I dream of mixed zoning where you can have a house and your downstairs or garage is like a coffee shop, cafe, bodega or mini-grocery store. Something where you can have a low stakes secondary...
I dream of mixed zoning where you can have a house and your downstairs or garage is like a coffee shop, cafe, bodega or mini-grocery store. Something where you can have a low stakes secondary income, and make make some of these sprawling residential blocks into walkable towns.
This article doesn’t mention that. It mentions:
ADUs. Basically a second house on the same lot as another single family home. Like a garage converted to a home.
Allowing multiple units in a single family home. Like turning a SFL into a duplex, or the classic dividing up a Victorian into multiple apartments.
I want to have children someday. I want them to run downstairs excited to hop on their bikes and ride — on friendly, safe, car-free streets lush with vegetation — to go meet their friends. I want...
I want to have children someday. I want them to run downstairs excited to hop on their bikes and ride — on friendly, safe, car-free streets lush with vegetation — to go meet their friends. I want them to have lots and lots of other friends living within 10 minutes of biking distance, so they can go on lots of adventures instead of feeling stuck at home.
I want to bump into my neighbors gardening and working on neighborhood projects and chit chat.
I'm really happy to see US cities slowly changing course.
Is this not a thing already? For a few years I lived in an apartment above a small grocery/deli and one of my best friends currently lives above a pizza shop.
I dream of mixed zoning where you can have a house and your downstairs or garage is like a coffee shop, cafe, bodega or mini-grocery store.
Is this not a thing already? For a few years I lived in an apartment above a small grocery/deli and one of my best friends currently lives above a pizza shop.
It’s not too hard to find in denser areas in the US. But it could be much more common. Why not have little pockets of 5-over-1 in every town and city? I’ve heard NIMBYs complain about it but it’s...
It’s not too hard to find in denser areas in the US. But it could be much more common. Why not have little pockets of 5-over-1 in every town and city? I’ve heard NIMBYs complain about it but it’s better than your standard BS suburb.
These were both in tiny towns, not densely populated areas. I suppose it might be a bell curve type situation where more rural and more dense areas have it but not the middle areas?
These were both in tiny towns, not densely populated areas. I suppose it might be a bell curve type situation where more rural and more dense areas have it but not the middle areas?
One city in Alberta did this, relaxing zoning laws. More to follow as all levels of government have finally clued in that lack of affordable housing is a crisis here in Canada. It made a big...
One city in Alberta did this, relaxing zoning laws. More to follow as all levels of government have finally clued in that lack of affordable housing is a crisis here in Canada.
It made a big difference to us. We were able to put a basement suite in a house without paying about $2000 in development and building permits. We were not required to put in a costly second furnace as long as we had auxiliary electric baseboard heat which was $600 vs about $9000. We didn't have to drywall and smoke seal the inside of the furnace room as long as we put in an easy to install sprinkler head for $400.
A few changes to the bylaw codes and the city waving its fees and they created hundreds of new, still safe basement suites without much complaining from the NIMBYs.
Hoping they go for backyard ADUs and eliminate minimum dwelling sizes next - I have a partially finished, fully self contained tiny home that's only 160 sq ft, but so far the powers that be have determined that no one is allowed to live in a tiny home less than 400 sq ft. I've met many students who would gladly live alone in 160 sf rather than rent a bigger house and have to deal with 2 or more roommates, especially if their rent is comparable.
I feel like this will only address part of the problem. It's an important part to be sure, though. In my city, literally thousands of single family homes (in the neighborhood of 13,000) are owned...
I feel like this will only address part of the problem. It's an important part to be sure, though.
In my city, literally thousands of single family homes (in the neighborhood of 13,000) are owned by investors. Re-zoning is great, I think regulation is better.
This is a huge issue where I live too. Regulation and taxation of multi-homeowners should be the next step. If you want to invest and own multiple properties, whether you're a business or a single...
This is a huge issue where I live too. Regulation and taxation of multi-homeowners should be the next step. If you want to invest and own multiple properties, whether you're a business or a single person, you should be prepared to pay a wealth tax on that/be forced to sell until you own a maximum number of homes. There should be a cap on that, even though it may be the unpopular opinion.
I dream of mixed zoning where you can have a house and your downstairs or garage is like a coffee shop, cafe, bodega or mini-grocery store. Something where you can have a low stakes secondary income, and make make some of these sprawling residential blocks into walkable towns.
This article doesn’t mention that. It mentions:
I love the San Diego ADU towers. An excellent fuck you to the NIMBYs.
I want to have children someday. I want them to run downstairs excited to hop on their bikes and ride — on friendly, safe, car-free streets lush with vegetation — to go meet their friends. I want them to have lots and lots of other friends living within 10 minutes of biking distance, so they can go on lots of adventures instead of feeling stuck at home.
I want to bump into my neighbors gardening and working on neighborhood projects and chit chat.
I'm really happy to see US cities slowly changing course.
Is this not a thing already? For a few years I lived in an apartment above a small grocery/deli and one of my best friends currently lives above a pizza shop.
It’s not too hard to find in denser areas in the US. But it could be much more common. Why not have little pockets of 5-over-1 in every town and city? I’ve heard NIMBYs complain about it but it’s better than your standard BS suburb.
These were both in tiny towns, not densely populated areas. I suppose it might be a bell curve type situation where more rural and more dense areas have it but not the middle areas?
One city in Alberta did this, relaxing zoning laws. More to follow as all levels of government have finally clued in that lack of affordable housing is a crisis here in Canada.
It made a big difference to us. We were able to put a basement suite in a house without paying about $2000 in development and building permits. We were not required to put in a costly second furnace as long as we had auxiliary electric baseboard heat which was $600 vs about $9000. We didn't have to drywall and smoke seal the inside of the furnace room as long as we put in an easy to install sprinkler head for $400.
A few changes to the bylaw codes and the city waving its fees and they created hundreds of new, still safe basement suites without much complaining from the NIMBYs.
Hoping they go for backyard ADUs and eliminate minimum dwelling sizes next - I have a partially finished, fully self contained tiny home that's only 160 sq ft, but so far the powers that be have determined that no one is allowed to live in a tiny home less than 400 sq ft. I've met many students who would gladly live alone in 160 sf rather than rent a bigger house and have to deal with 2 or more roommates, especially if their rent is comparable.
I feel like this will only address part of the problem. It's an important part to be sure, though.
In my city, literally thousands of single family homes (in the neighborhood of 13,000) are owned by investors. Re-zoning is great, I think regulation is better.
Pun intended.
This is a huge issue where I live too. Regulation and taxation of multi-homeowners should be the next step. If you want to invest and own multiple properties, whether you're a business or a single person, you should be prepared to pay a wealth tax on that/be forced to sell until you own a maximum number of homes. There should be a cap on that, even though it may be the unpopular opinion.