Chapter 3.2

One of the biggest reasons Roosevelt Gardens was chosen as the main site to work from is because of its close proximity to the ocean, only four and a half miles or so. This, coupled with the socio-economic position of the area make it a good candidate for study . The depressed economic nature of makes it a more problematic region to begin with. It has existing housing issues that would only become further magnified if a storm were to hit.

The community sits between Dillard High School and the former Fort Lauderdale City Dump, which is currently no longer in use. It is a scattered community with speckled houses along the block. Many of the existing blocks have at least two to three empty lots at the bear minimum some streets have almost the entire area devoid of any structure.

The diagrams to the left depict the surrounding areas and how the homes sit in relation to each other in the community. The red line represents the perimeter of Roosevelt Gardens. The lower most diagram shows the Old City Dump (upper left) and Dillard High School (lower right) in red. The green Line represents the main corridor , Sunrise Boulevard along the edge of the community.

The specific site that will be focused on is lot number 33 along NW 15th C our. The Lot sits between two Government subsidized low income housing units. The Lot is 50’x100’ and vacant of an existing home. However for the purposes of this project the footprint of one of the low income housing units is added Creating a more realistic scenario.

Currently the area has existing issues with the remnants of Hurricane Wilma from 2005. Houses with bright blue tarps given out by FEMA dot the landscape still, almost 3 years later. The amount of damage a category two storm did is just a taste of what a strong storm can really produce.

Within this community the lot sizes don’t change with much variation. The average lot size in Broward County is around 50x100sqft, and in Roosevelt Gardens its about the same. The lot usually consists of a home ranging from 1100 to 1500 square feet leaving any where between 1000 and 1500 square feet to work with. Unfortunately of that square footage most of it is contained in the back yard as well as driveway space. So the overall sizing of the site within the site is about 500 square feet. In this area the s.e.e.d. core will be contained.

Roosevelt Gardens, like its neighboring communities, has a very similar housing pattern. The majority of the lots are 50x100, and have a similar housing unit on the piece of land. The homes are roughly 1100 square feet and consist of two to three bedrooms.

The Footprints above are meant to represent the four main repetitive house footprints in the surrounding area. The home on the far left represents the footprint of the Broward County Housing Authority’s low income housing unit. These homes populate the area and create affordable housing for those in need, but are not a viable answer post hurricane because of the standard method of construction. Each home takes roughly _____?____ months to build, far to long to be considered immediate relief.