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Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

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Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#101

Post by closeparen »

RestlessMind wrote: post #10

I hope they also invest in roads and mass transit. A lot of residents in those 10K new homes will be working outside of North Bayshore. Heck, even if one is working at Google, it could be at any other myriad campuses across Sunnyvale / San Jose / Mt View. There would also be kids, who need to be transported to schools. Without roads and transit improvements, North Bayshore can easily turn into a nightmare.

Agreed, but

>There would also be kids, who need to be transported to schools.

We should be building neighborhoods such that kids can walk to school. Even my single-family-home dominated 2.5 square mile "village" could manage that.

Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#102

Post by closeparen »

ryandrake wrote: post #73
kevinburke wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you count as urban development? Would a duplex count as urban development? how about a 4-unit condo building? or a 10-unit building? Reasons to build more densely there would include - accounting for a growing population, - senior citizens who want to live with their adult kids/walk to downtown - increased property tax revenue from construction with a 2018 basis to offset budget deterioration under Prop 13 -…

It's subjective--I suppose I'd count as "urban" anything that would significantly increase already congested automobile traffic and/or significantly increase neighborhood population (noise). Duplexes? Probably not so much. Townhomes, apartments, multi-unit buildings? Absolutely.

What will significantly increase already congested automobile traffic is more suburbia, more doubling down on the idea that people must live equidistant from each other and drive everywhere.

Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#103

Post by closeparen »

nickonline wrote: post #96
henrikschroder wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The type of housing is called "apartment", because it's a part of a larger building. A condominium is an apartment that is owned by an individual, who then pays maintenance fees to the condominium association, who in turn manages the building. If you own a condo, you may be allowed to rent it out to someone else. A more common option for rental apartments is that a landlord of some sort (an individual, a corporation,…

Is the condominium not a part of a larger building?

Condominium is an economic relationship and can apply to apartments, detached houses, townhomes, etc.

Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#104

Post by prawn »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #25
prawn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On my first trip to Hong Kong (decades ago, as a teenager) I remember my family stayed in a hotel with a shopping centre on the lower levels. You took an elevator down from your room that literally opened out into a supermarket, food court, department store, etc. I remember thinking it was awesome. Add other facilities within enjoyable walking distance and you're laughing, for those keen to live with that density.

I don’t see why people think HK is a bad model, sure Kowloon walled City was bad, but modern HK is quite nice. I also got the impression that Dubai wasn’t very walkable, but I’ve never been there.

Dubai is a horrible place to be a pedestrian, at least the areas I briefly visited. Everything is at a huge scale so the distances are extreme, and obviously the climate doesn't help at all.

I wonder if anyone has ever built a city, or significant part of a city, with either a purely subterranean transport layer, or all pedestrian layers a storey above? (Obviously I'm talking beyond a subway system.)

Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#105

Post by seanmcdirmid »

prawn wrote: post #104
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t see why people think HK is a bad model, sure Kowloon walled City was bad, but modern HK is quite nice. I also got the impression that Dubai wasn’t very walkable, but I’ve never been there.

Dubai is a horrible place to be a pedestrian, at least the areas I briefly visited. Everything is at a huge scale so the distances are extreme, and obviously the climate doesn't help at all. I wonder if anyone has ever built a city, or significant part of a city, with either a purely subterranean transport layer, or all pedestrian layers a storey above? (Obviously I'm talking beyond a subway system.)

Canadian cities (sans Vancouver) seem to have a lot of pedestrian tunnels (often doubling as downtown malls). In HK you can get pretty far underground as a pedestrian in some parts (you can basically walk between subway stations in an underground labyrinth to avoid rain).

Also, Minneapolis has a nice skyway network. Then there is La Defense in Paris where the pedistrian level is above street level.

Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#106

Post by adrianN »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #45
salimmadjd wrote: post #3

(Dec 13, 2017) - This is a great start. But I think we really need more like 100,000 new units built. Just to help reverse some of the astronomical housing prices. I have no idea how a teacher would be able to live in SV and plan to have a family and everything else. At this rate, the housing costs are unsustainable. We wont be able to have a functioning city with all the needed staffing like teachers, nurses, seller…

> I have no idea how a teacher would be able to live in SV and plan to have a family and everything else. The math teacher at my high school in Santa Cruz was a retired electrical engineer with a Ph.D. from Stanford. There's no rule that says teachers need to make a living from teaching. It's known for being pleasant work. Granted, the school hasn't pursued that strategy since then...

Every job we as a society want done should pay a living wage. Teaching children definitely is one of them.

Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#107

Post by seanmcdirmid »

SenHeng wrote: post #92
baron816 wrote: post #11

Parking would be less of a deal if they built mixed developments, which are more desirable anyway. It’s quite nice being able to walk out of your house and drop right into a coffee shop, bar, or restaurant. Walking to work or school is amazing too. People here seem to be so afraid that their neighborhoods will begin to look more like Dubai or Hong Kong. But clearly what we’re doing now isn’t sustainable, nor is it ev…

Grass is always greener on the other side. Having lived and grown up in ultra-dense urban cities like Hongkong, Singapore and Tokyo, I very much prefer somewhere with a little more breathing space. Though not to the extent of American suburbs. The European cities are probably a good balance.

HK and Singapore I get, but I didn’t find most parts of Tokyo to be very dense at all. More continuous low and mid-rise density (but not high rise density) levels like Europe.

Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#108

Post by seanmcdirmid »

henrikschroder wrote: post #79
icebraining wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that the same type of building? I thought an "apartment" in the US was just a rented condo.

The type of housing is called "apartment", because it's a part of a larger building. A condominium is an apartment that is owned by an individual, who then pays maintenance fees to the condominium association, who in turn manages the building. If you own a condo, you may be allowed to rent it out to someone else. A more common option for rental apartments is that a landlord of some sort (an individual, a corporation,…

The USA is weird, in most of the world you might buy an apartment, in the USA you would most certainly buy a condo instead. Except in NYC you might buy a coop.

Re: Mountain View approves 10,000 homes by Google's North Bayshore project (2017)

#109

Post by seanmcdirmid »

StudentStuff wrote: post #70
bobbyi_settv wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I worked at MS in Redmond, I lived in Seattle and my commute was 25 minutes. I knew people who had houses in Redmond, and their commute was around 5 minutes. This is not "the same boat" as Cuptertino and MV.

MS has moved so much out of Redmond, pushing employees to Downtown Bellevue & opening up a satellite office in Vancouver, BC. Its quite a change from just a decade ago, but apparently talent retention is better in Bellevue than out in the hinterlands of Redmond. Then again, I don't think I'll ever take a job or live on the Eastside, perpetually trapped in my car!

I live in downtown Bellevue and rarely drive my car. I wanted to live in downtown Seattle, but wife and baby objected.
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