Post AtiyEeWyoBiPgqEqp6 by interfluidity@zirk.us
 (DIR) More posts by interfluidity@zirk.us
 (DIR) Post #AtilFRBCdPvHAR62KW by interfluidity@zirk.us
       2025-05-03T15:25:02Z
       
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       i think housing policy should put its thumb on the scale for dense, multifamily, LARGE apartments.great buildings are where families are raised, not post-college dorms for singles and young couples.
       
 (DIR) Post #AtissoU6cYhoQ2f2xM by BenRossTransit@mastodon.social
       2025-05-03T16:50:32Z
       
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       @interfluidity Remove the thumb that is now very heavily on the scale for small apartments: single-family zoning.Most land is zoned for 1 unit & 5000+ sq ft floor area per lot. Marginal land/entitlement cost of added bedroom is zero, so in high-land-value areas (where housing is most in demand) new houses have many bedrooms. Result is a surplus of big houses, relative to demand. (People who'd like their own apartments living in group houses is a sign of this.) 1/2
       
 (DIR) Post #Ativ6QrrQNGx8ROUWO by BenRossTransit@mastodon.social
       2025-05-03T17:15:23Z
       
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       @interfluidity Remove the thumb that is now very heavily on the scale for small apartments: single-family zoning.Most land is zoned for 1 unit & 5000+ sq ft floor area per lot. Marginal land/entitlement cost of added bedroom is zero, so in high-land-value areas (where housing is most in demand) new houses have many bedrooms. Result is a surplus of big units & shortage of small units, relative to demand. (People who'd like their own apartments living in group houses is a sign of this.) 1/2
       
 (DIR) Post #AtixC02aHNuzZvByzo by BenRossTransit@mastodon.social
       2025-05-03T17:22:48Z
       
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       @interfluidity Apartment zones limit sq ft but don't limit # of units. So each sq ft in a unit has same cost. Builders with this cost structure face, where most housing is 1-family (most of US), a market in which the price per square foot declines rapidly with increasing unit size. They have an overwhelming incentive to build small units.Legalizing 6 1000-sq-ft apts in place of a 6000-sq-ft McMansion would, over time, shift the price structure so you'd see bigger apts. 2/2
       
 (DIR) Post #AtixC15oMs5sqDi4fI by interfluidity@zirk.us
       2025-05-03T17:38:51Z
       
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       @BenRossTransit i agree with all of this.(i don't think eliminating single family zoning would go too far in getting a lot of multifamily built in affluent SFH neighborhoods. but the fact that we continue to build out and zone new SFH neighborhoods is SAF (stupid as fuck). and our collective habit of building this way drains the potential market for better ways of living in all the ways you describe.)
       
 (DIR) Post #AtixkqQ02y5Bs2lBNQ by BenRossTransit@mastodon.social
       2025-05-03T17:45:08Z
       
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       @interfluidity There are a whole lot of obstacles that need to be cleared away, like off-street parking requirements and legalizing single-stair construction. But the economics are so overwhelming that I think they would largely replace mansionizations in cities with half-decent transit. The most expensive suburbs, where the old houses are so big that there's little mansionization, would not change much.
       
 (DIR) Post #AtiyEdbuEO3sppXGrY by BenRossTransit@mastodon.social
       2025-05-03T17:46:25Z
       
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       @interfluidity The problem is so big, and has been built up over 100 years, that any solution will only work out over decades.
       
 (DIR) Post #AtiyEeWyoBiPgqEqp6 by interfluidity@zirk.us
       2025-05-03T17:50:32Z
       
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       @BenRossTransit but it will only work out over decades if we actually start working it out. (and then we can enjoy at least pieces of the worked-out future now!)