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The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

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Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#41

Post by Spooky23 »

bilbo0s wrote: post #21
baron816 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not just NIMBY-ism, and NIMBY-ism isn’t what drove these away. What it is is pretty much the minimum mage—housing has to meet a minimum threshold in quality or else it can’t exist. Never mind that people might still be willing to live there and are able to make their own decisions. And some people might not have other options. To many, this seems like exploitation. They’d rather have people living on the street…

Bingo. And it's not even the exploitation. Believe it or not, it's the fact that there is no one to hold liable if things go wrong. At root, it's about on which head does liability rest. You don't meet code, firefighters rush in, and the staircase collapses. Who do the cops and the firefighters go after? If it's the owner of the SRO, then no real estate investor will build one. (At least, not one that isn't up to cod…

My dad ran section 8 programs for a decade or more. They meet higher code standards than many suburbia “luxury” apartments.

Slumlords who don’t maintain buildings to code are bottom of the barrel renting to a very limited and desperate clientele. Encouraging that is nuts.

The notion that evil firefighter unions are making real estate expensive by advocating for codes that put them out of business is probably the most ill-informed comment I’ve read in some time. Absurd. Getting rid of balloon frames and cocklofts raised construction costs... but saved thousands of lives.

Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#42

Post by sarakayakomzin »

stopwithslurs wrote: post #29
bombcar wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So let's be realistic and admit these buildings do NOT have to be built in residential areas with Karens abounding. The perfect is the enemy of the good here; let them be wedged into industrial areas or other "not as desirable" parts of town. Trying to pretend that the "bad part of town" can be removed if we just figure out the magic steps is part of the problem.

Can you people stop using my mother's name as a slur that means obnoxious white woman? I'm used to this bigotry on Reddit but why is it ok here? I'm so sick of it.

would you like to speak to a manager?

Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#43

Post by maxerickson »

hellbannedguy wrote: post #6

I would like to see America build more of these. Even lightening building codes, and zoning requirements (allow for very small rooms). If the Infrasctructure bill promised more of this type of housing I would be thrilled. I'd be happy with a few public restrooms strategically placed around cities, but I guess I'm the only one that needs easy access to a bathroom! 1. It's obvious homlessness is just getting worse. I j…

My small town has turned down apartment buildings for reasons like 'preserving the character of a run down building built after 1970' and 'not wanting to have apartments near a planned business hotel'.

The people opposing the projects absolutely don't want them built. For the one, there was also a discussion of having more poor people in the area that is a few hundred feet from the poorest census block in the county.

Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#44

Post by DoreenMichele »

hellbannedguy wrote: post #6

I would like to see America build more of these. Even lightening building codes, and zoning requirements (allow for very small rooms). If the Infrasctructure bill promised more of this type of housing I would be thrilled. I'd be happy with a few public restrooms strategically placed around cities, but I guess I'm the only one that needs easy access to a bathroom! 1. It's obvious homlessness is just getting worse. I j…

I live in a hundred year old SRO in a blighted downtown area. It's how I got back into housing after years of homelessness.

I wanted to be an urban planner before life got in the way, so I see all the things wrong in my downtown and have some idea of what broke and why.

So one of my online projects is a website called Project: SRO trying to put together info about where things went wrong and how we could course correct.

http://projectsro.blogspot.com/

Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#45

Post by kevinmchugh »

chitowneats wrote: post #15
OldHand2018 wrote: post #10

This block of Chicago is really interesting. It’s like going back in time to when American cities were far seedier places than they are now. It survives in part because the neighbor across the street is the Metropolitan Correctional Center [1] (an architectural masterpiece that was ruined by painting it about 10 years ago). The other reason it survives is that many buildings are owned in full by people that just aren…

I worked at this intersection for half a decade. Your analysis is spot on. As for the chicken, you must be referring to Chicken Planet: http://www.chickenplanetchicago.com/

Chicken Planet is great but it's not fried, and the hot sauce is wanting

Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#46

Post by caturopath »

bmarquez wrote: post #40
caturopath wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A big part of the missing SROs are the lack of ones that don't target itinerant men, such as are found in much of the world. The accommodations aren't the problem, the perception is -- plenty of medium- and high-income people in low-density areas participate in house shares. But since SROs are illegal almost everywhere in the US, the few that have stuck in our memory are the ones for folks who didn't have any other r…

I was about to comment the exact same thing. There needs to be SRO's catered to non-poor people just needing a place to crash while exploring a city, minimalists, etc. Outside America the hostel/guesthouse scene worked well for me as a longer term traveler, I even met others doing the "digital nomad" thing and fairly well-off people so there isn't a stigma like in America. When I mention the concept of hostels (even…

This isn't the only place where this happens in urbanism, of course.

One such issue is busses. People with a choice will gladly ride trains and streetcars, but busses are stigmatized.

It turns out that if you design a bus line a certain way, busses are every bit as good a transportation system as light rail up to a pretty high throughput, and often cheaper (always cheaper upfront). But even places with really good Bus Rapid Transit lines, folks don't want to get on a bus to get them where they're going faster.

This is HN, I suspect many of us have taken company busses. I've known tons of people making over 500k/yr who took a bus to work in the US. And that was a bus that gets stuck in traffic! People not wanting to take a bus is not fundamental to the mode, it's a perception thing.

In much of the world, there's no stigma, and everyone will gladly take a bus if that's the best way to get where they're going.

Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#47

Post by kgwgk »

OldHand2018 wrote: post #10

This block of Chicago is really interesting. It’s like going back in time to when American cities were far seedier places than they are now. It survives in part because the neighbor across the street is the Metropolitan Correctional Center [1] (an architectural masterpiece that was ruined by painting it about 10 years ago). The other reason it survives is that many buildings are owned in full by people that just aren…

I visited Chicago years ago and that prison is one of the I remember. I wondered if the place in the article was in that area but I was too lazy to check... Thanks!

Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#49

Post by peter303 »

hellbannedguy wrote: post #6

I would like to see America build more of these. Even lightening building codes, and zoning requirements (allow for very small rooms). If the Infrasctructure bill promised more of this type of housing I would be thrilled. I'd be happy with a few public restrooms strategically placed around cities, but I guess I'm the only one that needs easy access to a bathroom! 1. It's obvious homlessness is just getting worse. I j…

There is dorm style co-living housing aimed recent college grads. Private bedroom, but most every other kind of room is "community". I have wondered if these places could discriminate against frugal older adults.

Re: The Last Men’s Hotel in Chicago

#50

Post by peter303 »

hellbannedguy wrote: post #6

I would like to see America build more of these. Even lightening building codes, and zoning requirements (allow for very small rooms). If the Infrasctructure bill promised more of this type of housing I would be thrilled. I'd be happy with a few public restrooms strategically placed around cities, but I guess I'm the only one that needs easy access to a bathroom! 1. It's obvious homlessness is just getting worse. I j…

In the 19th century there were boarding houses aimed at working men. They bedded like this and had communal meal service.
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