Model for future Montrose development

But this project represents something far more significant. It is a multi-unit project planned for an entirely appropriate area of the town. Yes, I know that there are some, like the editorial writer from the 1920s, who would point out that Montrose Avenue was once the very vision of elegance in architecture. Sadly, those days are long gone.

Today, Montrose Avenue is our area's primary multi-unit housing area. Do I wish Montrose Avenue still hosted the beautiful old Craftsman homes of my childhood? You bet I do. That battle, however, was lost long ago, and it is a far better exercise now, I believe, to encourage the appropriate location and design of apartments and condos within those areas that have become multifamily housing areas rather than "shoehorn" them into the middle of single-family residential areas, such as we witnessed in south Glendale in the 1980s and more recently on Florencita Avenue in Montrose.

The lesson to preservationists, and one sadly often lost on many of our elected officials, is that the notion of historic preservation is not just about "saving old buildings." It is also about making sure that we encourage the building of architecturally significant new structures that will be the historic landmarks of the future.

The Balls should be applauded and encouraged by local residents and civic leaders for bringing a tasteful, architecturally significant, historically relatable and properly scaled building project forward. Their design may well become the model our community will point to as an example of the direction other developers of appropriately scaled designs should follow.