THE SKINNY ON NASHVILLE’S INFILL HOUSING
City got into game well after Calgary, which still reigns, writes Richard White.
For decades now, I thought Calgary was the infill capital of North America. This belief comes not from any scientificbased research but rather from wandering the inner city streets of Austin, Denver, Chicago, San Diego, Montreal, Ottawa, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and several other cities over the past decade. And in that time, I have not seen anything that compares to Calgary’s plethora of new homes being built in Calgary’s established communities. To be clear, I am not talking about infill condos, but infill single family, duplex, triplex and row housing.
At least, that’s what I thought, until I went to Nashville.
After spending three days at the lovely Omni Hotel in the heart of downtown Nashville, we moved to an Airbnb in the trendy 12 South district, situated about four kilometres from downtown. Across the street was a lovely new two-storey, single-family house, while two doors down was an infill duplex not unlike what we would see in Calgary’s Altadore or Parkdale communities.
SKINNY HOMES
Who knew I had chosen an Airbnb in the infill epicentre of Nashville? Not only were there new infill homes on almost every block, but the back lanes were filled with what they call “guest homes.” Most often these homes were built above the garage but in some cases they were completely independent homes.
Nashville’s infill homes are known locally as “Tall Skinnies,” which was in fact what the earlier Calgary infills were often called. While Calgary’s infill housing dates back to the late 1980s, in Nashville it is a relatively new phenomenon starting around 2010.
However — and not surprisingly — communities there are protesting how infills are negatively changing the architecture of the communities. In true southern style, attractive early and mid-century brick, colonial and craftsman homes with lovely big porches on huge lots (it is not uncommon for lots to be 100 by 200 feet) populate Nashville’s established communities. It is vastly different from the cookiecutter homes that were built in the ’40s ’50s and ’60s in Calgary’s inner city.
As I wandered, I also noticed many of the new infill houses had strange connections between them, including one that looked like a Plus-15 bridge. I later learned a previous building code required some kind of attachment between the two dwellings on the same lot, leading to small shared walls nicknamed “umbilical cords.” Fortunately, the city has cut the “umbilical cord” and they are no longer required.
In the 12 South community, a new heritage bylaw no longer allows developers to demolish an old house.
Instead, they have to renovate and incorporate it into the new larger home, which often becomes a duplex with one home facing the street and one the back alley. In some cases, three homes can be squeezed onto a corner lot.
DESIGN
Nashville’s skinnies are also made to appear skinnier by design elements that accentuate the vertical nature of the homes. Most have steep pitched, gabled roofs. The siding is often installed vertically rather than horizontally, creating even more of a sense of height.
Some have both a porch and balcony above, resulting in pillars or posts that give the home’s facade a more vertical thrust.
For some reason, almost all homes in Nashville are built several feet above the roadway even though they don’t have basements. In effect, this can add another half storey to the house, creating a taller effect.
STRANGEST INFILL PROJECT EVER
We love to get off the beaten path, which one day included a bus transfer in the Gulch community (think Calgary’s East Village) where we decided to wander a bit before catching the next bus.
Crossing under an overpass, we encountered the strangest city centre infill project I have ever seen. It was a completely new subdivision with tiny identical homes on huge lots, all with manicured lawns, no fences and not a person in sight. It was a surreal, pastoral suburban-looking community sitting just blocks away from new highrises. Turns out it is a public-housing project that replaced a traditional red brick inner-city apartment project. It seemed such a waste of land.
CALGARY: STILL THE REIGNING INFILL CAPITAL
Since 2012, 4,876 new infill homes (single and duplex) have been built in Calgary. Altadore leads the way with 421 new infills, followed by Killarney/ Glengarry (368), Mount Pleasant (346), Richmond (229) and West Hillhurst (208). At end of September 2017, already 659 new infill homes had been built or were under construction.
Wandering more streets in other communities around Nashville’s city centre, it was obvious that while infill housing is happening in all of its established communities, 12 South is the epicentre.
I contacted Craig Owensby, Nashville’s planning department’s public information officer, to see if I could get similar stats for Nashville, but unfortunately they don’t keep records of infill development as a separate subcategory for new builds.
So while Nashville indeed has a very active infill housing market, is not nearly as old, widespread or vibrant as Calgary’s. So, in my opinion, Calgary remains the Infill Capital of North America.