In 1881, 2,000 people were living in Peabody Avenue, a mind-boggling density of three people per room. Today, the residents number 500. Space is not the only improvement. In the common areas of the block, there are some lovely moments. The two entrances are double-height, adding a note of grandeur. The staircases are in fair-faced concrete, and well-lit. Each flat is accessed from a communal deck, and there are great views across the train tracks to the west from these circulation areas. Large balconies face west, and are beautifully designed, with a warehousey, industrial aesthetic that feels appropriate to the building’s position next to a railway siding.at most of the mean ones tacked on to new apartment buildings today.
Laudable as the new development is, the fact remains that no one is making new land. If population density has reduced four fold then crude economics says that housing costs multiply by 4.
New Peabody Development
