It's like a big family. Across town in the neighborhood between Echo Park and Silver Lake, the under-construction Benton Green apartments overlook the busy 101 Freeway, their modern, boxy shape broken up by small towers. Other details of the building, built by developer Kaifa Tulay of Global Housing, include decks and spots of bright and muted colors. While designing the complex, architect Stephen Albert of the Albert Group Architects in Culver City canvassed the neighborhood, noticing trellises on many homes, and incorporating similar elements as wood-beam awnings over the decks. So I know that every square foot is precious.
Personal space is important.
To find a place to do your homework without someone screaming at you is important. What's happening in L.A. mirrors similar programs elsewhere. Instead of building more enormous prisonlike projects like Chicago's Cabrini-Green or L.A.'s Jordan Downs or Nickerson Gardens, builders are opting for single and smaller multifamily dwellings. The most dramatic example is the revival of the South Bronx in New York, once considered a horrific blight on the city. Boston hosted a competition this year to design affordable housing, sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston and the Citizens' Housing and Planning Assn.