I've always wondered who would want to live in these townhouses without yards. All they have is the very small deck hanging over the rear garage. Barely enough for a grill. As someone who spends a lot of time outside, I would hate to have nowhere to sit, read, watch the grill, etc in privacy. Especially for those out in the outer suburbs. OK, move far away from the city only to have a house with no yard, and you are still dropping $700K. I don't get it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of those old townhomes have attached (rotting) decks. The counties stopped approving attached townhome decks because its hard to get them repaired on a regular basis as a group without having a assessment sent to the entire townhome association group.

Anyway, now most new townhomes have roofdecks. It solves the problem of repairing rotting wood, no eyesores from decks being unsafe/old, and the townhome developers needed to buy less land since they have to devote less space to the plot allotment.

They're still approving back decks here in Loudoun. Also, in both of the THs that I've lived in, the THs are individually owned, not condos, so each owner is solely responsible for their own decks, as well as any other external repairs. I've never had an assessment because of anyone else's deck.

I like the concept of roof decks, but I also know that some of my neighbors have had issues with the roof decks leaking, so would be a bit wary of them.

I do agree that no back yards means less land needed for the development. Maybe that's ok if the developer uses some/most of that saved land for public space, but it's much less pleasant if the lack of yards means that the homes are all sited very closely together with no extra green space.

Even if they're approving individual decks (and the key is approving) on a case-by-case basis, the townhome community still has purview over the building materials used. If they make you use a contractor with wood and veneer stains that cost $400+ sqft then you just have to pay it.

Anonymous wrote:We live downtown dc only nearly a quarter acre. We have a dog. We walk her several times a day. Is the need for a townhouse to have a yard associated with it being a lower income thing that people who can only afford a townhouse don’t walk their dogs?

The dumbest and most Karen comment I have read on this forum in a while (and that is saying something).

On the garage issue, I really like the design of a dense SFH development near me where the houses all face a central green space while the garage faces the rear, and a road encircles the whole thing. So the garage faces the road but there's no "alley" or rear neighbor. The houses have small side or back gardens but most of the green space is the common inner circle that everyone faces.

Of course, this is dense for SFH but not as dense as a TH development, and therefore more expensive.

We live in one of four small townhome communities that are next to one another. The newest one was built in 2019. The other three were all built between 1980 and 1990. Our 1990 community is the only one of the four with a decent amount of common, park-like outdoor space that is appropriate for kids to run around in. The garages for all communities (except one which has no garages) are in the front of the homes. The 2019 community townhomes are larger and have elevators and two-car garages in the front. All have small patios or yards in the back. All have homes with decks and the decks are invididually owned and maintained.

I think garages in the back/no backyard/patio tend to be for the smaller townhomes. We saw a newer development and the front facing garages were on the more expensive, larger homes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with a pp that said it looks nicer with the garage in back. I live in a mixed (some townhomes, some SFHs) neighborhood in a far out exurb. The townhomes in my neighborhood were mostly built between 2005-2008 and some of them have a detached garage in the back, so there is a small yard in between the townhouse and the garage. I think that seems like the best of both worlds.

It’s great that it works for you. For us, we prefer an attached garage so the more traditional style with garages in front are our preference. We also prefer backing to woods rather than a roadway or alley or another townhome. But again, it’s all about personal preference.

This probably isn’t important to you, but that design isn’t traditional. Rowhouses (townhouses) were typically built in denser areas served by alleys in the back. The garage in the front was a newer design that is seemingly going out of style as society shifts back to more walkable, pedestrian-focused neighborhoods.

Anonymous wrote:They can build more homes in the same space if they cut out the yard.

I think they want to build more homes in less space. Additionally, it’s my understanding that current design principles for high density housing dictate garages in the back served by alleys for parking and trash. Localities also may have rules about how much of a street-facing facade can have a garage (because it’s not considered attractive).

I think all of the above are your reasons.

Anonymous wrote:I agree with a pp that said it looks nicer with the garage in back. I live in a mixed (some townhomes, some SFHs) neighborhood in a far out exurb. The townhomes in my neighborhood were mostly built between 2005-2008 and some of them have a detached garage in the back, so there is a small yard in between the townhouse and the garage. I think that seems like the best of both worlds.

It’s great that it works for you. For us, we prefer an attached garage so the more traditional style with garages in front are our preference. We also prefer backing to woods rather than a roadway or alley or another townhome. But again, it’s all about personal preference.

I agree with a pp that said it looks nicer with the garage in back. I live in a mixed (some townhomes, some SFHs) neighborhood in a far out exurb. The townhomes in my neighborhood were mostly built between 2005-2008 and some of them have a detached garage in the back, so there is a small yard in between the townhouse and the garage. I think that seems like the best of both worlds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live downtown dc only nearly a quarter acre. We have a dog. We walk her several times a day. Is the need for a townhouse to have a yard associated with it being a lower income thing that people who can only afford a townhouse don’t walk their dogs?

Yes, having a yard for the dog is a lower income thing Do you even hear yourself?

I walk my dog twice a day or I pay a walker. It's still nice to have a yard, for many reasons including a midday game of catch with the dog. I don't care for the roof deck arrangement with no yard, because it's sterile: no tree shade and nowhere to play.

Right? Our TH had a small fenced yard but our neighborhood was filled with trails. Like PP, we walked our dog multiple times a day on the trails but there were also times when we could easily let it out back. Or when the kids were small we could have a small sand box or water table and play in our own yard rather than trek to a park.

We also had a nice patio area with fire pit and actually enjoyed using our small private yard for ourselves. Who knew it was a low income thing to want to spend time in your own home and yard…We found it nice to have a small amount of personal space since we already shared a wall and public space with the rest of the neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:We live downtown dc only nearly a quarter acre. We have a dog. We walk her several times a day. Is the need for a townhouse to have a yard associated with it being a lower income thing that people who can only afford a townhouse don’t walk their dogs?

??? I like having a yard because sometimes it's cold or rainy or I don't have time in between meetings to take my dog on a full walk.

Anonymous wrote:We live downtown dc only nearly a quarter acre. We have a dog. We walk her several times a day. Is the need for a townhouse to have a yard associated with it being a lower income thing that people who can only afford a townhouse don’t walk their dogs?

Hey there - hope that you have a lovely time with your daily 6 Am-ish and 10 pm- ish walks. I’m sure that you have many beautiful morning and late night strolls. I’m also pretty sure that you at least occasionally have some very cold, wet jaunts. Enjoy!!!

As for me, I love the option of letting the dog out in the backyard in the early am or late evening while I watch from indoors, cozy in my bathrobe. And even better, when one parent is away on travel, the home parent doesn’t have to wake up the toddler for a 6 am or 10 pm walk just so that the dog can do his business - once again, we can just open the back door. The dog does his thing, the toddler keeps sleeping in her bed, and mommy and daddy have a lot less hassle. It’s really a quite convenient setup. And we all still have a wonderful time during our long midday walks, whenever possible scheduled NOT to be in the pouring rain.

Anonymous wrote:We live downtown dc only nearly a quarter acre. We have a dog. We walk her several times a day. Is the need for a townhouse to have a yard associated with it being a lower income thing that people who can only afford a townhouse don’t walk their dogs?

Word salad.

Anonymous wrote:We live downtown dc only nearly a quarter acre. We have a dog. We walk her several times a day. Is the need for a townhouse to have a yard associated with it being a lower income thing that people who can only afford a townhouse don’t walk their dogs?

Yes, having a yard for the dog is a lower income thing Do you even hear yourself?

I walk my dog twice a day or I pay a walker. It's still nice to have a yard, for many reasons including a midday game of catch with the dog. I don't care for the roof deck arrangement with no yard, because it's sterile: no tree shade and nowhere to play.

We live downtown dc only nearly a quarter acre. We have a dog. We walk her several times a day. Is the need for a townhouse to have a yard associated with it being a lower income thing that people who can only afford a townhouse don’t walk their dogs?