News Coverage

MetroPulse
May 30, 2005
Postmodern Convenience: Looking Back to Cutting-Edge in Residential
By Matt Edens

I read with interest the other day how Sen. Lamar (or should that be Lamar!) Alexander wants to offer $4 billion in incentives to energy companies to explore converting coal into a clean-burning synthetic alternative to natural gas, supplies of which, as you might have noticed from last winter's KUB bill, are getting tighter and more expensive. Part of that shortage is due to the fact that, since it burns cleaner than oil or coal, natural gas has been the fuel of choice for many new power plants, particularly in states with strict environmental regulations, such as California . The result has been increased demand and increased prices, which makes synthetic gas made from relatively plentiful coal supplies a potentially cost-effective alternative.

But for me, the fascinating part of this debate over coal-gas is that it's hardly a cutting-edge technology. In fact, the major breakthrough came way back in '92--1792, that is. By the Victorian era the process was in widespread use on a commercial scale, used primarily for commercial and residential lighting. Indeed my circa-1889 Victorian--along with most other Knoxville homes of similar vintage--still has the odd gas pipe or two running through the attic.

Nor is coal gasification the only Victorian era idea that some people are embracing in the face of uncertainty over future oil supplies. Long-distance passenger rail and mass transit in the form of electric streetcars and interurban lines were as much a part of life at the end of the 19th century as Interstate highways were at the end of the 20th. And in many ways "New Urbanism," the hottest thing in suburban real estate development (including the massive Northshore Town Center project currently under construction in West Knoxville), with its emphasis on pedestrian scale, density and mixed uses, is really just a retread of Victorian-style real estate development that resulted in neighborhoods like Fort Sanders, Parkridge or Fourth and Gill.

That means that 1880s Victorian on Deery Street in Fourth and Gill isn't just a few blocks from the Old City, it's also on the cutting edge of postmodern strategies for preserving the western industrial way of life in the post-oil era (well, post oil's production peak, at least). Really, at this point, all Fourth and Gill needs is a little more redevelopment downtown, a little retrofitting of the old commercial districts on its Broadway and Central fringes and a few refinements in its transit connections, and it'd be quite possible to embrace a lifestyle where car ownership becomes less of a necessity and more of a luxury.

Nor will you have to give up much in the way of "modern" convenience. Not only has this house been nicely restored on the inside, preserving period details such as the heart-pine floors, four fireplaces and original staircase, it has been nicely updated with new electrical, plumbing and baths and a newly renovated open kitchen/family room with maple cabinetry, tile counters and stainless steel appliances. There's even a concrete drive with plenty of off-street parking, assuming you even need such a thing.