Help identify commercial strip not from the 1940s or '50s

[nec209]

Does anyone here know when these commercial strip where built? They don't look like the 40's and 50's because they are set back and bigger parking lot and more green space.

You can tell they are set back and more green space.I took some pictures using live search maps at http://maps.live.com/

I uploaded some to imageshack..

Very set back and lots of green.

[Suburb Repairman]

I'd say late 80s, maybe early 90s. It seems like it was real trendy around that time to position buildings and lots at 30-45 degree angles from the road.

[Dan]

I'd say late 80s, maybe early 90s. It seems like it was real trendy around that time to position buildings and lots at 30-45 degree angles from the road.

I'm going to bet it was a major arterial in an exurban area at the time it was developed commercially. The lots look like they were probably created decades earlier by administrative lot splits; they're angled because the road probably runs somewhat diagonally through an area where most streets run directly north-south and east-west.

From the mix of land uses (fast food restaurants, car dealers, vehicle service, heavy commercial (construction trade uses, wholesale, etc.)), I'm going to bet the area has blue collar demographics.

Such strips are still developing in exurban areas in places where planning regulation isn't that progressive; the Great Lakes region and much of the Northeast.

[Chet]

I agree with Dan. The road is proably running angular to the compass points and the lot lines are perpendicular to the compass points.

[cityskip]

From the first photo it looks like the buildings have brick facades, with defined bays (without windows of course). This is typical of the 90s (to the present), starting when urban living became en vogue.

Strip malls, as well as individual buildings, are tweaked to look more urban. Many times this is a reflection of local design standards, but in more trendy suburbs it has become the norm.

I see this a lot in suburban Detroit, especially when you are close to places where younger people congregate, such as Royal Oak.

[nec209]

I'm going to bet it was a major arterial in an exurban area at the time it was developed commercially. The lots look like they were probably created decades earlier by administrative lot splits; they're angled because the road probably runs somewhat diagonally through an area where most streets run directly north-south and east-west.

From the mix of land uses (fast food restaurants, car dealers, vehicle service, heavy commercial (construction trade uses, wholesale, etc.)), I'm going to bet the area has blue collar demographics.

Such strips are still developing in exurban areas in places where planning regulation isn't that progressive; the Great Lakes region and much of the Northeast.

I thought they like the power centers than the strip do to keeping the cost down ? I don't know the year when it was build but with the buildings pulled back and bigger parking and more green you can tell its not the 40' or 50' strip.


The 40' or 50' strip had very small parking and the buildings almost at the street and like no green at all.

[jmello]

The 40' or 50' strip had very small parking and the buildings almost at the street and like no green at all.

I suspect that the "green space" at the front of the buildings has more to do with the right-of-way of the road than the design preferences of the builders. Is this a state-owned highway?

[hilldweller]

I suspect that the "green space" at the front of the buildings has more to do with the right-of-way of the road than the design preferences of the builders. Is this a state-owned highway?

I agree, probably some state standard design. Could it be a swale for drainage?

[Man With a Plan]

The middle building's driveway in the first picture forms a 90 degree angle with the roadway. This type of access is more typical of an older strip development. Nevertheless, the other sites appear to conform to more recent standards. Perhaps this is an area that is evolving with the transportation-land use cycle of its highway corridor and these structures are from different times.

[nec209]

The middle building's driveway in the first picture forms a 90 degree angle with the roadway. This type of access is more typical of an older strip development. Nevertheless, the other sites appear to conform to more recent standards. Perhaps this is an area that is evolving with the transportation-land use cycle of its highway corridor and these structures are from different times.

So why did they built a 90 degree angle ? Or was it to give some other look or feel?

[nec209]

I found some more pictures that may explain what I'm trying to say here has for some reason this post seems to be dead.