Idea for fixing the housing shortage

KCasiglio said:
In my experience people are, not unreasonably, very likely to defer to their local fire department over their local planning department on fire safety. As practitioners and advocates it should be a priority for us to engage and bring along first responders because they are and, quite frankly, almost certainly always will be a group with higher public trust than we are. We're not going to win a public debate if the fire department is arguing against us, even if the data backs us up.

EDIT: Basically, we can't expect everyone to be familiar with building code practice in other parts of the world.
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Firefighters are almost universally right wing cranks at this point and their opinions on architecture and urban planning must be discarded.
 
Are there any programs out right now that have incentives to redevelop underutilized suburban office parks? Every time I drive around the greater Boston area i see hundreds of these office parks sitting empty...
 
beck4537 said:
Are there any programs out right now that have incentives to redevelop underutilized suburban office parks? Every time I drive around the greater Boston area i see hundreds of these office parks sitting empty...
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Cheaper to knock them down and start over.
 
Costco apartment building now coming to houston too, id love to see one of these come to boston. 400 units, 184 low income, plus a grocery wholesale store at ground floor. Thats baller. Put it next to a commuter rail stop and it would not only benefit the people who live there but other people who live along that line could shop there too.

 
www.pew.org

New Housing Slows Rent Growth Most for Older, More Affordable Units

The nationwide housing shortage has driven rents up more in low-income neighborhoods than in the U.S. overall, but in areas that have recently added large amounts of housing, rents have fallen the most in lower-income neighborhoods with older buildings, according to an analysis of publicly...
www.pew.org www.pew.org

Pew releasing some research showing that supply shortages impact low-income neighborhoods the most, whereas those same neighborhoods have the most stable rents in areas where lots of supply is being added.

tl;dr basically the inverse of the Left-NIMBY "new supply = gentrification"
 
The first steps have been taken for a ballot initiative to enforce a statewide cap on lot minimums at 5000 square feet for residential zones, subject to sewer and water access.
https://scottvanvoorhis.substack.com/p/breaking-news-proposed-yimby-ballot
https://www.instagram.com/legalizestarterhomes/

I think this is probably the single biggest statewide reform, with building code updates for single-staircase buildings a close second, to increase housing production. There are a number of case studies (Montana and the city of Houston in particular) that show just how effective this can be. Hopefully either this can pass or at least spur the Legislature into enacting similar reforms. For updates, fill out the doc below:
forms.gle/GkBXQS5Fw6KA2LXZ9
 
New Haven is hosting YIMBYtown 2025. The mayor is certainly speaking their language and from what I can tell, they seem to be doing a pretty good job getting new apartment buildings downtown. The governor just vetoed a bill limiting municipal zoning powers though so he wasn't invited :ROFLMAO:. First day seemed to present a left-YIMBY perspective with focus on environmental concerns where the second day presents right-YIMBY concerns more based on property rights and markets.

www.newhavenindependent.org

Enviro YIMBYs Pitch A New Paradigm

How does environmentalism fit with the pro-housing movement's rallying cry to "build, build, build?" That was one of the defining questions on the opening…
www.newhavenindependent.org www.newhavenindependent.org
www.newhavenindependent.org

YIMBYs See Red

The YIMBY call to "build build build" can come with a conservative frame. So argued pro-housing advocates from red and purple states on the second day of…
www.newhavenindependent.org www.newhavenindependent.org
 
Thats good to see. If housing development becomes partisan like everything else these days then everybody loses. This should be one of the bipartisan issues.
 
BOS2BON said:
There's a Joint Committee on Housing hearing tomorrow on zoning. Hopefully the YIMBY bill (H.1572) gets some support.

Hearing Details - Joint Committee on Housing

malegislature.gov malegislature.gov


Bill H.1572

malegislature.gov malegislature.gov
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There's a lot in here, most of which is of the traditional YIMBY mold (increased density, less housing development regulation). However, Section 4 would create a statewide Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) of 10-15%. I doubt this part will make it out of committee given the influence of the real estate lobby, but I'm still surprised to see it tucked in here
Any development permitted pursuant to subsections (a) or (b) which includes ten or more residential units shall set aside a minimum of fifteen percent of the residential units to households earning at or below 80% of the Area Median Income or a minimum of ten percent of the residential units to households earning at or below 50% of the Area Median Income
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Incoherent slop

“The idea that zoning restrictions are what is the driving force behind housing production is false,” she said. “What we truly need in our community is affordable housing,” she added, citing proposals like the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which died in a State House committee in 2023, and efforts at rent control paired with zoning changes.

So....zoning doesn't help make more housing. Instead we need affordable housing and the bill that would have supported such housing (and included specific zoning reforms) failed in the State House.

What? Affordable housing, especially multi unit construction, requires zoning variances in so many parts of the city. Indeed zoning restrictions do prevent such housing from being built. "Reduce zoning restrictions" does not mean "let's build high rises", it means "make it easier to build many types of housing". These things also aren't mutually exclusive.

Anyways, yes to the YIMBY bill, yes to the proposed 25-03 that's collecting signatures (LINK) and yes to more housing everywhere so new residents aren't forced to outbid middle and lower income residents and change their neighborhoods.
 
So, I'm seeing people state that developers are stating that it doesn't make financial sense to build anything other than these two multi-family building types: 4 or 5 over 1 OR 20 story steel residential towers. I don't trust developers - they often make statements that are about the single bottom line (not the triple bottom line). So, I'm wondering if anyone has some detailed analysis about what it is about this the middle range (6 stories to 19 stories) that is so challenging to build in a way that makes financial sense?
 
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