Dingbat (building) - Urban Planning and The Future of The Dingbat

Urban Planning and The Future of The Dingbat

Their bare architecture and boxy appearance mean that dingbats are considered an eyesore and a demolition target in many towns. A city plan for Sarasota, Florida adopted in 2000 included a gallery of buildings found in the city, with only the dingbat being pointed out as an "undesirable" building type. Similarly, in 1999, the northern California city of El Cerrito published a master plan in which "Older 'stucco box' apartment buildings will be replaced with more up-to-date and better quality apartments and condominiums."

One design magazine states that, "The construction of one dingbat on a street of elegant rowhouses is enough to send property values plummeting," and subsequently calls for more form-based codes, a type of building-design ordinance that distinguishes between the aesthetic (and therefore socio-economic) value of dingbats and rowhouses.

Also, their small size relative to newer buildings means that lower densities may result from their construction, which encourages wider roads and more highways, and greater urban sprawl, further aggravating traffic problems and the expense of utilities. Possibly more detrimental than any effect on density is the prominence of dingbat parking spots, since they reduce the attractiveness and usefulness of street-level pedestrian space.

On the other hand, critics generally overlook the fact that, like all forms of urban multifamily housing, dingbats do offer consumers an alternative to suburban houses and long commutes. Compared with suburbanites, apartment dwellers almost always enjoy greater availability not only of public transit, but also of nearby amenities and services that can be reached on foot.