Two broad conclusions can be interpreted from the resident and waiting list surveys. Residents and the people on the waiting list clearly like the houses. The presence of such a large waiting list suggests strong demand. Further, the units appear to have held up well in the two and half years since they were built. Overall it can be concluded that the development is successful and by extension that their design has contributed to the success.

A conversation with the architect for Corinthian Homes I provided us with a good sense of some of the thinking that went into the design of this project and Corinthian II. The architect expressed the interest to design houses that she would like to live in.

One issue that members of the study team are concerned with is the apparent conflict over trying to design for a suburban pattern over an urban one. Surprisingly, there is little current activity in developing new contemporary models or styles for urban housing. Consequently, suburban designs have invaded urban areas as builders, developers and architects know little else. As a result, there are few projects for Corinthian I to emulate, other than typical suburban designs. Impressively, the architect for Corinthian has come up with a contemporary design that integrates traditional urban patterns.

Some of the patterns include how the units very successfully maintained the street edge allowing them to remain connected to their environment. Further, the units do not break-up the traditional street grid of Newark. As a result, the design of the houses successfully reinvented the streets that they are on without comprising or limiting the urban character.

Unfortunately, many of the amenities and design details that would have added value to the project had to be dropped as cost saving measures. Some of these details came up in the surveys, such as the lack of landscaping. It is understood that Corinthian is faced with having to build under the state imposed funding restrictions. These restrictions begin to defy the common sense of trying to provide for the best housing for residents. One wonders if it is worth Corinthian’s time and effort to try to change these restrictions. Corinthian might consider working with other Community Development Corporations to reform these regulations.

A second conclusion is that with such a high demand for quality housing in Newark, like Corinthian I, Corinthian could take a "build it and they will come" approach to development, for the time being. The first phase is a very successful accomplishment. People like the houses, and there is a large demand for them. On the downside there could be a strong temptation to continually recycle the successful design of Corinthian I on every available piece of land in the target area. While this would be successful, would the overall quality of the neighborhood be as strong as it could be and should be?

Corinthian appears to be well aware of the need to diversify the housing types in the area by looking to build owner occupied units. Just as the neighborhood needs a diversity of building types, it need a diversity of building design. Having everything look the same fosters a homogenous image that masks the differences of the neighborhood and the people living there.

The Corinthian staff appears to be receptive to design concerns. In this day and age it is refreshing to see this since many developers, both commercial and non-profit, appear to be only interested with producing as many houses as possible.

From the first visit to the Corinthian area many in our group wondered how it would be possible to restore the physical fabric of the neighborhood which was damaged so greatly. If Corinthian and others are successful, the vast open spaces where houses once stood will eventually be replaced with new houses and other buildings. The design of these new buildings and the restoration of as many existing buildings as possible will be important in the long term success of the neighborhood. We are concerned that in the rush to address the desperate short term needs of the community, the longer range vision of how the neighborhood will look and interact will be missed.

It is understood that there is a master planning process under way that includes parts of Corinthian’s target area. A strong recommendation is that Corinthian begin a community planning process. The purpose being of developing a clear blueprint of what the target area would look like and then use it to work to as a goal.

The zoning code for the city of Newark requires that each new dwelling unit have two parking spaces. Corinthian I was built with this requirement. Given the local conditions, this requirement seems absurd. The number of spaces is clearly more than is needed and the unused parking spaces have take up space that could be used for common play areas.

Corinthian I has 95 parking spaces, yet in two and half years only 55 parking stickers have been issued. This means that at least 1/3 of the spaces are always vacant. This turns out to be 5000 square feet of unused land for the 30 parking spaces alone, not including the driveways.

A further point is that Newark is a city that remains well served by public transit. There is a considerable use of transit by the residents of the city. One of the questions in our survey of Corinthian residents addressed the issue of transit specifically. Forty percent of the Corinthian residents use transit to get to work. This should be a strong justification for lowering the ratio to 1.5 spaces per unit or even 1.75 spaces per unit.

The resulting saving of space could be used for common areas that by default the asphalt parking lots have become. During one of our visits to Corinthian I it was apparent that the lack of areas for the kids to play in has forced the parking lots to take this place. This is not a good solution to have kids and cars interacting in this way. If the space that is used as green space is later needed when and if the units are put up for sale, they could easily be converted back into parking spaces.