Today brings me back to 40504 for my first visit to the Beaumont area. This area seems to be an example of peak ranch style, being full of 1960’s era ranch houses on large lots (The pictured house is clearly older, but the lot size is similarly large). The aspect of this area that made the biggest impression was the size of the lots. It felt like walking past a single house was a bit of an endeavor. There are some great old trees here, probably part of the original build-out.

Despite the unusually wide open scale of the blocks and houses, I noticed that a church in this neighborhood features a relatively modest scale compared to many of the newer churches that have been built around town (and I don’t necessarily mean just the Southlands and similar churches; many smaller churches have large parcels that are generally filled with grass but little else). So, while the prevailing thoughts on neighborhood planning have  tended to creating smaller lots (and taller houses) in this type of neighborhood, perhaps churches (among other types of development) may be moving in the other direction.