italian families eating in the dining room. And there a few other restaurants like still open  as you go down niagara street towards the peace bridge.

The 1990s brought a new in flux  immgrients to the area. Large amounts of puerto ricans now reside in the west side. Also in the last ten years, the west side has become home to large community of refugees from somalia and burmese. making this multiethnic landscape. 

Right near lafeyette and grant you can see many puerto rican buisnesses. Many of them have puerto rican bright puerto rican decor signs hanging from the barborshops and hair salons.You can see signs in Spanish and community centers also carry spanish titles.  This serves as a ethnic marker of homeland identity, creating a  visible appreance of unified puerto rican community.  As you pass through the houses youll see houses decorated with catholic saints on the front lawns as well as family members sitting on the porches and outside of buisness,of the open aired gatherings in  homes and buisnesses is common in  latin america. here is a recreation of  their homeland's landscape in a new landscape.
The multicultural backgrounds of residents in this neighborhood is really what creates its unique landscape. There are several mosque one is on forest ave and their are other islamic centers in the neighborhood that cater to large msulim population. Grant street is also home to Somali Star, a somilan restaurant. You can see food markets with signs that say halal food. These are some of the most socially  revealing landscapes of change in the cultural values neighborhood.

The west side's ethinic landscape is symbolic of a "hybridzation of past and present cultural values". Its a celebration of what the buffalo was and what it could be in the future.

Antiquated metal boxes

Old newspaper boxes are sign of the demise of newspapers today. Many that we see on the streets today have fallen into disrepair and are no long filled daily with newspapers. The newspaper vending box, are coin operated newspaper dispensers. News boxes are part of the distribution process that publishers use to sell their papers to newsstands, retail stores, and news boxes. Yet as newspapers sales continually suffer, papers are trying to save money buy cutting back on their distribution.  The decline in home delivery service in the last few years has transformed news boxes into antiquated metal boxes.

The demand for home newspaper delivery has drastically decreased. The newspaper industry experienced a severe downtown  in 2008. Many big publishers in America are now facing bankruptcy.  Why? Newspapers no longer hold a monopoly as the medium for information. Internet allows for lots of different players to compete in the same industry. The media and particularly the newspaper side of it are going to have to change in the future.

This is a time of unprecedented change in the industry. One of the most significant changes is the elimination of home delivery and replacement with internet PDFs. I pad is one the first real example of a newspaper replicated a on an instrument. By upgrading technology, the internet allows to better share editing resources and content. Updating websites allows for streamline advertisement and is more cost effective way to view news.

From an environmental standpoint these new boxes really clutter streets, and many residents claim that there are 13 news boxes on some street corners.

Sources

1.“complaint box, street clutter, by Julia Willkie. New York Times, September 11,2009.

2. CNBC Sam Zell interview aired June 30,2010 @ paidcontent.org

3.“Suntimes exits newspaper deliver buisness” Lynne Marek.  Chicago Sun Times,  September 21, 2010.

Urban Blight

I decided to use  Niagara street from Ferry street to the I-90 entrance ramp. 

If you walk a few feet down to the foot of Ferry on Niagara you can cross a pedestrian bridge to park along the Niagara River. Its very clear that Niagara street is named for the Niagara River which runs parallel to it. 

As you first cross the bridge it appears that the bridge simply goes over the river and connects you to a small island park off the shoreline.  If you look closer you'll notice thats its actually a draw bridge, and if you look over each side of the bridge it crosses a canal. The canal is now used for recreational boats mostly.  You can see old anchors along the canal, as it must have originally been used for ships to navigate into the city. 

The proximity to the canal shaped the development of Niagara st. as a commercial center. Located right along the  draw bridge on Niagara and Ferry street is Rich Products factory complex. Rich's stands out as the only modern commercial factory on this strip. It is still in operation.

As you walk down Niagara st. north from Rich's, the streets are lined with commercial buildings. Some commercial  businesses are still in existence. You can a few see newer looking business signs, and the buildings look like they've been renovated a bit, but the original buildings (for the most part) are still in place.   Most buildings are vacant and now in complete disrepair. 

Apart from Rich's, all the commercial buildings seem to have all been built in the same time period because they share the same industrial architectural style. The simple brick multi-floor style is common to all the buildings along Niagara. The buildings favor simple structure over aesthetic beauty.   

There are also occasional apartment buildings that are now abandoned and neglected.  These multi-story tenements    are packed in along the streets. The apartments were also built in the same utilitarian multi-story brick style, which is common to all these buildings.  This area is where people lived and worked. 

By looking at the buildings you can tell they were not built to be elaborate or expensive structures but simply built to serve a purpose. This early factory and tenant brick design looks like they were built in the late 19th century or early 20th century. 

You can see Niagara street was once an economically viable commercial area. With its location along the canal and it's heavy industrialization, in its hey-day you can imagine its was a noisy, very active street filled with people walking along the side walks. Today Niagara street is part of  the city's urban blight.  This street is one of the few places where buildings have not been demolished in urban renewal projects. Here we can see a glimpse of the commercial landscape that embodied buffalo as an industrial city.