How come American (or maybe just New York?) housing projects are built at angles to the street grid? Berlin projects tend to be parallel to the street, just set back from it. Cc @mcmansionhell

@Alon I guess it depends on the size and shape of the city blocks

@tormeh Right, but New York block shape makes the commieblock style - long blocks of buildings with continuous unbroken massing parallel to the street with setbacks - easier rather than harder.

@Alon Commieblocks are expensive, especially if you want to build them high, as you sometimes can on Manhattan. Dividing it up into smaller projects might lower the risk a bit in the eyes of financiers.

But to be honest it's probably because the lots were shaped like that by the local government when they were first sold or allocated. Legacy rules the world.

@tormeh But New York specifically puts the projects in megablocks, where several city blocks are joined together...

@Alon Sure, but joining several lots might be complicated for some reason? You have to find two or more neighbors that are all willing to sell simultaneously, each of which individually seeks to squeeze as much money out of the buyer as possible