The Row House Neighborhoods of Oak Lane

Jon Kaufman

Typical Post-WWII Row House Block

•Houses have front lawns•Street is comparatively wide•Houses continue ABA pattern

•Garages in back of every house•Houses accessible from back through common driveway•Developers expected every family to have a car, defining the area as suburban

•Different style, not as wide•“Airlight” floor plan

Pre-WWII Style Post-WWII Style

•The area was a so called “streetcar suburb” before WWII with some development. After the war, it exploded as an “automobile suburb.”

Racial issues of the cityExhibited in Oak Lane

•The Federal Housing Administration had an official policy of residential segregation, “the presence of incompatible racial elements results in a lowering of the rating, often to the point of rejection,” until 1948 Supreme Court decision.•Oak Lane was majority white until the 1970’s. 2000 data:•72.1% African-American•11.6% White•6.4% Asian•3.4% 2 or more races•6.4% “other”