R.I.P.: 1002 Market Street
I am always sad to lose a house.
It is rare that I think a house cannot be saved.
A concurrent concern is how demolition diminishes a neighborhood. While I well appreciate that an empty house invites problems, demolition is a draconian, permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Surely there must be a better way?
1002 Market did not, admittedly, look like much. But under the later, over-bearing porch, and a bad addition on the front, was an exceedingly charming, delightful, petite house. The house RESTORED would have been an asset to the neighborhood.
The house DEMOLISHED slightly increases the tax base on everybody else, and creates a, ah, missing tooth in the neighborhood. What makes urban residential neighborhoods so interesting and appealing is their density. Having a bunch of cool old house all close together is neat. I like this. And I am not alone in this appreciation.
A terrible image, I know. I lifted it from Google Maps. Note the splayed detail in the gable end. I know the porch was not original. I know the addition to the left was not original. I suspect the dormer was not original. If you can imagine these elements removed, and the original, delicate porch reinstated, you might well agree that the house, restored, would have been very very very sweet. Sigh.
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