The conflict between the aesthetic and functional considerations of design and the realities of living and maintaining a house in a low income neighborhood keeps coming into play. Are large windows, designed for day-lighting and energy efficiency, a security concern when living in a low-income neighborhood?
The latest example manifests itself in the dilemma between including lots of functional windows in the house and keeping the house safe from break-ins. When we showed the plans of one house to a potential buyer this was one of the first things he noted. His existing house has only a very few, very small windows. And those windows are located very high up on the walls. So high in fact that you cannot look out of any window while seated.
Yet he says he likes it that way. The reason: it’s hard for people to break in.
This is clearly a concern in the neighborhoods of Port Arthur that we are building in. At least one in every three houses has burglar bars on all the windows. A fire danger associated with these old fashion burglar bars makes me cringe.
So this sent us back to the drawing boards, or rather off to the Internet, to try to find some security devices that could allow for large and plentiful windows and still provide adequate protection from break-ins. So far we are weighing two options.
The first, to install special storm windows on the houses that make it essentially impossible to break the glass to gain entry. The problem with this approach is that it still does not prevent someone from prying open the windows to gain entry. The second approach is to install interior locking shutters on the windows. While the windows can still be pried or broken to gain entry the locked interior shutters should frustrate the would-be burglar. Both of these options were add considerably the price of houses. The storm windows would cost $3000-$4000 for the house and the shutters would cost at least as much. Since we are already well over our target budget this is a big consideration.
There are some less expensive security measures we are also considering adding. Five foot chain-link fencing around the yard is one option. Another option are floodlights connected to motion detectors at the corners of the house. And then finally there is the possibility of adding interior motion detectors and a security system. But the cost of maintaining a security system may be too much for the low income families.
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