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In fact the patios, ranging in price from $40,000 to $150,000 (depending on size, location and time of purchase) have sold faster than the condos.

Of the 157 luxury units at 1450 Washington Street — some of them penthouses with attached outdoor space — two-thirds have sold, said John McCullough, an assistant vice president of Toll Brothers City Living. Of the 15 private terraces, only two remain.

For those gravitating to North Jersey’s waterfront — whether it be families leaving New York City in search of more space, or 20-somethings looking for better job and social prospects — having private access to the outdoors has become an expectation, and cost does not really seem to be an issue. Increasingly, this holds true despite the buildings’ more-or-less suburban location, in easy proximity to public green space of various kinds. Developers have responded by providing not only access, but also full-scale open-air social and entertainment centers, with lap pools, grilling stations, fire pits, playgrounds, jogging paths and dog runs at many of the newer upscale waterfront developments.

“I don’t think they can truly be competitive without having some type of outdoor offering,” said Chris Krasas, the chief financial officer of Let It Grow, a landscape and construction company in River Edge that has built several outdoor spaces in Hoboken, Jersey City and New York City. “The need to bring nature into these mostly concrete structures and for people to have a place to interact with the outdoor environment is very important.”

Traditionally these outdoor amenities have been available to the residents of a building as common space, but Toll Brothers has gone a step further. In addition to the private terraces, its newer buildings have two common areas: a second-floor courtyard garden surrounded by park benches, and a rooftop area with lounge chairs, barbecue grills and a two-sided glassed-in fire pit. Mr. McCullough said the idea was to offer tenants a choice.

“If you can afford a unit with a private outdoor space attached, that’s gold,” he said. “Or you might buy a relatively lower-priced unit, then take that money you saved to buy outdoor space.”

The private terraces range in size from 450 to 750 square feet. Five are on a seventh-floor rooftop, and 10 are on the top of the 12-story building. Each comes with gas, water and electric hookups; two lounge chairs; and an outdoor dining set. The two 550-square-foot patios still for sale are on the roof; each is listed at $80,000. Owners also have the option of reselling their terrace spaces to other residents. Toll Brothers offered a similar product in 2008 to residents of Harborside Lofts; all 11 private rooftop spaces on offer sold, at prices ranging from $50,000 to $200,000.

The kind of outdoor space being offered at 77 Hudson, a 420-unit luxury condominium in Jersey City built by K. Hovnanian Homes, is more traditional: 44,000 square feet of shared amenities, half of which are outside. An 11th-floor roof above the garage has a lap pool, hot tub, lawn, park, barbecue grills and fire pit, as well as a fitness center.

“I’ve heard people say it’s like living on a cruise ship, or South Beach on the Hudson,” said Scott Waldman, the president of Hovnanian’s brokerage division, noting that the building holds zumba and yoga classes, movie nights and other activities that have brought homeowners together. Along with the utilities, the amenities and activities are included in the monthly maintenance fees, which range from $590 to $1,270, Mr. Waldman said. Asking prices for units in the 49-story glass tower are $524,000 to $2.6 million, and so far about three-quarters have sold.

Elsewhere in Jersey City, Crystal Point, a 42-story condominium built by Fisher Development Associates, has a deck on the sixth floor equipped with a pool, a spa, fire pits and barbecue grills. All but two of the 269 units in this building have sold, at prices ranging from $650,000 to $1.495 million, according to George Cahn, a spokesman for the project.

North Jersey’s luxury rental market also has outdoor amenities. At one big project, Xchange at Secaucus Junction, there is even a rolling meadow, available to tenants as well as the public in Secaucus. Outdoor space makes up about 20 of the project’s 60 acres along the Hackensack River — which, when built out, will include 2,035 units. Included in that outdoor space is an amphitheater fronted by a 2.5-acre great lawn, its flat topography regraded by the project’s developers, Atlantic Realty Development in Woodbridge, to give it an undulating slope. Here, the project’s managers have staged concerts, movie nights and a holiday light show that drew an audience of more than 1,300 last November.

“We feel we’re neighbors with everybody in Secaucus,” said Jeremy Halpern, a vice president of Atlantic Realty, one of the developers of Xchange, “and we wouldn’t want to exclude them from this incredible property.”

Toll Brothers, similarly, has given the public in Hoboken access to various outdoor improvements. As part of its development agreement with the city, the company employed Let It Grow in building Maxwell Place Park and Pier, both of which were turned over to the city upon completion, according to Mr. McCullough. The properties include a sandy beach with a kayak launch, a boathouse and a raised peninsula that juts into the Hudson River.

More or less adjacent to these public spaces, Toll Brothers has three major projects in the works: the four-phase condo plan that includes 1450 Washington Street and Harborside Lofts; the Hudson Tea Building, a condo conversion of a former Lipton Tea plant; and Maxwell Place on the Hudson, 554 luxury condos that Mr. McCullough described as the company’s “premier product in New Jersey.”

Callingthe Maxwell Place Park and Pier “fabulous amenities for the city,” Mr. McCullough noted: “They’re not private to the residents of Maxwell Place on the Hudson. But obviously, they have a front row seat.”

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NEW YORK CITY

Manhattan, May 5 A 1927 maisonette designed for an heir to the Ford fortune will be one of six sites on a tour to benefit the Junior League of New York. Tickets are $125, or $100 if purchased by May 3, and include lunch and a cocktail reception. Information: (212) 288-6220 or nyjl.org.

Greenwich Village, May 6 The 14th annual tour to benefit the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation will include seven sites, among them the former studio of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Tickets are $175, or $150 in advance; for the tour and the reception that follows, they are $350, or $300 in advance. Information: (212) 475-9585 or gvshp.org/benefit.

Brooklyn Heights, May 12 A tour of five homes includes an 1856 Renaissance Revival house and a converted carriage house. Tickets are $40; no children under 13. Information: (718) 858-9193 or thebha.org.

Park Slope, Brooklyn, May 20 An 1882 Neo-Grecian brownstone is one of seven homes on the tour. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance, and include a lecture at the Montauk Club after the tour. No children under 10 (except infants in front packs) and no backpacks. Information: (718) 832-8227 or parkslopeciviccouncil.org.

Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, June 3 The tour includes eight houses. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance; for an additional $10 fee, ticketholders may attend the Prospect Lefferts Gardens tour as well. No backpacks or children in strollers. Information: (718) 625-4073 or boerumhillassociation.org.

Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, June 3 The 42nd annual tour includes nine homes and one garden, among them a 1909 neo-Renaissance limestone town house with intricate plaster moldings. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance; for an additional $10 fee, ticketholders may attend the Boerum Hill tour as well. No children under 12, except infants in front packs. Information: (718) 284-6210 or leffertsmanor.org.

Jackson Heights, Queens, June 9 and 10 A dozen block-long private gardens will be open from noon to 4 p.m. on June 9; there will also be a display of historic photographs and memorabilia, and a free lecture on the history of Jackson Heights at 10:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. On June 10, starting at noon, guided walking tours will be offered (tickets must be reserved or purchased in advance). Tickets are $10 for one day or $15 for both. Information: (718) 565-5344 or jhbg.org.

Flatbush, Brooklyn, June 10 Six to eight houses will be open from 1 to 6 p.m. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance. Information: (718) 859-3800 or fdconline.org.

Mount Morris Park, Harlem, June 10 A penthouse overlooking Marcus Garvey Park and an 1890s brownstone are among the tour’s 10 to 12 sites. Tickets are $30, or $25 in advance. Information: (212) 369-4241 or mmpcia.org.

Staten Island, June 24 The tour includes four to six historic houses in the Hamilton Park section of New Brighton, a suburban community designed around 1860 by Charles K. Hamilton. Tickets are $25. Information: (718) 448-2006 or preservestatenisland.org.

Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Oct. 20 The 34th annual house tour supports scholarships for college-bound students from the Boys and Girls High School and Brooklyn Academy. Tickets are $20, or $15 in advance. Information: brownstonersofbedstuy.org.

WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM COUNTIES

Larchmont Manor, May 19 Three houses, including an 1880s Queen Anne, will be on a tour sponsored by the Larchmont Historical Society. Tickets are $45, or $35 for members of the historical society; no children under 12. Information: (914) 381-2239 or larchmonthistory.org.

Garrison, Cold Spring, Brewster, Carmel, Mahopac and Putnam Valley, June 9 The Putnam County Secret Garden Tour will include eight private gardens, as well as Stonecrop Gardens, in Cold Spring, and the gardens at the Boscobel House and Gardens, in Garrison. Tickets are $40, or $30 if purchased by June 7. For $125, or $90 in advance, the event will include an additional tour of two houses that were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on Petra Island, in Mahopac (no children under 12 will be admitted to the Wright houses). Information: (845) 278-7272, extension 287, or putnamsecretgardentour.com.

DUTCHESS AND COLUMBIA COUNTIES

Poughkeepsie, May 9 and 20 On May 9, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., the Dutchess County Historical Society will sponsor a talk by John Pinna, an adjunct lecturer in history at Marist College, and a reception and tour of a restored 19th-century barn. On May 20, from 4 to 6 p.m., Andrew Lattimore, an artist from Cornwall on Hudson, will lead a similar program at a house filled with historic 19th- and 20th-century portraits. Tickets must be purchased in advance: the May 9 event is $35; the program on May 20 is $60. Information: (845) 471-1630 or dutchesscountyhistoricalsociety.org.

Dutchess County, Oct. 13 The 24th annual Country Seats Tour will feature as many as a dozen historic farms. Information and tickets, to benefit Hudson River Heritage, will be available closer to the event: (845) 876-2474 or hudsonriverheritage.org.

ROCKLAND AND ORANGE COUNTIES

Palisades and Snedens Landing, May 12 Eight houses, including a 1924 Craftsman-style cottage overlooking the Hudson River, will be on a tour to benefit the Blue Rock School scholarship fund. Tickets are $40, or $35 in advance; no one under 18 will be allowed. Information: (845) 627-0234 or bluerockschool.org.

Goshen, June 16 A Japanese-style garden and a lily garden are among the six gardens that will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event benefits St. James Episcopal Church. Tickets are $45, or $40 in advance. Information: (845) 294-6225 or stjamesgoshen.org.

Warwick, July 14 The Warwick Historical Society’s 1810 home will be one of six sites on a tour that will benefit Warwick Valley Gardeners. Tickets are $15. Information: warwickvalleygardeners.com.

LONG ISLAND

Southampton and Water Mill, May 12 A 1910 oceanfront house with a traditional shingled roof and bleached wood floors will be one of six houses on a tour to benefit the Southampton Historical Museum. Tickets are $90, or $75 in advance; no children under 12. Information: (631) 283-2494 or southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org.

Centerport and Huntington Bay, May 23 Five homes, including a 1904 Queen Anne Victorian, will be on a tour to benefit the Family Service League of Long Island. Tickets are $60, or $55 in advance; lunch is $30, with reservations before May 16. No children under 12. Information: (631) 427-3700, extension 255, or fsl-li.org.

Sea Cliff, June 9 Eight gardens will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., including one on Seacliff Harbor and another with a pond and trellis-covered walkways; a garden tea party will be held from noon to 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. Information: (516) 671-1717 or seacliff-ny.gov.

Southampton, June 9 and 10 Landscape Pleasures, an annual event to benefit the Parrish Art Museum, will present four landscape designers who have created gardens on the East End at a symposium from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 9; on June 10, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a tour of several gardens in the area. Tickets for the two-day event are $200, or $150 for members. Information: (631) 283-2118, extension 42, or parrishart.org.

Water Mill, July 22 to Sept. 2 The Hampton Designer Show House, to benefit Southampton Hospital, will be held in a traditional Shingle-style estate. Admission is $30; no children under 6. Information: (631) 745-0004 or hamptondesignershowhouse.com.

NEW JERSEY

Princeton, through May 20 Priory Court, a limestone house with a cloister, will be the site of a show house to benefit the Junior League of Greater Princeton. The house will be open Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Fridays until 7 p.m. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance; no children under 12. Information: (609) 771-0525 or jlgp.org.

Saddle River, through June 10 A Tudor-style home on 10 acres will be the site of the Designer Show House of New Jersey, to benefit the Heart and Vascular Hospital and the Emergency Trauma Department at Hackensack University Medical Center. Tickets are $30; no children under 6. Information: (551) 996-3252 or thedsnj.com.

Morristown, through May 31 Sixty designers will participate in a show house at Glynallyn Castle, to benefit the Inpatient Hospice and Palliative Care Center at Morristown Medical Center. The 40-room Tudor-style house, built in 1917, has 16 chimneys, a dungeon and originally had a moat. Tickets are $30, or $25 in advance (or for those 62 and older); no children under 12. Information: (973) 971-8800 or mansioninmay.org.

Montclair, June 1 and 2 A landscaped property with several garden rooms, including a rose terrace, a boxwood garden and a croquet court, is one of at least seven gardens on the Roses to Rock Gardens tour. Tickets are $35, or $30 in advance. Information: (973) 744-4752 or vanvleck.org.

Westfield and Summit, June 2 Five houses will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in a tour to benefit the Westfield Symphony Orchestra, with music by orchestra members at some of the gardens. Tickets are $35, or $30 in advance; no children under 12. Information: (908) 232-9400 or westfieldsymphony.org.

Hoboken, June 3 The Hoboken Secret Garden Tour, to benefit the Hoboken Historical Museum, includes guided tours of 8 to 10 private gardens, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance; children under 13 are free. Information: (201) 656-2240 or hobokenmuseum.org.

CONNECTICUT

Southport, Greenfield Hill and Westport, May 4 A 3,600-square-foot house on Long Island Sound with stainless steel roofing, cedar siding and wood and glass throughout is one of five homes on a tour to benefit Near & Far Aid, a group that supports more than 100 charities in Fairfield County. Tickets are $75, or $65 in advance. Information: (203) 259-1710 or nearandfaraid.org.

Falls Village and Lakeville, Conn., and Millerton, N.Y., May 19 and 20 This event to benefit Women’s Support Services will include an antiques and plant sale on May 19 and a tour of four gardens, including that of the designer Bunny Williams, on May 20. Tickets for the sale are $35; early-bird entry, at 8 a.m., is $100. Tickets for the tour are $70, or $60 in advance. Information: (860) 364-1080 or tradesecretsct.com.

Greenwich, June 7 The Garden Education Center of Greenwich will sponsor a tour of five gardens. Tickets are $95, or $75 in advance. Information: (203) 869-9242 or gecgreenwich.org.

Stamford, June 10 and 11 The Bartlett Arboretum gardens and five private sites will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $50, or $40 for members; lunch will be available for an additional $20. Information: (203) 322-6971 or bartlettarboretum.org.

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston, May 17 Twelve to 16 gardens will be on the annual Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill tour. Tickets are $40, or $30 in advance. Information: (617) 227-4392 or beaconhillgardenclub.org.

Newton, June 3 Eight houses will be open from noon to 5 p.m., in a tour to benefit Historic Newton. Tickets are $35 ($25 for members), or $30 ($20 for members) if purchased by June 1; half-price tickets are available for new members. Information: (617) 796-1450 or historicnewton.org.

Boston, June 16 Twenty private and community gardens will be on the South End Garden Tour, to benefit the South End/Lower Roxbury Open Space Land Trust. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance. Information: (617) 437-0999 or southendgardentour.org.

RHODE ISLAND

Providence, June 1 to 3 The Festival of Historic Houses sponsored by the Providence Preservation Society will begin with a candlelight tour on June 1, from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $50. There will be two neighborhood house tours: the College Hill section, on June 2, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Jewelry District, on June 3, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets are $40 each, or $35 in advance; no children under 10. Admission to the events on all three days is $100. Information: (401) 831-7440 or ppsri.org.

Newport, June 29 to July 1 A dozen gardens will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., as part of the annual Secret Gardens of Newport tour. Tickets for all three days are $20, or $15 in advance. Information: (401) 439-7253 or secretgardentours.org.

PENNSYLVANIA

Furlong, May 6 to June 3 The annual Bucks County Designer House and Gardens, to benefit Doylestown Hospital and the Village Improvement Association of Doylestown, will take place at Spring Valley Farm, an 1850s Dutch Colonial house at 3864 Spring Valley Road; 25 interior designers and 15 landscape designers are taking part. Tickets are $25, or $20 for seniors; no children under 10. Information: (215) 345-2191 or buckscountydesignerhouse.org.

Philadelphia, May 20 Ten houses in the Society Hill area will be on a tour to benefit the Society Hill Civic Association. Tickets are $35, or $30 in advance, and include a discount at several local restaurants. Information: (215) 629-1288 or societyhillcivic.org.

New Hope, June 2 Six private gardens in Bucks County will be open to the public. Tickets are $30. Information: (215) 862-5652 or newhopehs.org.

Mount Gretna, Aug. 4 The annual tour to benefit Gretna Music features 10 to 12 summer cottages and homes built in this lakeside community since the early 1900s, including the Mount Gretna Inn, a three-story Arts and Crafts house. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance. Information: (717) 361-1508 or gretnamusic.org.

DELAWARE

Wilmington, May 5 Sixteen private and public gardens will be featured on the 65th annual tour for Wilmington Garden Day, including the Goodstay Gardens, one of the oldest gardens in the state, created by Ellen Coleman du Pont in symmetrical rooms like a traditional colonial garden. Tickets are $35, or $30 in advance. Information: wilmingtongardenday.org.

MARYLAND AND WASHINGTON, D.C.

Baltimore and Four Counties, through May 20 The Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage began in Baltimore on April 28 and continues in St. Mary’s County on May 5, in Talbot County on May 12, in Howard County on May 19 and in Anne Arundel County on May 20. Among the sites featured will be a 13-foot-wide 1850 row house in the Bolton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, and Oakdale, an 1838 home in Howard County with 23 rooms. Tickets are $35 for each day, or $30 in advance. Information: (410) 821-6933 or mhgp.org.

Towson, through May 20 Eck House, a 25-room home in Cromwell Valley Park, will be the site of the 36th annual Decorators’ Show House to benefit the educational programs of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Admission is $30. Information: (410) 783-8000 or bsomusic.org.

Washington, D.C., May 5 A two-level garden centered on a multitrunk kousa dogwood and another garden with paths bordered by lavender and planted with white roses, a weeping pear tree and dwarf boxwoods will be on a tour of eight gardens sponsored by the Georgetown Garden Club. Tickets are $35. Information: (202) 965-1950 or georgetowngardentour.com.

Takoma Park, Md., May 6 A dozen homes, from an 1887 Victorian to a modern bungalow, will be open for a tour in the North Takoma neighborhood, from 1 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20, or $18 in advance. Information: (301) 270-2831 or historictakoma.org.

Hyattsville, Md., May 20 The 33rd annual house tour to benefit the Hyattsville Preservation Association will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $12, or $10 in advance. Information: (301) 699-5440 or preservehyattsville.org.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Wolfeboro, July 11 Five houses and gardens will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for the 25th annual tour to benefit the Central New Hampshire V.N.A. and Hospice. Tickets are $40. Information: (603) 569-2729.

VERMONT

Westminster, July 14 and 15 Five gardens, including the Hayward Garden, which has two 90-foot mixed borders, a woodland area and an herb garden, will be part of a tour on July 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and July 15, from noon to 3 p.m., to benefit Westminster Cares, a service organization for the elderly and disabled. Tickets are $15 for one person and $25 for two. Information: (802) 722-3607 or westminstercares.org.

MAINE

Spruce Head and Rockland, July 15 Seven gardens will be on the 21st annual Gardens in the Watershed tour. Tickets are $28, or $25 in advance; there is no charge for children under 12. Information: (207) 594-5166 or grlt.org.

Camden and Rockport, July 19 The Camden Garden Club’s 65th annual tour features seven gardens, most of which include house tours. Tickets are $30, or $25 in advance. Information: camdengardenclub.org.

Mount Desert Island, July 28 A tour of six gardens is sponsored by the Garden Club of Mount Desert. Tickets are $40, or $35 if purchased before July 10. Information: (727) 515-1335 or gardenclubofmountdesert.com.

THE SOUTH

Atlanta, through May 13 Knollwood, a 1929 house designed by Phillip Trammel Shutze, is the site of the Atlanta Decorators’ Show House and Gardens, benefiting the educational programs of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Admission is $25; no children under 8. Information: (404) 733-5000 or decoratorsshowhouse.org.

Atlanta, May 5 and 6 Nine sites are on this year’s Georgia Perennial Plant Association tour, which will be held on May 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on May 6, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $20, and are good for both days; new members and those who renew their membership will receive a free ticket. Information: georgiaperennial.org.

Louisville, Ky., July 7 and 8 The Old Louisville Hidden Treasures Garden Tour will feature 10 private gardens. Tickets are $15, or $12 in advance; there is no charge for children under 12. Information: (502) 635-5244 or oldlouisvillegardentour.com.

THE MIDWEST

Indianapolis, through May 13 The 51st annual St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild Decorators’ Show House and Gardens, to benefit Wishard Health Services, will take place in Tobias House at 5 East 71st Street, a 40-room home built in the 1930s and donated to the Indiana University Foundation in 2010 by Randall L. Tobias, the former chairman and president of Eli Lilly and Company. More than 50 interior and landscape designers will participate. Open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 (discount tickets are available for $17, at Marsh stores); children ages 3 to 12 are $5. Information: showhouseindy.com.

Kansas City, Mo., through May 20 The 43rd annual Symphony Designers’ Show House, to benefit the Kansas City Symphony, will be held in a 1909 English Tudor Revival house. Admission is $15. Information: (816) 968-9711 or showhouse.org.

Downers Grove, Ill., July 14 Seven gardens are on a tour to benefit a program for formerly homeless families run by the First United Methodist Church. Tickets are $25, or $20 in advance. Information: (630) 968-7120 or dgfumc.org/gardenwalk.

Chicago, July 21 and 22 The annual Sheffield Garden Walk, a festival of guided architectural tours, live music, food, activities for children and open gates at more than 80 neighborhood gardens, will benefit community organizations and projects, schools and the area beautification program sponsored by the Sheffield Neighborhood Association. The events will take place in the blocks around Sheffield Avenue North, from noon to 10:15 p.m.; gardens are open from noon to 5:30 p.m., and children’s activities are from noon to 5:30 p.m. Admission is $7, or $10 after 3 p.m. Information: (773) 929-9255 or sheffieldgardenwalk.com.

Marshall, Mich., Sept. 8 and 9 The annual Historic Home Tour includes admission to seven historic houses and to the three museums run by Historic Marshall (Honolulu House, Grand Army of the Republic Hall and Capitol Hill School), as well as several other museums, like the Walters Gasoline Museum and the Schragg Postal Museum. Tickets for the two-day event are $20, or $15 if purchased by Sept. 1. Information: (269) 781-8544 or marshallhistoricalsociety.org.

THE WEST

San Francisco, through May 28 A 1902 Classical Revival home with a double curved grand staircase will be the site of this year’s Decorator Showcase, to benefit the San Francisco University High School scholarship program. Tickets are $30. Information: (415) 447-5830 or decoratorshowcase.org.

Los Angeles, May 6 Four houses on a tour sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects include a three-level architect’s home with Cor-Ten steel walls and a passive energy house with a solar thermal heater, a green roof and a photovoltaic array. Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $85, or $75 in advance; A.I.A. members are $65. Information: (213) 639-0777 or aialosangeles.org.

San Clemente, Calif., June 9 Six private gardens will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a tour sponsored by the San Clemente Garden Club. Tickets are $30, or $25 in advance. Information: sanclementegardenclub.com.

Denver, June 16 The 12th annual Gardens of Northwest Denver tour will include 20 sites, including urban farms, sculpture gardens and xeriscape gardens designed to reduce the need for irrigation or supplemental watering. The tour will be followed by a silent auction and an after-party. Tickets are $15; there is no charge for children under 12. Information: (303) 433-4983 or conflictcenter.org.

Seattle, June 24 A garden tour of the Wallingford area of the city will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $15; children under 12 are free. Information: (206) 632-3165 or wallingford.org.

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He also helped found the Graffiti Research Lab, an artist group that has undertaken projects like tagging the Brooklyn Bridge with an (erasable) laser and tossing projectile LEDs onto city buildings.

Mr. Roth, 34, is being honored this year by the design community as a winner of a Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award.

John C Jay, global executive creative director and partner at Wieden + Kennedy and the jury chairman for the awards, said Mr. Roth was chosen in the interaction design category, in part, because “he blurs the distinctions between technology, design and art.”

He cited as an example the EyeWriter. The device, which Mr. Roth helped design, allowed a paralyzed graffiti artist named Tempt1 to draw with his eyes. “He’s definitely a very strong problem solver,” Mr. Jay said of Mr. Roth. “That’s at the heart of the design.”

Mr. Roth, who has an M.F.A. from Parsons The New School for Design and lived in New York for several years, spoke about his work on the phone from his home in Paris.

Do you think of yourself as a designer?

I consider myself an artist, but I do see the connection to design. I think my work tends to address dual audiences. It has one life that happens within white cubes in art galleries. But I also have interest in reaching a completely separate online audience. I like when my work appears in galleries and on the front page of YouTube.

Has YouTube been important in getting your work seen, especially the videos you post of street art projects like

L.A.S.E.R. Tag?

It’s not about YouTube; it’s about the Internet. I hadn’t seen a Banksy piece out in the street until 10 years after I was introduced to his work. But seeing one piece on the Web was enough to make me quit my job and go back to graduate school.

I understand when people have specific ideas about how certain parts of art shouldn’t be mediated. That it’s meant to be experienced out in the street. But the influence we can have on society as artists now vastly outweighs those arguments.

Much of your work involves subverting technology and the Internet. Do you know how to write code?

Yes, I know how to write code. But I find it taxing and boring. I’m not fun to be around when I’m writing code.

My relationship with technology is more a fascination with the people writing code. The hacker communities. I’m not talking about phone scandals and e-mail hacking. When I look at graffiti artists, I see hackers. I see a community of people who are making their own tools and subverting systems to tell stories.

How did the Jay-Z “Brooklyn Go Hard” video happen?

I got a call from a former classmate who’s now working at a firm. He remembered this project I did in graduate school at Parsons. He said, “Can you make a Jay-Z video in three days?” Hell, yes. I canceled Thanksgiving that year. My wife was like, “I understand. Do what you have to do. I’ll handle the food.”

Are you interested in doing more traditional products, like designing furniture?

I wouldn’t be against that. I came from architecture and worked in it for three years before I started dabbling on the Web. But not having money influence design decisions was liberating to me. It got disappointing to see great design ideas be shelved because the materials were considered too expensive. I don’t know if I can go back.

The other winners of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards are Richard Saul Wurman (lifetime achievement), Janine Benyus (design mind), Design That Matters (corporate and institutional achievement), Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects (architecture design), Rebeca Méndez (communication design), Thom Browne (fashion design), Clive Wilkinson Architects (interior design), Stoss Landscape Urbanism (landscape architecture), Scott Wilson (product design).

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With buildings accounting for 75 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, city planners say, the hope is that owners will take steps to increase their structures’ energy efficiency, produce their own renewable energy, put storm water to good use and, in some cases, even grow food.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the City Council support the proposed new rules, which the Council is expected to approve in a vote scheduled for Monday. The zoning changes would affect building types as varied as office towers, warehouses and apartment buildings.

The new regulations would encourage better insulation by allowing buildings to add up to eight inches of thickness to exterior walls without its being counted in the building’s maximum footprint. Other changes would relax height limits and facade restrictions to make room for equipment like solar panels, wind turbines, awnings, green roofs, recreational decks and skylights.

Solar installations, in particular, have the potential for significant growth: under the new rules, panels would be allowed on flat roofs anywhere below the parapet regardless of building height. On sloping roofs, the panels could be mounted flat.

Rooftops could also accommodate boilers and other equipment that might operate more efficiently there than in the basement, officials said.

But some changes apply only to certain buildings. Wind turbines could rise up to 55 feet above roofs, but only on buildings taller than 100 feet or those near the waterfront, where winds are consistent enough to generate power reliably. And the greater latitude for rooftop greenhouse installations would apply only to nonresidential buildings, including schools, that promote education or year-round food production.

BrightFarms, a private company that develops greenhouses, said this month that it planned a 100,000-square-foot commercial greenhouse on the roof of a city-owned warehouse building in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The operation is expected to yield a million pounds of produce a year.

The changes in the zoning rules were based on recommendations by a task force of design and construction professionals enlisted by the city to propose ways to promote energy efficiency and other environmental improvements for buildings.

Adding green features to buildings can cost thousands of dollars, and officials with the City Planning Department said they were not certain how many property owners would ultimately take advantage of the new rules.

Lowering utility bills is generally the biggest incentive for older buildings to undertake energy upgrades. City planners estimate that New Yorkers spend $15 billion a year powering and heating roughly one million buildings.

“Every building is going to make different decisions,” said Howard Slatkin, the director of sustainability at the City Planning Department. “We’re creating more choices.”

The city offers tax incentives to property owners who install features like solar panels or green roofs. Still, Angela Pinsky, a senior vice president with the Real Estate Board of New York, the industry’s trade group, said questions remained about how quickly upfront costs could be recovered through electricity savings.

She said, however, that other features like green roofs were appealing to many building owners, and that the zoning changes would eliminate a “very large hurdle.”

Some builders suggested that the main advantage of the new rules would be saved time.

Paul Freitag, the director of development for the Jonathan Rose Companies, a developer of major green projects in the city, said the new rules in many cases would eliminate the need to apply for a variance to add special features. He said it once took him 18 months to get city approval to install exterior solar shades on one building.

The new rules would allow sun-control devices and awnings to project two and a half feet over areas that are zoned as open space. Mr. Freitag said the more flexible approach would help property owners consider improvements “based on what they want and not on whether it’s difficult to have it approved.”

“A lot of people will say, ‘We can do this differently’ once they realize their options,” he said.

Russell Unger, the executive director of the Urban Green Council, the New York chapter of the United States Green Building Council, which confers the seal of approval, known as LEED certification, for environmentally sound buildings, said that improvements in energy efficiency were the best long-term investment for property owners looking at the bottom line.

He estimated that a three-story residential building that added four inches of insulation to its exterior walls could save 10.5 percent on its yearly heating bills, reducing a utility bill of $3,575 by about $373.

The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, said the changes would help bring more certainty to the building industry in terms of what would be allowed.

“We’re giving people looking to build or rehab a building a permanent green light to make that building greener,” she said.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 26, 2012

A previous version of this article misstated the unit of how high wind turbines could rise above roofs under proposed zoning changes as 55 inches. It also erroneously stated that the new rules would allow sun-control devices and awnings to project two to six feet over areas zoned as open space.

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In the next 24 months, virtually every block in a one-mile stretch of 14th is slated to gain a new or renovated building containing residential units and ground-floor retail space. When the dust clears, the strip will have more than 1,200 additional housing units and more than 85,000 square feet of additional retail space.

Few here are surprised. After all, the section of 14th Street from Rhode Island to Florida Avenues, about two miles north of the National Mall and near a major Metro station, has been undergoing redevelopment for years. But in 2008 financing for new projects stopped, and it did not start flowing again until 2010. Now the taps are fully open.

A few small condominium projects are in the mix, including PN Hoffman’s transformation of a Verizon building into 34 upscale units. But given Washington’s very tight rental housing market, developers’ main focus is on apartment buildings, most of them skewing toward the high end.

Perseus Realty and Jefferson Apartment Group are uniting to build 231 luxury apartments with more than 10,000 square feet of retail space. UDR, based in Denver, is working on a project at the northern end of the strip that will contain 255 units, a rooftop pool, and 16,000 square feet of retail space.

But the project that is attracting the most notice is Louis, by the JBG Companies, at 14th and U Streets. It will have 268 luxury apartments, 25,000 square feet of new retail space and a tiered roof deck.

“The area meets some of our key core principles: it’s near the central business district and is a transit corridor,” said Kai Reynolds, a principal of JBG who is overseeing the project.

Mr. Reynolds pointed to a Room & Board furniture store a block away, which opened in 2010 and is flourishing, as an example of the boulevard’s potential. “When you see a national retailer investing $15 million in that area, it shows it has that vibrancy,” he said

The stretch of 14th Street bridges Logan Circle and U Street, two of the city’s more fashionable neighborhoods. Early in the 20th century, the boulevard was lined with car dealerships, but the strip was hit hard by suburban flight, and the riots after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

By 1985, when Yemane Meresie bought Sav-On Liquors, the street was largely known for the prostitutes and drug dealers who frequented it. “It was a jungle,” he said.

Like many other longtime residents and business owners, Mr. Meresie traces the neighborhood’s growth through milestones like the 1987 expansion of Studio Theater at 14th and P Streets. But nothing matched the impact of the arrival of Whole Foods on P Street in 2000, a result of advocacy by residents who said they were convinced the store could thrive in their community.

They were right. “That was a revolutionary change,” Mr. Meresie said. Whole Foods drew businesses like Starbucks and Flow Yoga, and a swath of condo buildings.

At the same time to the north, condos and restaurants were rising around the busy intersection of 14th and U Streets.

But the 10-block stretch between the areas remained partly a throwback: sprinkled among new businesses were pawnshops, used furniture stores and takeout Chinese restaurants, even though the area was gaining a reputation for unusual restaurants like Richard Sandoval’s Masa 14 and locally owned spots like Cork Wine Bar.

Residents say that, given the area’s central location, low-rise buildings that could be expanded or replaced and vacant lots, the building boom is hardly surprising. But the form it will ultimately take is still hazy. Jared Meier, a retail strategist for StreetSense, said the corridor was still in transition from largely food-based tenants to merchandisers and predicted that the increased population would attract “junior box” stores like Petco, DSW or Urban Outfitters.

Greg Leisch, the chief executive of Delta Associates, a real estate consulting company in Alexandria, Va., said, “As an area becomes re-enlivened, there’s a natural cycle that retailers go through; they move from more mom-and-pop to less, and from less chain stores to more.” He cited Georgetown and Bethesda, Md., as having followed that path.

That shift has already begun. In the last year, 14th Street lost a number of small businesses. Ruff & Ready Furnishings and the jazz club HR-57 moved to cheaper neighborhoods, and Sam’s Pawnbrokers is for sale. The Central Union Mission, a 29-year neighborhood resident, will leave within the next year, its building becoming another residential complex, the developer, Jeffrey Schonberger, said. Those who remain know their stay is tenuous. Greg Link, a co-owner of Home Rule, said his 14-year-old housewares shop just had its highest-grossing February. Nonetheless, he predicted the future would bring more competition. “Someday there’ll be a big home store that’ll open here. That’s a big market, and it’s just begging for entry.”

Longtime residents say they worry the changes will bring an influx of short-term renters, question whether the number of restaurants will rise to a level that could threaten the character of the neighborhood, and fear losing parking spaces. But most are excited about the growth.

One, Tim Christensen, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1989 and is president of the Logan Circle Community Association, wondered about the cost.

“I’ve said before that when the last pawnshop and the last storefront deli leaves 14th Street, I will leave,” he said. “It’s that mixture of the gritty and the upscale that gives the neighborhood a unique character. If one day it’s all gone, I think we will feel a sense of loss.”

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